1754-1785
Guide to the Collection
Restrictions on Access
This collection is available on microfilm (P-43) and as color digital facsimiles. Price's receipt book is not included in the microfilm copy. Use of the originals is restricted.
Abstract
This collection consists of the papers of Ezekiel Price (1727-1802), primarily the records of the Society for Encouraging Trade and Commerce within the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
Biographical Sketch
Ezekiel Price (1727-1802) was an attorney and clerk of the Court of the Common Pleas and Sessions in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. After the American Revolution, Price worked as a notary republic, magistrate, and chairman of the Board of Selectmen for the town of Boston. He was also a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society from 1793 until his death at age 74.
Collection Description
This collection consists primarily of the records of the Society for Encouraging Trade and Commerce within the Province of Massachusetts Bay, a society of Boston merchants of which Ezekiel Price was a member. Included are petitions to England and letters relating to trade regulations in the American colonies prior to the Revolution, the non-importation agreement, the Stamp Act, and regulations regarding fishing. Also included are the society's regulations and lists of members, subscriptions, plans, and other papers related to the employment of poor women and children at a linen manufactory; accounts of lumber and fish exported to the West Indies and other goods imported from England; Price's receipt book of insurance transactions, 1764-1774; and papers related to Boston town meetings and to deserters from a French squadron in Boston Harbor during the Revolution (1781). Correspondents include Edward Payne, William Bollan, and Thomas Gray.
Arrangement Note
This collection is arranged by page numbers listed in the table of contents, located in box 1, folder 1.
This collection was microfilmed in 1968. One document dated [1759 Nov. 19] was microfilmed two times and appears in two locations on the microfilm. The receipt book was not microfilmed. In addition, two issues of the New York Gazette listed in the table of contents (documents 75 and 76) are not present in the physical collection or microfilm. It is possible that they were removed and integrated into the MHS printed or newspaper collections.
The arrangement of the digital collection reflects the arrangement of the physical collection.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Ezekiel Price, August 1792. Receipt book acquired in June 1962.
Restrictions on Access
This collection is available on microfilm (P-43) and as color digital facsimiles. Price's receipt book is not included in the microfilm copy. Use of the originals is restricted.
Other Formats
This collection is available on microfilm (P-43) and as color digital facsimiles. Price's receipt book is not included in the microfilm copy.
Detailed Description of the Collection
Contents
There are two manuscript lists of documents in the collection. The second manuscript list (folder 1, images 3-4) is more detailed than the first manuscript list (folder 1, image 2). Most of the documents in this collection were numbered, and these document numbers usually appear in upper right corners.
Documents 1-10, pages 1-38
Documents 11-20, pages 39-68
Documents 21-25, pages 69-82
Document 24 appears before 23.
Documents 26-30, pages 83-110
Documents 31-35, pages 111-140
Documents 36-40, pages 141-162
Pages 159 and 160 are attached to page 161.
Documents #41-45, pages 163-182
Document 44 was removed to Mss. Large (1 January 1762, 1 January 1763) but appears in sequence in the digitized images.
Documents 46-50, pages 183-192
Documents 49 and 50 were removed to Mss. Large (15 March 1768) but appear in sequence in the digitized images.
Documents 51-55, pages 199-218
Documents 56-60, pages 219-238
Documents 61-65, pages 239-254
Documents 66-70, pages 255-276
Documents 71-75, pages 277-292
There is no document 75 on the microfilm or physical collection as of 2015. (See arrangement note.)
Documents 76-80, pages 255-276
There is no document 76 on the microfilm or physical collection as of 2015. (See arrangement note.)
Documents 81-85, pages 303-336
Documents 86-90, pages 335a-338a, 341-354
Documents 91-95, pages 355-372
Documents 96-100, pages 373-386
Document 98 was removed to the Hancock family papers (Ms. N-2215) but appears in sequence in the digitized images.
Documents 101-103
Pagination of documents from this folder and beyond is inconsistent.
Document 104, The memorial of the corporation of the chamber of commerce... [1785]
This broadside was removed from the collection.
Document 105, Gentlemen, as a committee of correspondence of the city of New York... [1785]
This broadside was removed from the collection.
Receipt book, 1764-1774
Please note: All pages within the receipt book have been numbered in pencil in their upper corners. Some pages are stubs (small pages remaining after receipts were detached), and some pages are undetached receipts. If a digital image depicts content with two visible handwritten page numbers, this means that a stub page and also an undetached receipt page from a later part of the volume are both visible in the image.
One leaf (pp. 155-156) is attached to stub p. 157. This leaf appears folded in every other image between images 143-196, and it appears open in images 159-160.
Preferred Citation
Ezekiel Price papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.
Persons:
Organizations:
Subjects:
Materials Removed from the Collection
Oversize materials from this collection have been removed to Mss. Large. One letter by John Hancock removed to the Hancock family papers (Ms. N-2215).