Description:

Future Secretary of the Treasury Witnesses Bond for Paymaster of Connecticut Brigade in Continental Army

This bond for £4,000 obligated Colonel Aaron Austin to pay that amount if he did not "truly and faithfully" fulfill the office of paymaster for the new levies from the Sixth Brigade of Militia that served in the Continental Army.

[OLIVER WOLCOTT JR.]. Partially Printed Document Signed, Paymaster's Bond for Aaron Austin, April 4, 1781, Connecticut. Signed by Austin and Uriah Seymour; witnessed by Wolcott. 1 p., 8" x 13.5" Expected folds; paper and wax seals still intact; general toning; very good.

Excerpt
"The Condition of the Above Obligation Is, That Colo Aaron Austin is appointed Pay Master to the New Levies who served in the Contl Army from the Sixth Brigade of Militia State of Contt.
"Now, if the said Aaron Austin shall truly and faithfully pay over all the Monies he shall receive from the Treasurer by Orders from the Pay-Table, agreeable to the Trust reposed in him by his Appointment aforesaid, and his Account thereof render to the Committee of the Pay-Table when required, then the above Obligation to be void."

Historical Background
On January 1, 1781, the Connecticut Line was reduced from nine regiments to five as part of an overall reorganization of the Continental Line. Each regiment was to have 717 officers and men, arranged in nine companies, including one company of light infantry.

The Sixth Brigade of Connecticut militia was originally under the command of Brigadier General Oliver Wolcott Sr., who signed the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation as a representative of Connecticut. In May 1779, Governor Jonathan Trumbull placed Wolcott in command of all Connecticut militia, and he attempted to thwart the incursions of British forces under the command of Major General William Tryon. Brigadier General Selah Hart replaced Wolcott in command of the Sixth Brigade.

Aaron Austin (1716-1801) was born in Connecticut, and in 1744, he married Elizabeth Kent Spencer, with whom he had eight children. During the Revolutionary War, Austin served as an officer in the Connecticut militia, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the war, he was a delegate to the Connecticut convention that ratified the new federal constitution in January 1788.

Uriah Seymour (1733-1800) was born in Connecticut, and he married Elizabeth Andrews about 1756. After her death the following year, in 1760, he married Mary Andrews, with whom had at least five children. During the Revolutionary War, he served as a lieutenant in a mounted company in 1775, and as a captain in Major Elisha Sheldon's regiment of light horsemen in 1776 and 1777.

Oliver Wolcott Jr. (1760-1833) was born in Connecticut and graduated from Yale College and Litchfield Law School. During the Revolutionary War, he served as his father's aide-de-camp and then as quartermaster from 1779 to 1781. He left the army to practice law and served on the Connecticut Committee of the Pay Table from 1782 to 1784. After serving as Connecticut Comptroller of Public Accounts, he became the first auditor of the federal Treasury Department in 1789. In 1791, he became the Comptroller of the Treasury Department. In 1795, he succeeded Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury and served until the end of 1800, when he resigned under accusations by political enemies. President John Adams appointed Wolcott as judge of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Second Circuit, one of Adams's "midnight judge" appointments at the end of his administration. Wolcott held the position until President Thomas Jefferson and the Republican-controlled Congress abolished it in mid-1802. After serving as a director of the Bank of the United States from 1810 to 1811, he established the Bank of America in 1811 and continued with it until 1814. He served ten consecutive one-year terms as Governor of Connecticut from 1817 to 1827 and also served as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1818.

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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