Shrewsbury Town Hall To Display Declaration Of Independence Reproduction

SHREWSBURY, MA — A historically accurate reproduction of the Declaration of Independence will soon be displayed at Shrewsbury Town Hall.

State Rep. Hannah Kane (R - 11th Worcester) and state Sen. Michael Moore (D-2nd Worcester) delivered a framed reproduction of the Declaration of Independence during Tuesday's Select Board meeting. This comes as part of Massachusetts’ effort to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. by distributing copies of the document to all 351 cities and towns in the state.

Subscribe

The effort recreates a Massachusetts tradition dating to 1776, when copies of the Declaration were read aloud in every town. At the time, the state asked ministers to read the Declaration from their pulpits and town clerks to handwrite the text into town record books.

The reproductions were made by Westborough resident Gary Gregory at the Museum of Printing in Haverhill using 18th-century printing techniques, according to the town. The copy is modeled after the Ezekiel Russell Declaration of Independence printed in Salem in July 1776 and was printed on linen and cotton paper meant to resemble the original copies.

Shrewsbury also has a connection to the Declaration through Gen. Artemas Ward, who received a copy from John Hancock, then president of the Continental Congress, to read aloud to his troops.

“The enclosed Declaration of Independence, I am directed to transmit to you with a request that you will have it proclaimed at the head of the Troops under your Command, in the Way you shall think most proper,” Hancock wrote to Ward on July 6, 1776.

The framed reproduction will be placed on display at Town Hall.

See Also:

• Shrewsbury Ice Cream Shop Lands On MA Ice Cream Trail
• National Real Estate Investment Firm Buys Shrewsbury Industrial Park