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Massachusetts soldier (1739–1817) and captain of a company of minutemen who answered the Lexington alarm in April 1775 and was present at the Battle of Bunker Hill; he went on to serve as an officer in the Continental Army and the Massachusetts Militia through 1779. Revolutionary War-era third-person ADS, signed within the text, "Jacob Gerrish," one page, 7.5 x 3.5, April 17, 1775 (Newbury, Massachusetts). Pay order issued to Abraham Adams, the father of Nathaniel Adams, which reads: “Please to deliver Jacob Gerrish the bearer hereof three gallons of west India Rum and Charge it to my Acc’t.” Signed at the conclusion by Nathaniel Adams. A receipt notation is penned on the reverse. In fine condition.
This impressive document is dated one day before Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride and two days before the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first major military actions between the British Army and Patriot militias during the American Revolutionary War. On this date, April 17, 1775, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety prepared for the war that was coming, though they didn’t know shots would be fired within 48 hours.
Three days earlier, the military governor of the province, Gen. Thomas Gage, was secretly ordered to use all necessary force to suppress open rebellion among the colonists. The Committee of Safety had appointed men to watch the war stores, fearing Gage would try to capture them. They kept teams ready to remove the war stores and provided couriers — such as Paul Revere — to warn the towns if the British army moved.
On April 17th, the Committee met in Concord at Daniel Taylor’s house, now known as the Wright Tavern, to appoint men to command artillery companies and to prepare for imminent conflict with Britain. Led by prominent patriots including John Hancock, the committees organized the arming and leadership of artillery and militia companies across the colony, assigning captains and instructors, setting pay rates, and arranging the mounting and transport of cannons and mortars to strategic locations such as Concord, Groton, and Acton. Their actions reflected a clear readiness for war, as they coordinated military resources and planned to reconvene in the village of Menotomy (now Arlington) two days later.
