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1851 Autograph Document Signed Ancient + Honorable Artillery Company of Boston

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:280.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 - 500.00 USD
1851 Autograph Document Signed Ancient + Honorable Artillery Company of Boston
Post-Revolutionary War to Civil War
1851 Ancient & Honorable Artillery Officer’s Petition
January 25, 1851-Dated, Autograph Document Signed by Six Officers of the Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company of Boston, being a Petition to the State of Massachusetts, Choice Extremely Fine.
This wonderful, original document is dated 1851, being from the Boston Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company. Here the chief officers of the company have signed a petition to the State Authorities, stating that their artillery equipment is in disrepair and needs replacement. It is beautifully written and is Signed by Six Officers, measures 8” x 11” on blue paper, folded for mailing, nicely penned, in overall very nice condition. It is sent to General G. H. Devereauix at the State House in Boston. Docket on the blank reverse panel.

The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts is the oldest chartered military organization in North America and the third oldest chartered military organization in the world. While it was originally constituted as a citizen militia serving on active duty in defense of the northern British colonies, it has become, over the centuries primarily an honor guard and a social and ceremonial group in Massachusetts. Today the Company serves as Honor Guard to the Governor of Massachusetts who is also its Commander in Chief.
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. As the settlements which followed the landing at Plymouth increased and spread, there was no organized military force for protection - only local volunteer companies, which lacked the capacity for joint action or any centralized authority. Many of the settlers of Boston had been members in England of the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) of London, and the military training they had received in that company led them to form a similar organization in the new country. In 1637 the company was formed as a citizen militia for instruction in military discipline and tactics. Robert Keayne and many of the original members of the Ancient and honorable Artillery Company had been members of the original HAC of London.

Governor Winthrop granted a charter in March 1638, and on the first Monday in June following, an election of officers was held on Boston Common. Among the charter members was Nicholas Upsall, who later forsook his membership to join the Quakers. Since that time, the company has continued to hold their annual elections on the Boston Common on the first Monday in June by casting their votes on a drum head. Company membership has long been considered a distinction among the New England gentry in a similar manner to which regimental membership conferred distinction on the sons of the English gentry. The Honourable Artillery Company of London and the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts acknowledge and celebrate their common historical roots.

Since 1746, the headquarters of the Company has been located in Faneuil Hall. In this armory, the company maintains a military museum and library containing relics from every war in which the United States has been engaged since its settlement. The armory is open to the public daily.