Magnificent ADS, one page, 8 x 4.75, August 5, 1784. Addressed from Boston and penned entirely in the hand of Paul Revere during his time stationed as commander of Castle Island in Boston Harbor. In full: “I certify that John Webster Diamond Served in the State Regiment of Artillery as a Sargent three years, to acceptance, & that the most part of the Time his Wife was with him at Castle Island, during which She behaved like a prudent good Woman.” Signed crisply at the conclusion by Revere. In fine condition, with light wrinkling, and archival repairs to split folds. This beautifully penned document dates to less than a year after the signing of the Treaty of Paris (September 3, 1783) and the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War.
Home to a fort protecting Boston Harbor, Castle Island had been the last British stronghold in Boston during the Revolution, held until the evacuation following General Washington's fortification of Dorchester Heights in March 1776. Though the British troops burned down the fort on their way out, the Continental Army quickly rebuilt it to be used as a crucial outpost in the defense of the harbor, where at times it was commanded by Revere. In 1785, the state legislature designated the fort as a prison, and, for the first time in Massachusetts, required that prisoners perform hard labor; they were chiefly occupied by making nails, and by 1792 there were 77 prisoners employed at the craft. A beautifully penned document from one of the Revolution’s most storied patriots.
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