Massachusetts Bay Colony. British Military Appointment Document. Dated March 4th, 1773. Very Good. Approximately 17 inches x 22 inches overall; print area approximately 13 inches x 14.5 inches. Partial printed form in black, on laid paper. Several old seam reinforcements on the verso, though a few long edge splits remain. A few small edge chips and one large piece out at the top, though none affects the printed area. Applied embossed seal at upper left of Thomas Hutchinson, the Colonial Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and signed by him below the seal. The appointment is of Caleb Thaxter to the rank of Adjutant in the Regiment of Militia in the County of Suffolk. John Thaxter is noted as the Colonel in the regiment, though it is unclear if he was a direct relation. As this appointment was only a few years before the American Revolution would be begin in earnest, and only months before the Boston Tea Party, Caleb would have shortly had to choose to either remain loyal to the Crown or to support the Revolutionary colonists. We do not know which side he took, but it would appear that he survived the war, and died where he was born, in Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1828. The back of the document bears the manuscript declaration that Thaxter "took the oath appointed by act of Parliament to be taken instead of the oath of Allegiance of Supremacy…" on August 4, 1773, which was witnessed by John Thaxter and Benjamin Lincoln, both of whom signed the declaration.<p>The Colonial Governor, Thomas Hutchinson, was of an old New England family, even at that time. From 1758 to 1774, he served variously as Lieutenant Governor, Acting Governor or Governor of Massachusetts Bay, a time span that included the Boston Massacre as well as the famous Tea Party. He remained loyal to the Crown as the Revolutionary era was born, and left for England on June 1, 1774. He was replaced as Governor by General Thomas Gage.
