Revolutionary War
Watertown, MA, May 17, 1775
One Month After Lexington-Concord and One Month Before Bunker Hill, Massachusetts Committee of Supplies Seeks to Purchase Flour Bound for Boston During Siege
ALS

[REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] David Cheever, Autograph Letter Signed, to John Thomas, May 17, 1775, Watertown, [Massachusetts]. 1 p., 7.75" x 6.375". General toning; old tape on one edge of verso

David Cheever of the Massachusetts Committee of Supplies sent this letter to General John Thomas at Roxbury, informing him that two vessels had arrived at Martha's Vineyard, bound for Boston, and they wanted him to detain the vessels, so that they could purchase the flour they carried.

Four days after the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress convened and resolved to raise a "Massachusetts Grand Army" of 13,600 men and appointed a five-member Committee of Supplies to collect and distribute the necessary food, fuel, tools, clothing, and shelter for the ad hoc army besieging the British troops in Boston. Charlestown distiller David Cheever served as the chairman of that committee, which also included Elbridge Gerry, Benjamin Lincoln, Moses Gill, and Benjamin Hall. The committee met in Watertown, about seven miles up the Charles River from Boston.

Complete Transcript
In Committee of Supplies Water Town May 17, 1775
Sir
We are informed that two Vessels are arrived at ye Vineyard bound for Boston with Flower & think it will be necessary to have ye same landed as soon as may in some port of ye Colony. We desire that ye Mate may not have a pass into Boston but be sent to this Committee that ye Flower may be purchased. We are truely
Sir your Friend & hume Sert
David Cheever ? order
To the Hone General Thomas

[Verso:]
[Endorsement by Thomas:]
From David Cheever 17 May 1775

David Cheever (1722-1815) was born in the province of Massachusetts Bay. He was a great-grandson of Ezekiel Cheever (1614-1708), a colonial headmaster of the Boston Latin School and author of the earliest American schoolbook, Accidence: A Short Introduction to the Latin Tongue (bef. 1650), which was reprinted in at least twenty editions by 1785. He became a major landowner and distiller in Charlestown. He served as one of the town selectmen from 1761 to 1768. He was a member of the Charlestown Committee of Correspondence from 1773. His brother Ezekiel Cheever (1718-1793) was a refiner of sugar and one of those disguised as Native Americans who boarded the tea ship in the Boston Tea Party in December 1773.

John Thomas (1724-1776) was born in the province of Massachusetts Bay and studied medicine with a physician before opening his own practice in Kingston. He married Hannah Thomas, with whom he had three children. During King George's War, he served as a surgeon with a regiment in Nova Scotia. During the French and Indian War, he had risen to the rank of colonel in the militia and served in Nova Scotia and in the capture of Montreal. In the early 1770s, he recruited a regiment of volunteers and served as their colonel. In February 1775, the state assembly named him a brigadier general. He led his troops in the siege of Boston at Roxbury. In June 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed him a brigadier general in the Continental Army. Offended that he was not named a major general, he resigned, but George Washington and Charles Lee convinced him to return to the army as the most senior brigadier general. In March 1776, he led his division to fortify Dorchester Heights. From that position, using cannon from Fort Ticonderoga provided by Colonel Henry Knox, Thomas threatened both the British in Boston and the British fleet, forcing the British to evacuate Boston on March 17. Thomas was promoted to major general and took command of the Canadian invasion at Quebec. He died of smallpox on June 2, 1776, during the American withdrawal from Canada.

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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