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This collection is made up of individual financial documents and letters from Massachusetts, primarily composed during the early months of 1787. Among other subjects, the material concerns the state's economic climate and military forces commanded by Major General Benjamin Lincoln during Shays' Rebellion.

This collection is made up of individual financial documents and letters from Massachusetts, primarily composed during the early months of 1787. Among other subjects, the material concerns the state's economic climate and military forces commanded by Major General Benjamin Lincoln during Shays' Rebellion.

Among the items directly related to military forces are notes, documents, and accounts for the supply of rations, other provisions, and wages to military troops (5 items) and a request sent by Adam Wheeler to Benjamin Lincoln, for safe passage. Massachusetts Militia officer William Shepard wrote 2 letters to Benjamin Lincoln and Colonel Ezra Badlam about raising troops to defend the Massachusetts government against rebel forces (February 22, 1787, and February 24, 1787).

The collection includes a petition letter that Timothy Fuller sent to the Massachusetts legislature on behalf of many residents of Princeton, Massachusetts, enumerating and discussing several of their complaints against the state government. In addition to voicing their concerns about high legal fees and the salaries of public officials, the residents of Princeton attempted to disassociate themselves from recent violent conflicts (February 1, 1787). One additional item records accounts between the estate of Elisha Doane and Samuel A. Otis of Boston, Massachusetts, dated between August 20, 1783, and March 12, 1784.

The William and Isaac Perkins papers contain correspondence written between brothers William Lee Perkins and Isaac Perkins, 1784-1794, concerning politics, their careers, and family news.

The William and Isaac Perkins papers contain 18 letters written between brothers William Lee Perkins and Isaac Perkins, of Ashford, Connecticut, and Kingston upon Thames, England. Their correspondence, written from 1784 to1794, frequently touched on politics, including a fairly long account of Shays' Rebellion (January 25, 1787), mention of the Constitutional Convention (May 28, 1787), and speculation by William on the chances of a reunion between the United States and Great Britain (May 14, 1787).

Also present are comments on Loyalists, the national debt, and news concerning their families and careers. In his letter dated April 4, 1788, William Lee Perkins commented on his medical writing, including attempts at "arranging and distinguishing diseases, which I am contributing my poor Endeavours to introduce in this Country." He also gave medical advice in several letters.