Partly-printed DS, signed "John Hancock" as governor and "S. Adams" as lieutenant governor, one page both sides, 11 x 16.75, March 17, 1788. As governor of Massachusetts, Hancock appoints "Eleazer Brooks of Lincoln Esq'r to be one of the Justices to keep the Peace in our County of Middlesex, for the term of Seven years." Prominently signed in the upper left by Governor Hancock below the commonwealth's large paper seal, and countersigned at the conclusion by John Avery as secretary. A manuscript statement on the reverse affirming Brooks's oath of office is boldly endorsed by Lieutenant Governor Adams. Framed and in very good condition, with small areas of paper loss along intersecting folds, and old tape repairs affecting appearance but not the signatures.
Eleazer Brooks distinguished himself as an officer in one of Lincoln's militia regiments during the Revolutionary War, rising to the rank of brigadier general in 1778. As a politician, he served as a member of the Committee of Correspondence, a member of the Provincial Congress, a member of the General Court, and a member of the state's Committee on Secrecy, in addition to his role as justice of the peace. As an appointment for a noteworthy figure of the Revolution, signed by two of the nation's esteemed 'founding fathers,' this is an outstanding piece of early American history.
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