Description:

Benjamin Chew
Philadelphia, PA, May 5, 1794
Benjamin Chew of the Pennsylvania High Court of Errors & Appeals Writes to Delaware Attorney General Nicholas Ridgely Re: Legal Matters, Ex-Forbes
ALS
BENJAMIN CHEW, Autograph Letter Signed, to Nicholas Ridgely, May 5, 1794, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1 p., 8" x 12.5". Expected folds; general toning; damage on original opening of wax seal, affecting three lines of text. Ex-Collection of Steve Forbes.

In this letter, Judge Benjamin Chew asks Delaware Attorney General Nicholas Ridgely to attend to several cases for him in Delaware courts.

Complete Transcript

"Dear Sir
Manlove Emerson having lately inform'd me that you you [sic] were of opinion it was essentially necessary that Govey Emersons Bonds to me shou'd be produc'd & laid before the referees in order to adjust & ascertain the accounts between Jacob Emerson and his surviving Brothers, & that no Copies of them wou'd serve the purpose I now inclose & commit them to your Care, with the Probates indors'd & the monies I have used on them. I fully intended to have been at Dover this Week & to have brought them myself but am prevented by other Buisiness. Be so good as to acknowledge by a Line the receit of the Bonds. J E. Johns & J Vining are Witnesses to Jas Smiths acknowledging that he had receiv'd more on the Bonds out of which I was to be paid by Contract than the amount of the Dts due to me from him & as both these Gent are now at Dover I hope you will put an End to my Suit against him. Be pleas'd to inform me whether [lost text] been reced on my Suit agst Bunkle's Admrs reviv'd some Time since by Sc. facs on an old Judgt & when I may expect to receive the Dts & Int. due on Rd Smiths Bond the account of which I formerly gave you a State of. I am Sr
Your most hble Servt
Benjamin Chew
Phila May 5, 1794
Nichs Ridgely Esqr."

Benjamin Chew (1722-1810) was born in Maryland into a Quaker family on his father's plantation and began to read law at age 15 in the Philadelphia office of Andrew Hamilton, former Pennsylvania attorney general and speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He continued his legal training in London at the Middle Temple. He returned to Pennsylvania in 1744 and began practicing law in Dover, Delaware. In 1747, he went against Quaker tradition by taking the Oath of Attorney in Pennsylvania. In 1754, he moved to Philadelphia and continued to practice law in both Pennsylvania and Delaware for the rest of his life. He represented William Penn's descendants and their proprietorships for more than sixty years. He also invested in land in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. He served as speaker of the Lower House for the Delaware Counties (1753-1758, attorney general and member of the Council of Pennsylvania (1754-1769), recorder of Philadelphia (1755-1774), and master of rolls (1755-1774). From 1757 to 1791, he was a trustee of the College of Philadelphia, which became the University of Pennsylvania. He later served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (1774-1777) and a judge and the president of the Pennsylvania High Court of Errors and Appeals (1791-1808). During the Revolutionary War, as a Quaker, he did not support active revolution.

Nicholas Ridgely (1762-1830) was born in Dover, Delaware, and read law under Judge Robert Goldsborough at Cambridge, Maryland. He was admitted to the Delaware bar in 1787. From 1791 to 1801, he served as attorney general of Delaware, and he also played a leading role in the state constitutional convention of 1791-1792. In December 1801, Chancellor William Killen resigned, and Ridgely was appointed to succeed him. As Chancellor of Delaware from December 1801 until his death in April 1830, Ridgely effectively created the rules, practice, and general principles for chancery jurisprudence in Delaware for the next century.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8" x 12.5"
  • Medium: ALS

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