Description:

George Clymer ALS Re: Executing Will of Wealthy Philadelphia Wine Merchant

A 1p autograph letter signed and integral address leaf in the hand of George Clymer (1739-1813), a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The ALS is signed by him as "Geo Clymer" on the first page at lower right. January 22, 1803. N.p. Expected wear including toning, paper folds, and minor chipped edges. The inner pages are blank. Minor to moderate soiling of the address leaf. Else near fine. 8.125" x 4.75."

George Clymer wrote this letter requesting information from one John Read; this was probably John Read (1769-1854), the Philadelphia-based lawyer and son of George Read (1733-1798), the latter who, like Clymer, had signed both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

Clymer wrote in part:

"On entering upon the special executorship of the will of Mr. Hill I applied for a series of papers relating to its several objects - The request has never been complied with except in the instance of the papers relating to the exchange of the farm in Chester County put into your hands by Mr. G. Wells. As Agent for Mr. Meredith and myself you will please to renew the application - The will shows some of the objects, and there may be others that as executors it will be useful to us to inspect…"

The letter refers to "Mr. Hill" and "Mr. Meredith" - both almost certainly the brothers-in-law of George Clymer. Colonel Henry Hill (1732-1798) was a wealthy Pennsylvania wine merchant who had married Ann[e] Meredith, the younger sister of Clymer's wife Elizabeth Meredith. Hill was a Quaker who made a fortune importing Madeira from the Caribbean; among his many customers was George Washington. Hill had died in a yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia some five years before, and evidently the probate process was still unfinished. Samuel Meredith (1741-1817) was Clymer's wife's younger brother.

The Clymer, Reed, and Meredith families were deeply interconnected through marriage and business, and the families tended to have mercantile and Quaker roots. The Clymer-Meredith-Read Papers exploring the connections between these families can be found in the collection of the New York Public Library Archives & Manuscripts. For further information, see https://archives.nypl.org/mss/577

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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