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Ink manuscript on paper, 1 page or more each. Approx. 34x21 cm (13½x8¼") or a bit smaller.

The poor and indigent of Reading, Massachusetts, were indentured as servants and apprentices to the citizenry of nearby towns, to alleviate their situation, as in this 1769 document: "...Select-men of the Town of Reading - Do put and bind out Charles Hobby of Reading abovesaid, a minor and one of the poor of said town, undo Richard Billings of Boston... to learn his art trade or mystery of a Taylor which he now useth and with him after the manner of an apprentice to serve from the day of the date hereof for and during the term of four years and fourteen days (or until he come to the age of twenty one years)..." A fascinating series of documents giving insight into colonial and early Unites States societal and economic organization. There are three documents from the eighteenth century, dated 1769, 1770 and 1786, with the rest from between 1804 and 1813.