Among the many grandiose inauguration rituals Governor Maura Healey participated in Thursday was the presentation of an vintage silver sword, supposedly solid by Paul Revere. So, you is perhaps questioning: How did this custom begin?
The sword itself has a storied historical past. On June 2, 1817, the Historic and Honorable Artillery Firm of Massachusetts, or AHAC, North America’s oldest chartered navy group, first offered the blade to John Brooks, a former Massachusetts governor and navy officer.
Lieutenant Chuck Fazio, the AHAC’s museum curator, mentioned it’s “an additional fancy sword” manufactured from both pure sterling or coin silver. There’s no precise casting date within the AHAC’s information, however its model is just like symbolic swords offered to troopers for excellent service through the American Revolution, Fazio mentioned. It’s laborious to estimate its worth, Fazio mentioned, as a result of there are few remaining swords to match it to.
“There are different fashions of this sword, however nothing fairly like this,” Fazio mentioned. “You’ll by no means see one other one prefer it.”
An inscription on one aspect of the scabbard notes the date the AHAC offered the sword to Brooks, and the opposite aspect reads: “TO HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN BROOKS, COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE MILITIA OF MASSACHUSETTS AND TWICE COMMANDER OF THE ANCIENT AND HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY. THIS SWORD IS MOST RESPECTFULLY PRESENTED BY THAT ANCIENT CORPS IN FULL CONFIDENCE THAT IT WILL BE WIELDED WITH GLORY AND SUCCESS IN WAR AND BE PRESERVED UNTARNISHED IN PEACE.” The scabbard additionally consists of an engraving of the state seal.
There’s no telling when and the way the governor’s sword presentation started, however Fazio guessed it may’ve began within the early 1900s. It’s modeled after the honorary ceremonies of navy items, through which a brand new commander is given a sword that holds some historic significance to the regiment.
“It’s the ceremony of the change of command,” Fazio mentioned. By wielding the sword, “[the officer] is being vested with the duties and obligations of [the] new workplace.”
Healey doesn’t maintain this relic, although; it goes again into the AHAC’s assortment till the subsequent inauguration.
As a substitute, Fazio mentioned the AHAC will present Healey with a newly engraved sword bought by the group practically a century in the past.
Tiana Woodard is a Report for America corps member masking Black neighborhoods. She might be reached at tiana.woodard@globe.com. Observe her on Twitter at @tianarochon.
