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This rare descriptive list of men enlisted for Continental service from Massachusetts includes an African American who served in the militia. The first page lists eight men belonging to three companies in Colonel John Daggett’s regiment of Massachusetts militia. The list gives each man’s age; height; color of complexion, hair, and eyes; and town. All are from Norton in Bristol County, approximately thirty miles south of Boston. Among the militiamen who were forwarded for Continental service was 26-year-old London Morey, “a Negro,” but according to his military records, he was “rejected” at Fishkill, New York.
The verso contains a tabular list of twenty men recruited from Colonel John Daggett’s militia regiment for nine months’ service in the Continental Army. They were from Attleboro, Easton, and Mansfield. The table lists each man’s company, name, age, height, complexion, eye color, town, and county or country. The last four listed are from France. Several served in the 12th Massachusetts Regiment under the command of Col. Gamaliel Bradford.
[REVOLUTIONARY WAR; AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS].
Autograph Document Signed, Muster Rolls for Norton and Attleboro, Bristol County, Massachusetts. 2 pp., 8¼ x 13 in.
Inventory #26532
Price: $4,500
Excerpts
“Norton May the 20th 1778
“A Return of the men Inlisted in Norton agreeable to the orders of the Cort of the Massachusetts State of the 20th of Apriel last to Raise two Thousand men in Sd State to fill up the fifteen Battalions to be Raised in Sd State the men to Continue in the service of the United States nine months from the time they arrive in Camp at fish Kill unless sooner Discharged to wit.”
“To Brigadier General Godfrey
“Sr: In obedance to your orders of April 27th 1778: I have Raised mustered and Delivered to the superintendent for the County of Bristol 28: men from my Regiment as Discribed in the foregoing Lists and: 32 was the proportion from said Regiment[.]the Town of Mansfield are Defisiant of 3: men of their Quota and Capt Josiah Keith of [loss]Company in Easton is Defisiant of one to Complete his Quota
“July:7:1778: John Daggett Coll of [?] Regiment”
Historical Background
On February 26, 1778, the Continental Congress passed a resolution requiring each state to contribute specific numbers of troops to the Continental Army by drafting members of their state militias. The Continental Congress required Virginia and Massachusetts Bay, the two most populous states, to provide 15 battalions each; Pennsylvania 10; North Carolina 9; Connecticut and Maryland, 8 each; New York 5; New Jersey 4; New Hampshire 3; and Rhode Island and Delaware, 1 each. All those troops from the New England states were to rendezvous at Fishkill, New York, while those from other states were to rendezvous in Easton, Pennsylvania; at camp in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; or in Alexandria or Petersburg, Virginia.
On April 20, 1778, the General Court of Massachusetts-Bay passed a resolution for filling up and completing fifteen battalions of Continental troops, as required by the Continental Congress for “a powerful Army...early brought into the field, effectually to oppose and defeat our public enemies.” Because one-seventh of the male inhabitants of Massachusetts-Bay was insufficient “to fill up and compleat at this time, the fifteen Battalions directed to be raised in this State,” the state House of Representatives resolved that each county and town should furnish additional troops based on a list. These recruits were to be transported to Fishkill, New York, where they would join the Continental Army.
The County of Bristol was to provide 149 additional men, of which 8 were to come from Norton, 13 from Attleborough, 7 from Mansfield, and 8 from Easton. The remaining 113 were to come from the eight other towns in Bristol County.
John Daggett (1724-1803) was an Attleboro surveyor and patriot, as well as a local militia leader. He served on the revolutionary Attleboro Committee of Correspondence and was a signer of Attleboro's Solemn League and Covenant, a provocative document that pledged to boycott British goods in protest over the closing of the Boston port. Daggett served as Colonel of the 4th Bristol County, Massachusetts regiment. Soldiers under his command, some of whom had been involved in the Freetown raid, continued to serve the revolutionary cause through most of the war. Daggett continued to be a revered figure long after the war.
George Godfrey (1720-1793) of Taunton, Massachusetts, served as a justice of the peace for Bristol County from 1760. During the Revolutionary War, he was Taunton’s representative to the General Court and served as brigadier general of the Bristol County militia from January 1776 to July 1781.
Condition: Ink on the verso is relatively light. Minor toning and age wear, paper loss, a few scattered ink splatters, else Very Good. Document has been professionally repaired and is housed in protective mylar.
Notes on individual soldiers:
David Hodges, enlisted on June 19, 1778, for nine months; private, 12th / 14th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Gamaliel Bradford); discharged March 18, 1779.
[Peter] Derry, seems to have enlisted [again?] on August 9, 1779; private, 8th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Michael Jackson); discharged May 9, 1780.
[Thomas] Jenkins,
Ephraim Knap, enlisted on June 17, 1778, for nine months; private, 2nd Massachusetts Regiment (Col. John Bailey); “omitted,” March 1, 1779.
Josiah Smith, enlisted on June 17, 1778, for nine months; private, 2nd Massachusetts Regiment (Col. John Bailey); procured for Norton; discharged February 18, 1779.
Thomas Bass, enlisted on June 17, 1778, for nine months; private, 2nd Massachusetts Regiment (Col. John Bailey); procured for Norton; discharged February 1, 1779.
William Axtell, enlisted on June 17, 1778, for nine months; private; 12th / 14th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Gamaliel Bradford); discharged March 16, 1779.
London Morey; arrived at Fish Kill, June 19, 1778; procured for Norton; “Complection”: “Negro”; “Remarks”: “Rejected”
Michael Riley, enlisted on June 16, 1778, for nine months; private; 12th / 14th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Gamaliel Bradford); discharged March 7, 1779.
Clark Swetland, enlisted on June 19, 1778, for nine months; private; 12th / 14th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Gamaliel Bradford); enlisted as waggoner, August 6, 1778.
Jonathan [Fuller?], enlisted on June 19, 1778, for nine months; private; 12th / 14th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Gamaliel Bradford); enlisted as waggoner, August 6, 1778.
Henry Alexander, enlisted on June 16, 1778, for nine months; private, 12th / 14th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Gamaliel Bradford); deserted, September 7, 1778.
Abiel Fisher, enlisted for nine months; arrived at Fish Kill, June 16, 1778; procured for Attleborough
John Bourn, enlisted for three years; corporal; 12th / 14th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Gamaliel Bradford); appointed sergeant, February 19, 1777
Zachariah Tiffney, enlisted on June 16, 1777 [78?], for nine months; private; 7th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Ichabod Alden); discharged 1 March 1779
James Salle; arrived at Fish Kill, June 17, 1778; procured for Attleborough
Samuel Freeman
Solomon Field, enlisted on June 19, 1778, for nine months; private, 12th / 14th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Gamaliel Bradford); enlisted as waggoner, August 6, 1778; procured for Attleborough.
Bezaliel/Bezalalel Field, enlisted for nine months; private, 12th / 14th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Gamaliel Bradford); procured for Attleborough; discharged March 18, 1779.
Thomas Freeman, enlisted November 6, 1777; ensign, 12th / 14th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Gamaliel Bradford); lieutenant, April 1, 1778.
Timothy Freeman, enlisted for nine months; private, 12th / 14th Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Gamaliel Bradford); arrived at Fish Kill, June 16, 1778; discharged, January 31, 1779. Seems to have reenlisted on July 9, 1780, for six months.
Oliver Lincoln, enlisted for nine months; arrived at Fish Kill, June 23, 1778; procured for Easton; private, 2nd Massachusetts Regiment (Col. John Bailey); discharged, February 1, 1779.
Joshua Felt, enlisted for nine months, June 17, 1778; private, 2nd Massachusetts Regiment (Col. John Bailey); procured for Easton.
Joshua Carey, private, 2nd Massachusetts Regiment (Col. John Bailey); seems to have enlisted for war; absent with smallpox in 1781.
Francis Clorno?
Francis Mulle; arrived at Fish Kill, June 21, 1778; procured for Mansfield
Pierre Gillet; arrived at Fish Kill, June 21, 1778; procured for Mansfield
John Bavett; arrived at Fish Kill, June 21, 1778; procured for Mansfield
