Reading of Declaration of Independence and Watertown Treaty

The Historical Society of Watertown
Invites you to
The Reading of the Declaration of Independence
And
Celebration of the Treaty of Watertown
Saturday July 18, 2009 at 10:00 A.M.
At the Edmund Fowle House and Museum
28 Marshall Street, Watertown, MA 02472
It was July 18, 1776 and a copy of the Declaration of Independence had just arrived from the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia. It was sent by John Hancock to the Provincial Congress, Governors’ Council headquartered in Watertown at the Edmund Fowle House. That day it was read to the gathered population and Council members by the Secretary of the Council from the second floor window of the Council Chamber. Following the reading there were rousing cheers and many toasts to the New Republic. In the gathered crowd were members of the delegations from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia here to negotiate a treaty of friendship and alliance with the new United States of America. Ambrose Var, delegate of the Maliseet Tribe, was quoted as saying “We like it well.” The very next day he and other members of the St. John's, aka Maliseet, and Mi'kmaq Tribes signed the Treaty of Watertown in the very same Council Chamber making it the first treaty signed by the United States with a foreign power.
Fast forward 233 years and we are going to read the Declaration of Independence from the newly restored Council Chamber window again. You are invited to be part of this historic event and celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Watertown as well. Following the reading we will have light refreshments and you will be able to walk through the famous Council Chambers, where the Founding Fathers began the planning of our new nation. Members of various Colonial reenactment units and Native American guests will be in attendance to mark this annual event and we hope you can come and bear witness to this historic moment.
For further information and directions see www.HistoricWatertown.org or call Robert Childs at 617-331-2072.

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