Description:

Morris Lewis 1726 - 1798 Declaration signer Lewis Morris DS: "Damn the consequences. Give me the pen."

Single page partially printed signed document on The State of New York letterhead, 7.5" x 5.75", inlaid to another sheet to a completed size of 8.5" x 8". Dated "Novem 29th, 1784" and boldly signed in full signature "Lewis Morris".

Morris signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continental Congress from New York. His ancestral roots started with his great-grandfather, Richard Morris (died 1672), who had immigrated to New York through Barbados after being part of Oliver Cromwell's army in the English Civil War of 1648. He purchased the first tract of land of what would ultimately be in the Bronx.

When active revolution began, he was a member of the New York Provincial Congress, the revolutionary government, from 1775 until 1777. That body, in turn, sent Morris to the Continental Congress for those same years. While in Congress, he was an active supporter of independence, and signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. When warned by his half-brother, Governor Morris of the consequences that would follow his signing of the rebellious document, Morris stated, "Damn the consequences. Give me the pen."

Beginning on July 1, 1783, he returned to the New York State Senate, and served in the 7th Legislature through to the end of the 13th Legislature, ending on June 30, 1790. In 1788, when the New York convention met to ratify the U.S. Constitution, he was one of the delegates.

This lovely signed document in highly collectible condition, boasts strong contrasting ink with a bold signature. The content of which reflects a payment receipt for payment allowance for traveling days for a member of the Senate at the rate of 16 pounds per day. Such allowances and the amount allowed later became a subject of controversy between the parties.

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