Settled in 1660 and incorporated in 1718, the town of Brookfield (Worcester County) straddles the Boston Post Road, one of the major arteries during the colonial period connecting Boston with the towns of the Connecticut River Valley and New York.

This assemblage of documents from Brookfield, Massachusetts, consists primarily of warrants for town meetings, many with agendas, that were issued to the Freeholders and Inhabitants through the constables. Concentrated in the 1770s, these warrants provide relatively detailed information on matters of local importance, including town finances, assessments, and the construction and maintenance of roadways and bridges. During the Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary years, however, issues of interest to the town were often wrapped up in regional or national politics. Town freeholders, for example, were called to consider requests to "come into any Vote or Resolve Respecting the East India Company Tea," the encouragement of manufacture of firearms, smallpox inoculation, and pay for the town's Minute Men or support for the families of servicemen.

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