Documents

Title:

Warrant for the Marine Committee

Object Name:

Documents

Creator:

Unknown

Date:

April11,1777

Material:

Ink on paper

Dimensions:

H-4.75 L-21 Dia-7 inches

Description:

Framed warrant for the marine committee, appointed by Congress to equip the fleet of the United States, commissions Mr. Edward Brooks as chaplain of the Ship Hancock. Signed by John Hancock in Boston, April 11, 1777. (Hancock's signature may be printed.) On the back is a handwritten note that Brooks was appointed Justice of the Peace of Middlesex County, MA on June 18, 1778. Frame is simple black.

Transcription
WARRANT
The Marine Committee appointed by Congress to equip and fit out the Fleet of the United Colonies (States), having received such Recommendations as satisfy them, that you
Edward Brooks are duly qualified for the Office of a Chaplain. WE have therefore appointed you the said Edward Brooks to be a Chaplain on board the Ship Hancock herby giving you full Power to execute the Office aforesaid agreeable to the Rules and Regulations of the Sea Service, and such Orders as you may receive from your [ ] Officers. And for your so doing, this shall be your [ ] warrant.
John Hancock
Dated at Boston April The Eleventh amni Domaini 1777

Provenance:

Reverend Edward Brooks was born on October 31, 1733 in Medford, Massachusetts to Samuel Brooks and Mary Boutwell. Edward graduated from Harvard College in 1757 and was ordained on July 4, 1764 at North Yarmouth, Maine. A couple months later, Edward married Abigail Brown on September 23, 1764. Together they had four children: Cotton Brown, Mary, Peter Chardon, and Joanna Cotton. In November 1768, Brooks resigned from the church. It is often claimed that the congregational minister was the first chaplain to serve in the Continental Navy, although some evidence suggest that Reverend John Reed served on the frigate Warren as early as February 1777. On April 12, 1777, a Marine Committee warrant appointed Brooks to serve as Chaplain for the ship Hancock. The Hancock was one of the first thirteen frigates of the Continental Navy authorized by the Continental Congress on December 13, 1775. The frigate was placed under the command of Captain John Manley on April 17, 1776 and the ship launched on July 4, 1776. On July 8, 1777, the Hancock was captured by the British 44-gun Rainbow and 32-gun Flora after a 39 hour chase. Brooks was carried to Halifax as a prisoner of war with 228 other officers and contracted smallpox. Edward Brooks left Halifax on January 29, 1778 and returned home to Medford in February. He died at the age of 48 on May 6, 1781.
A chaplain is a minister attached to a secular institution. In this case, Edward Brooks was the minister to those on the frigate Hancock.

Subjects:

warrant, Documents, Navy

People:

Brooks, Edward, Hancock, John

Place of Origin:

Boston

Collection Name:

Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Hampshire

Item Number:

1988.035

Accession Number:

1988.035

Type of Material:

Objects

Copyright Statement:

For information regarding copyright, permissions, and reproductions contact the American Independence Museum

Participating Organization:

American Independence Museum