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Lot 305
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1776 Signed By Groton Leaders, Church Investigates War Funds
1776 Signed By Groton Leaders, Church Investigates War Funds
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Description:

Revolutionary War
Groton, MA, March 2, 1776
1776 Signed By Groton Leaders, Church Investigates War Funds
ALS
[REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] Isaac Farnsworth, Benjamin Bancroft Jr., and Zechariah Fitch, Autograph Letter Signed, to William Prescott, John Robeson, and Henry Woods, March 2, 1776, Groton, Massachusetts. 1 p., 8" x 4.75". Attached to paper frame; irregular right edge; some soiling and toning.

In this brief letter, a committee of churchmen from the "Church of Christ in Groton" inquired of several officers in the 7th Continental Regiment whether Deacon Zechariah Longley had, as they had heard, withheld "milk money" from the troops. This money may have been raised by the church in Groton to send to the troops from that town to supplement the rations they received from the Continental Army.

The committee, which may have been the important "Committee of Inspection" for Groton, included Deacon Isaac Farnsworth Jr. (1723-1812), one of the most influential men in the town of Groton during the Revolutionary period, serving as town clerk (1778-1781, 1785-1788), selectman, representative to the General Court (1781-1782), and deacon of the church from 1773; Deacon Benjamin Bancroft Jr. (1724-1804), who served as treasurer for Groton; and Zachariah Fitch (1734-1820), who had served in Prescott's Regiment during the April 1775 alarm and later commanded a company in Colonel Samuel Brewer's regiment that marched to Fort Ticonderoga in the fall of 1776.

Complete Transcript
To Col: Willm Prescott, Col John Robeson & Majr Henry Woods in the Continental army.
Gent as it has been Reported among us that Dn Zachariah Longley late Quartermaster in your Regiment: has wickedly detained a part of ye milk money (so called) &c from said Regiment untill he ye sd Longley was calld upon to make satisfaction: and as we ye Subscribers are appointed a Committee by the church of Christ in Groton to make Enquiry into that matter We Shoud be glad, and take it as a favour, if you gentlemen woud give us as an impartial account as you can of Dn Longleys conduct in ye matter of milk above mentiond &c. &c.
From your most Humble Servants
Isaac Farnsworth }
Benja Bancroft Jur } Committee
Zechariah Fitch }
Groton March ye 2d 1776

Historical Background
Col. William Prescott (1726-1795), a native of Groton, raised a Massachusetts militia regiment in Cambridge in April 1775. The regiment joined the Continental Army in June 1775 as the 7th Continental Regiment. After action in the Siege of Boston and the New York campaign, the regiment was disbanded on January 1, 1777, and volunteers from the regiment joined the 2nd Massachusetts Regiment. On the night of June 16, 1775, Prescott led 1,200 men onto the Charlestown peninsula to erect defenses on Bunker Hill. During the subsequent Battle of Bunker Hill, Prescott is credited with saying, "Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes." His forces repelled two British assaults and inflicted heavy casualties before retreating when their ammunition was exhausted before a third British assault.

John Robinson (1735-1805) from Westford, Massachusetts, served as the second-highest ranking officer at the Battle of Concord in April 1775 and was later appointed to the rank of lieutenant colonel in Col. William Prescott's regiment. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Prescott praised Robinson's bravery and valor in outflanking a charge of British Regulars. He commanded a regiment of militia during the Siege of Boston from late 1775 to March 23, 1776. A decade later, he joined the rebels in Shays' Rebellion.

Henry Woods (1733-1804) of Pepperell served as a major in the 7th Continental Infantry throughout 1776. He had served as a lieutenant and captain in the French and Indian War. In April 1775, he joined Prescott's Regiment as a major and remained in that regiment until the end of 1776. From 1777 to 1780, he served as a lieutenant colonel in Col. Nathaniel Wade's Regiment and was commissioned colonel by brevet in 1783. He served in the Massachusetts General Court (1777-1780) and in the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention (1779). During Shays' Rebellion, he served as a colonel of the Massachusetts militia and was afterward promoted to brigadier general.

Deacon Zachariah Longley (1729-1815) was born in Groton, Massachusetts. He married Jemima Moors in 1753, and they had at least eleven children. He was admitted to the church in Groton in 1761 and chosen as a deacon in 1766. He served in the Revolutionary War as a quartermaster in Col. William Prescott's Massachusetts Regiment through 1775. He moved his family to Norridgewock, Maine, in 1781, and joined in religious activities there, though no formal church had yet been established. He helped to organize and then joined the Congregational church there in 1797. He died in Norridgewock.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8" x 4.75"
  • Medium: ALS

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