The Shrewsbury, Mass. Papers, 1723-1877, include land deeds, especially those of Obadiah Allen ( - ), town surveys made by Jonathan Peirce (1747-1827) and Levi Peirce (1761- ), court summonses, arrest warrants, a liquor license, guardian appointments, the 1723 covenant of the Church of Shrewsbury, and the secretary's book of the "Bees" sewing club, 1850-1854, which was organized for girls between the ages of seven and eleven. Of special note are several petitions to the Massachusetts General Court, 1785, which reflect the confusions of the Confederation period. Shrewsbury residents, led by Ezra Moore Beaman (1736-1811), objected to attempts by the town of Sterling to collect the petitioners' war taxes after their land had been annexed by the town of Shrewsbury in 1781. The objections included the necessity for paying the taxes in "hard money" in 1785 and the increase in tax costs due to inflation. Also, this collection contains papers relating to lawsuits in the Worcester Court of Common Pleas against the inhabitants of the First Congregational Church in Shrewsbury, 1834-1835. Included are suits by such individuals as Isaiah Munroe (1786- ) for loss of his pew without compensation during church renovations, and written judgments in such cases, all against the plaintiffs. Included is a brief account book, 1767-1768, of debts incurred by Deacon Jonathan Keyes (1702-1778) and Cyprian Keyes (1734- ) of the Second Church Committee for entertainment costs during council meetings at the house of Ezra Beaman. There is also a scale of the depreciation of the currency, 1777-1780, a 1795 note of complaint by Joseph Bond ( - ) against Levi Danton ( - ) for theft, with a warrant issued by Justice Levi Lincoln (1749-1820), an address delivered to the United Agricultural Society, January 4, 1814, possibly by the Rev. Joseph Sumner (1740-1824) and an amended copy of the 1723 church covenant dated April 13, 1761.
