1777

Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin, Baron von, 1730-1794

Autograph manuscript

Title: Les troupes des Etats unis sont en tout Environ 1200 hommes [in French]

Estimates men and costs of a regiment, as well as costs for the entire Continental Army. Page numbered 277.

GLC01059

July 10, 1778

Hosmer, Titus, 1736-1780

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Richard Law

Relays news that the Compte d' Estaing had set sail with a fleet for Delaware or Chesapeake Bay and that a British fleet has set out to intercept them. Today they were informed that d'Estaing arrived near Maryland three days earlier and set off for Sandy Hook. Notes that war had been declared in Paris against England and French troops were in transit toward America. Comments on the recent passage of the Articles of Confederation in Congress.

GLC01069

30 June 1781

Avery, John, 1739-1806

Broadside

Title: Resolutions [raising 2700 militia for General Washington]

Signed on p. 1 by Avery as Secretary. Docketed "Ipswich" on left margin of p.1

GLC00906

20 April 1775

Fullam, Phinehas T., fl. 1775

Autograph document signed

Title: [Attesting to Battle of Concord]

Fullam apparently was a postrider for a Committee of Safety, who, like Paul Revere, was employed to spread the news of Lexington and Concord and bring reinforcements. Says he saw the Battle of Concord with his own eyes and that he confirms about 200 died on both sides. Says 1500 regulars with artillery are on the march and that he is "to inform all the Troops that are on their March to Resort there as fast as possible." Later Fullam served in the Massachusetts militia.

GLC00869

28 October 1776

Ellsworth, Oliver, 1745-1807

Autograph document signed

Title: [Connecticut document ordering payment for guarding, moving & feeding Continental POW's]

Co-signed by Hartford mayor Thomas Seymour and Connecticut Treasurer John Lawrence. Countersigned by Moses Kimball on verso when he received payment and E. Plummer who audited the payment. Seymour and Ellsworth were members of the Connecticut Committee of Four, also called the Pay-Table, which handled finances for Connecticut during the Revolution. This document provides payment to Moses Kimball for the purchase of saltpetre. Also gives Kimball money to pay Prosper Whitmore for guarding, transporting, and feeding Continental prisoners.

GLC00873

19 August 1776

Ellsworth, Oliver, 1745-1807

Autograph document signed

Title: [Receipt for Cyprian Collins]

Signed by Ellsworth as member of Connecticut Pay-table Committee. To John Lawrence as Treasurer of Connecticut and co-signed by committee member Thomas Seymour. Receipt for Cyprian Collins for four pounds, four shillings for riding express from the Northern Army to Governor John Trumbull. Countersigned on verso by Cyprian Collins that he received the money. Also countersigned by E. Plummer, who audited the payment on 1 September 1777.

GLC00874

6 May 1775

Ellsworth, Oliver, 1745-1807

Document signed

Title: [Receipt for Brigadier General Joseph Spencer]

Signed by Ellsworth as a member of the Connecticut Pay-table Committee. Co-signed with fellow members William Pitkin, Thomas Seymour, and Ezekiel Williams. To John Laurence, the Treasurer of Connecticut. Receipt is to pay Brigadier General Joseph Spencer 150 pounds, as he is paymaster of the First Company of the Second Regiment that is to be raised in Connecticut. Countersigned by Spencer on verso that he received the money. Marked that it was audited 13 May 1776.

GLC00875

11 June 1779

Broadside

Title: To the inhabitants of the United States of America

With notes on verso: "West Springfield" and calculations. Evans 16637. Printed by order of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, printing a congressional resolution for a $45 million requisition, approved by Jay as President of Congress.

GLC00882

30 July 1779

Hopkinson, Francis, 1737-1791

Document signed

Title: [Pay order receipt for Jonathan Dana]

Countersigned by Nathaniel Appleton, commissioner of the Continental Loan Office. Orders payment to Jonathan Dana of 18 dollars for interest on money borrowed by the United States. Marked as number 181. On verso there are two notes. One states pay the contents to Captain Simeon Samson, the other is signed by Simeon Samson and requests payment go to Captain Corbin Barr. Signed by Hopkinson as Treasurer of Loans and endorsed by Jonathan Dana on the verso.

GLC00883

August 4, 1791

Laurens, Henry, 1724-1792

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Samuel Johnston

Letter written by Laurens, former Continental Congressman and diplomat, in retirement attempting to restore his properties ravaged by the Revolution. He replies to Johnston, a U.S. Senator from North Carolina, about a request for papers. States that he asked a friend to search through the remains of his papers from the Revolutionary War to find what Johnston requested. The papers in question concerned a letter of administration of Johnston, the King's Warrant, and payment transactions with Peter Elmsely. He writes that most of his papers were destroyed by the British in 1780 during the…

GLC00892

5 June 1781

Livingston, William, 1723-1790

Document signed

Title: An Act to preserve buildings in this State belonging to the United States from being destroyed and for the Punishment of those that shall seize on or injure the same.

Signed by William Livingston as Governor of New Jersey. Countersigned by Josiah Hornblower, Speaker of the New Jersey House of Representatives. Endorsed on verso near docket by Bowes Reed and Maskell Ewing, clerks of the Assembly, stating the document was read three times and has passed the House. Resolution written because of Congressional recommendations of 3 July 1779 asked the various states to preserve buildings owned by the United States. Says any person convicted of damaging or destroying a building or fortress owned by the United States will pay no more than a 20 pound fine and…

GLC00904

January 23, 1776

Massachusetts Colony Legislature

Broadside

Title: By the Great and General Court of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay: A Proclamation.

This document explains the Revolutionary views of the House of Representatives of the colony of Massachusetts Bay. The writing covers the philosophy behind Massachusetts as a colony and as a free state. Signed at end: "God Save the People"

GLC00905

March 8, 1788

Brearly, David, 1745-1790

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Jonathan Dayton

One future signer of the U.S. Constitution to another. Brearly (also: "Brearley"), writing as Chief Justice of New Jersey, sends Dayton, then a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, a scale (not included) determined by the New Jersey legislature "for making compensation to the Troops for the depreciation of their pay." Docketed by Dayton on otherwise blank integral leaf.

GLC00916

December 16, 1782

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Letter signed

Title: to William Stephens Smith

Letter in hand of aide-de-camp Benjamin Walker, and written to Smith, the Commissary of Prisoners to the Army. References Smith's letter from December 12, 1782. Thanks him for intelligence it contains. Disagrees with Smith's assessment on Dobbs Ferry. Says it can withstand a small surprise attack and that it was never designed to deal with a large attack. Says the daily intercourse between the inhabitants "of the lower country" with the enemy is alarming and should be broken up. Would like suggestions on how to do that. At this point, after the American victory at Yorktown, Dobbs Ferry was…

GLC00949

September 26, 1818

Adams, John, 1735-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Caesar Augustus Rodney

Letter discusses revolutions in South America, and mentions memories of James Otis. Rodney had just returned from South America

GLC00922

7 June 1790

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Printed document signed

Title: [Joint resolution of congress for paying veterans of the American Revolution]

Signed by Jefferson as Secretary of State.

GLC00953

August 11, 1780

Greene, Nathanael, 1742-1786

Letter signed

Title: to Clement Biddle

Greene sends Biddle a copy of the resolution appointing Timothy Pickering Quarter Master General of the Continental Army (not included), which occurred after Greene was forced out of the position into retirement. Discusses his resignation and his worries about the consequences of the change for the current military campaign. He asks Biddle for an account of debts from his department. Letter written at Camp Tappan.

GLC00954

1790

Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804

Pamphlet

Title: Report... relative to... the support of the public credit...

Folio. Evans 22998 (2298?). Authored by Hamilton, called by DAB "one of his greatest state papers." First printing. Bookplate of Jolen [Johanne] White and ownership signature of William Henderson, a New York Federalist, manufacturer and friend of Hamilton. The Secretary argued for assumption of both foreign debts and state debts incurred during the Revoltion. The vigorous debates were only resolved when Jefferson and Madison permitted assumption in exchange for moving the capital to the Potomac.

GLC00960

1774

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Pamphlet

Title: A summary view of the rights of British America

8vo. 2d edition reprinted by Dunlap. Evans 11351, Howes J79, Sabin 35918, Streeter Sale 2: 754. With authorship noted on titlepage in a contemporary hand. There are twenty copies of Dunlap's printing recorded. Seminal for Jefferson's thoughts recorded in the Declaration of Independence and said to have brought him to the attention of delegates as a talented writer.

GLC00962

December 10, 1778

Lee, Francis Lightfoot, 1734-1797

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Arthur Lee

Francis Lightfoot Lee warns his brother, then on a diplomatic mission with Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane to obtain aid from France during the American Revolution, about the intrigue surrounding the recently recalled Deane. Indicates that Deane has formed a faction within Congress determined to "remove all the old friends of Liberty & Independence." Comments that he does not know Deane's specific intentions but suggests that he arm himself with "the means necessary, both for attack & defence."

GLC00975

March 1, 1776

Walton, George, 1740-1804

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William Goddard

Walton writes about defense preparations in Georgia. He advises that a full board of devoted men has been assembled and are in very good spirits. Indicates that they have prepared several fire vessels to defend against the British navy and erected a small battery below the town. He states that no rice ships will be allowed to sail until the Continental Congress is fully resolved. Letter addressed to Goddard as the Inspector General of the Constitutional Post Office. Upper left corner is torn.

GLC00977

September 19, 1774

Rodney, Caesar, 1728-1784

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas Rodney

Written by Rodney, an eventual signer of the Declaration of Independence, as Speaker of the Delaware Assembly to an unknown recipient, most likely Thomas Rodney. Says he wrote recipient on September 17, 1774. Says he was probably concerned about a report of the British firing on Boston. Says Philadelphia's bells rang all day when that news arrived, but that it proved to be false a few days later. When expresses were sent out from Boston to say it was false, the riders came upon 50,000 men in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Says if the men were not armed, they were carrying provisions for…

GLC00983

March 9, 1779

Hancock, John, 1737-1793

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Joseph Clarke

Hancock writes to Treasurer Clarke that he must deny his request for a loan, as the state is too burdened with debt. " ... the Situation of our publick Funds, & the large Calls for Money by Loans for the Service of the State, makes it impossible to obtain Loans for any other purposes."

GLC00987

10 May 1776

Massachusetts Bay Council

Printed document signed

Title: [Appointment of Thomas Dingley as Massachusetts militia captain]

Partially printed document signed by Perez Morton as deputy secretary of the council. Other signers from the Massachusetts Bay Council included: James Otis, W. Spooner, Caleb and Thomas Cushing, B. Chadborn, Moses Gill, John Whitcomb, Jedediah Forster, Michael Farley, James Prescott, John Winthrop, B. White, and Dr. Samuel Holten. Appoints Dingley to the 13th company, in the 2nd regiment of militia from Plymouth County, commanded by Colonel John Cushing. Includes a paper seal.

GLC00993

25 July 1775

Warren, James, 1726-1808

Document signed

Title: [Appointment of Second Lieutenant Enos Briggs]

Document of the Congress of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay appoints Enos Briggs a second lieutenant of a Company of Foot. Signed by James Warren, President of the Congress and Samuel Freeman, Secretary of the Congress. On verso is note written by John Cushing, Jr., Justice of the Peace in Plymouth, that Briggs took the oath required by officers and soldiers of the Massachusetts Army on 2 September 1775.

GLC00994