The house served as the headquarters of General George Washington for a night following the evacuation of Boston. Washington paid £9.18.7 for use of the home on April 4 to 5, 1776. Dexter had retired to Connecticut by this point, but his fellow Governor's Councilor Joshua Henshaw was living at the house. The house also contained all but two books of records from the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds. They had been removed from Boston to protect them during the military occupation of the capital.