THE NAVY OF MASSACHUSETTS
Amory’s James Sullivan. 2 vols. Boston, 1859.
Throws some light upon Massachusetts’s prize courts.
Austin’s Elbridge Gerry. 2 vols. Boston, 1828-29.
Contains information in respect to prize courts.
Boston Gazette for 1775-1783. Boston.
Of the highest value for the cruises, engagements, and prizes of the Massachusetts navy.
Clowes. W. L. Royal Navy. 7 vols. Boston and London, 1897-1903.
Volume IV contains an account of the naval battle at the mouth of the Penobscot.
Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser for 1775-1783. Boston.
Supplements the Boston Gazette.
Goodell, Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts. 5 vols. 1869-86.
Volume V contains the legislation of Massachusetts with reference to prize courts. The notes to the laws are a valuable guide to the sources of the events which led to the passage of the laws.
Maclay, E. S. History of American Privateering. New York, 1899.
Of value for the Revolutionary privateers of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Historical Society Collections. 67 vols. Boston, 1792-1894.
Contains references to the Penobscot expedition.
Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings. 30 vols. Boston, 1859-94.
Contains information upon the Penobscot expedition.
Massachusetts, Journals of the House of Representatives for 1775-1783.
Contemporaneous print. Incomplete. The journals found in the state library may be supplemented by those found in the library of the Boston Athenaeum.
Massachusetts, Records of the Council for 1775-1776.
Are printed in part in Force’s American Archives.
Massachusetts, Journals of the Third Provincial Convention, 1775.
Are printed in Force’s American Archives. The chief sources for the early civil history of the Massachusetts navy are the Journals of the Third Provincial Convention, Journals of the House, Records of the Council, and the Resolves of the General Court.
Massachusetts, Records of the General Court for 1775-1783. MSS.
Supplements the Journals and the Resolves.
Massachusetts Resolves, for 1775-1783.
Contemporaneous print. A most valuable source. Most of the naval legislation of Massachusetts was passed in the form of Resolves, and not Laws.
Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, MSS.
A very extensive and valuable source. Many volumes contain material relating to the navy. Volumes XXXIX, XL, and XLIV have the greatest value. They contain the rolls of naval vessels, letters of officers, and miscellaneous papers. Volume CXLV has many documents relating to the Penobscot expedition. The Archives are rich in material relating to privateers. The Board of War Letters, Board of War Minutes, and Board of War Orders contain much naval material. An Index compiled by Justin Winsor affords a valuable key to the Archives.
Pickering and Upham’s Timothy Pickering. 4 vols. Boston, 1867, 1874.
Of value for the work of the Massachusetts prize courts.
Virginia Gazette for 1779. Williamsburg.
Prints a valuable letter about Massachusetts privateers.
Weymouth Historical Society Publications. 2 vols. Boston, 1881-85.
Volume I gives the best account of the Penobscot expedition, and prints the original Journal of General Solomon Lovell kept on the expedition.
Winsor, Justin. Narrative and Critical History of the United States. 8 vols. Boston and New York, 1884-89.
Article on the Revolutionary navy by E. E. Hale, in Volume VI, contains information on the Massachusetts navy. Valuable bibliography.
Works of John Adams. 10 vols. Boston, 1856.
Gives John Adams’s opinion of the Massachusetts statute establishing privateering.