A receipt signed by John Hancock has returned to Royalston and a copy of it will be on display at the museum when it opens in the spring.
The receipt was spotted at an online auction in St. Petersburg, Fla., by Lorraine Casinghino and her husband, Robert Casinghino, who are both antique dealers as well as historical society members. “We are both constantly in search of Royalston-related historical items on and off line. We found the document and decided it might be something of great interest to the historical society. We discovered it on a Monday (in June) and the auction was on Saturday.” A dozen Royalston residents contributed donations to successfully acquire the item, signed by John Hancock.
According to research done for the historical society by Pierre Humblet, member of the Royalston Historical Society, the story of the receipt began in 1752 when the then Province of Massachusetts Bay auctioned land that is now Royalston to a group of investors known as the “Royalshire Proprietors.”
This group surveyed and developed the land, giving away about 6,000 acres to 60 settlers, on the condition that they farm or build mills on the lots. The proprietors also kept about a hundred 200-acre lots for themselves, which were sold once the town was well established. Most of these lots were eventually distributed to individual members but some were kept in common.
Twenty years later, on Jan. 14, 1773, the original proprietors or their successors, now named the proprietors of Royalston, met at the house of Joshua Bracket in Boston and voted to sell 300 acres of common land, to distribute the benefits from previous sales and from monies they had won in a lawsuit against the first miller at Doane’s Falls, who had not respected all his obligations.
The treasurer, Thomas Hubbard, also the treasurer of Harvard University, distributed the money, giving 30 pounds to John Hancock, who had inherited the share from his Uncle Thomas, who had purchased it from one of the original proprietors. John Hancock then wrote the receipt, stating he received the funds.
“We were pretty excited about it,” Casinghino said. “It’s a real good quality document. It’s always nice to have a Hancock document.”
The historical society is always interested in acquiring Royalston related items. Anyone who may be interested in donating an item can contact the society through their e-mail, rcasinghino@gmail.com
Carla Charter is a freelance writer from Phillipston. Her writing focuses on history with a particular interest in the history of the North Quabbin area. Contact her at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net.