The Eighteenth-Century Records of the Boston Overseers of the Poor

Between 1735 to 1925, the Boston Overseers of the Poor served as a panel of private citizen appointed by the Boston Town Meeting to supervise poor relief and, according to Nellis (emeritus, history, U. of British Columbia, Canada) and Cecere (former associated editor of the Adams Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society, US), their historical significance lies in their legacy of a public institutional approach to public aid. This volume reproduces the 18th century manuscript records of the Overseers (approximately ten percent of the entire documentary collection held by the Massachusetts Historical Society) with the exception of the Warning Out lists and the Workhouse pay lists, both of which are therefore summarized in the introduction. Documents presented include the Almshouse census and inventory of 1756, Almshouse admissions from 1758 to 1771, Almshouse births and deaths from 1756 to 1790, children bound out from 1756 to 1790, the Overseers' finances from 1738 to 1769, and miscellaneous financial documents. Also included are the texts of legislative acts that set the institutional context for the activities of the Overseers and list the identities of elected Overseers for the 18th century. Distributed in the US by the U. of Virginia Press. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Eric G. Nellis is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Anne Decker Cecere is Secretary of the Association for Documentary Editing and formerly an Associate Editor of the Adams Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society.