Search

The Massachusetts Bay (Colony) Treasury accounts contain records of expenditures by the Colony between May 1698 and May 1699.

James Taylor, Treasurer and Receiver General, recorded the Massachusetts Bay Colony Treasury accounts, which contain 36 pages of the colony's financial transactions between May 1698 and May 1699. The first few pages are composed of tax records for towns and counties in the colonies. This is followed by a list of payments to individuals for duties performed, which makes up the remainder of the volume. Many of the payments are to soldiers, judges, messengers, keepers of "French and Indian Prisoners of War" (p. 13), and providers of transportation. Also of interest is a payment of £50 to Increase Mather for his responsibilities as President of Harvard (p. 24). In addition, the accounts contain numerous references to Native Americans, who were regularly paid for their service in fighting other tribes. The accounts provide a thorough record of the Colony's many services and expenses for 1698-1699.

The Perkinsville (Vt.) School District documents consist of 46 receipts, committee meeting reports, meeting requests, and grand lists of taxes relevant to operation of the 1st school district in the village of Perkinsville between 1823 and 1851. A single document dated March 10, 1818, grants David Graves permission to open a "publick Hous" in the town of Ira.

The Perkinsville (Vt.) School District documents consist of 46 receipts, committee meeting reports, meeting requests, and grand lists of taxes relevant to operation of the 1st school district in the village of Perkinsville between 1823 and 1851. School expenses reflected in the documentation include payments for teachers' wages, supplies, and services rendered. A single document dated March 10, 1818, grants David Graves permission to open a "publick Hous" in the town of Ira.

Local townspeople covered school costs, labor, and other needs. They cut and delivered fuelwood, boarded teachers, and transported educators to and from the school. They also repaired and cleaned the schoolhouse, and built desks and chairs. Supplies specified in the documents include brooms, blackboards, dippers and pails, nails, and glass. A letter dated August 6, 1841, to Mr. Horace Phelps contains a request for a supply of wool.

The bulk of these documents were generated by district clerks and superintending committee members, including Solomon R. Demary, Benjamin Chillson, J. F. Chillson, Luther Perkins, Charles Barrett, and Earle Woodbury. The receipts were signed and dated with the payment amount on the verso by the recipient. Many committee meeting reports were recorded on lined paper with dates in the left margin.

Two items of note include a meeting request for the purpose of building a house for the convenience of smaller scholars dated September 5, 1846, and a meeting request to discuss the opening a second school in District One, dated January 1, 1848.

This manuscript, entitled The Number of Polls and the Value of rateable Estates within the Province of Massachusetts-bay during the year 1771, contains a detailed calculation of the total tax revenue generated by Massachusetts in 1771. The manuscript may be in the hand of George Chalmers.

This manuscript is entitled "The Number of Polls and the Value of rateable Estates within the Province of Massachusetts-bay during the year 1771." The figures are presented by county, with each county divided into towns; totals for each town and county are provided, as are totals for the entire colony, multiplied by current tax rates to provide a proportional and total amount of taxes owed in 1771. The information was presented to the House of Delegates.

• Suffolk: 8,446 (including Boston's 2,876)
• Essex: 11,697
• Middlesex: 8,987
• Hampshire: 6,779
• Plymouth: 6,163
• Barnstable: 3,478
• Bristol: 5,842
• York: 3,368
• Dukes: 692
• Nantucket: 1,130
• Cumberland: 2,683
• Lincoln: 1,844
• Worcester: 9,697
• Berkshire: 2,773

A "Recapitulation" shows a total count of 73,478 polls and a total estate value of £549,001 17s. 4d. Taxes accrued equal £382 14s. 0d. from polls, £617 12s. 6d. from estates, and £1000 6s. 6d. total.