Manuscript

Oath of Allegiance Taken Before Ebenezer Matoon

Date:

1787

About this artifact

In February 1787, the Massachusetts Legislature passed an act requiring all the men who had taken up arms against the government to pay nine pence and take an Oath of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Town selectmen were assigned the job of collecting the fee, administering the oath, and keeping records of the men who came forward. This document certifies that men from various towns in Hampshire County took the oath before Ebenezer Mattoon on several days of February, 1787.