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Province of the Massachusetts Bay, 1757, Harrison Gray Treasurer Tax Warrant

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Paper Money - United States Start Price:750.00 USD Estimated At:900.00 - 1,800.00 USD
Province of the Massachusetts Bay, 1757, Harrison Gray Treasurer Tax Warrant
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Province of the Massachusetts Bay, 2nd November, 1757. Issued Tax Warrant Issued and Signed by Harrison Gray, the Treasurer & Receiver General for "His Majesty's Said Province," of the Massachusetts Bay. The sum of money to be received was 150 Pounds, 13 Shillings, and 11 Pence, collected by Gray on behalf of King George II of Great Britain. Black text with seal at top left corner, Large black imperial seal at top center, Signed by Harrison Gray at bottom right corner. Water staining, toning, and damage in 4 small areas and at the vertical fold, with archival repairs. Fragile condition. Harrison Gray (1711-1794) was a wealthy merchant, as well as Treasurer and Receiver-General for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, a position that he held from 1753 until the beginning of the Revolution. Although more of a political moderate, in 1774, Gray was forced to choose between patriotism and loyalism over the Massachusetts Government Act (which suspended the Provincial Charter). Gray chose to recognize the right of the King and Parliament to suspend, at will, the rights and liberties of Massachusetts Bay. In 1775, Gray published his loyalist views in a pamphlet titled The Two Congresses Cut Up. Ultimately, Gray's property was confiscated and he was forced to flee Boston in 1776 where he spent the rest of his life in London, England. He was named in the Massachusetts Banishment Act of 1778. The document is also signed by Benjamin Washburn, who was a housewright in Bridgewater, and was apparently called Benjamin Washburn “2d” after his cousin died in 1740. Benjamin Washburn was probably dead by 1760. No deed, death or probate records were found for him in Plymouth County. Interesting piece of colonial American history.