State of Massachusetts Bay Bond - June 1, 1779 dated Colonial Bond
Inv# CD1002 Bond
State treasurer’s office £15 bond with interest at 6%. “Massachusetts State Lottery, Class the Fourth.” Signed by the Treasurer, Henry Gardner. The bottom border reads “DEATH TO COUNTERFEIT THIS” Early!! Rare!! Front and back shown.
Henry Gardner Sr. (1731-October 7, 1782) was an American politician who held the positions of Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. In 1774, the Provisional Congress of Massachusetts appointed him receiver general and treasurer. Gardner resided in Stow, Massachusetts, but relocated to Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1778, the same year he married Hannah Clap, a native of Dorchester. Together, they had two children.
In 1774, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress appointed Gardner as the treasurer of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Later, in 1780, upon the adoption of the new state constitution, he was appointed the first treasurer and receiver general of the State of Massachusetts. He served in this position until his passing on October 7, 1782. Notably, Gardner’s grandson, also named Henry Gardner, held the esteemed position of Governor of Massachusetts during the 1850s.
The State of Massachusetts Bay, formally known as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, originated from two distinct 17th-century English settlements. In 1620, the Pilgrims established Plymouth Colony, seeking religious freedom and signing the historic Mayflower Compact. A decade later, in 1630, a larger group of Puritans led by John Winthrop founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop envisioned this new settlement as a “City upon a Hill,” a shining example of a godly society.
For decades, the two colonies operated independently, deeply shaping early American culture. They emphasized strict religious devotion, town hall meetings, and education, leading to the founding of Harvard College in 1636.
The political identity of the region underwent a significant shift in 1691 when King William III and Queen Mary II issued a new royal charter. This charter officially merged the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and the Province of Maine into a single entity called the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
Throughout the 18th century, this unified colony became a center of American resistance against British colonial policies. Pivotal events like the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre directly contributed to the American Revolutionary War, which officially began on Massachusetts soil at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775.
Following the war, the state adopted the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, the world’s oldest functioning written constitution. It then entered the Union as the sixth U.S. state in 1788.
A bond is a document of title for a loan. Bonds are issued, not only by businesses, but also by national, state or city governments, or other public bodies, or sometimes by individuals. Bonds are a loan to the company or other body. They are normally repayable within a stated period of time. Bonds earn interest at a fixed rate, which must usually be paid by the undertaking regardless of its financial results. A bondholder is a creditor of the undertaking.
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