Description:

Elijah Clarke
Wilkes County, GA, January 25, 1786
Georgia Revolutionary War Hero Elijah Clarke Certifies Service for Land Grants
DS

ELIJAH CLARKE, Two documents: Manuscript Document Signed, Certificate and Petition of Edward Franklin, January 25, 1786, Wilkes County, Georgia. 2 pp., 7.75" x 3.875". Expected folds; tiny hole along one fold; general toning.
Manuscript Document Signed, Certificate and Petition of Danice Kittey, January 25, 1786, Wilkes County, Georgia. 2 pp., 7.125" x 4.5". One tiny hole; general toning.

Elijah Clarke, one of Georgia's few Revolutionary War heroes, certified the service of Edward Franklin and [Danice?] Kittey in the militia so that they could obtain land grants of 575 acres each in Wilkes County, Georgia.

Excerpt
[Franklin Certificate and Petition:]
"This is to Certify that Edward Franklin is Intitled to a bounty of Land of 575 acres as a Minute bounty and Citizen"
"To the worshipfull Court in Wilks County your Petitioner prays that he may have a warrant granted him on the within Certificate to Elijah Clark and your petition[er] will every pray &c"

[Kittey Certificate and Petition:]
"This is to Certify that Dennece Kittey is Intitled to a bounty of of Land of 575 acres as a Citizen bounty and Minute"
"To the Worshipfull Court in Wilkes County your Petition prays that he may have a warrant Granted him on the within Certificate to Elijah Clarke"

Historical Background
In February 1784, the Georgia legislature passed legislation granting bounty lands to those who had served in the Georgia line or the militia during the Revolutionary War. Those entitled to receive 575 acres included "Refugee Private in Militia (also Citizen)," "Captain in Militia," and "Captain in Minute Battalions."

Elijah Clarke (1742-1799) was born in the Province of North Carolina. He married Hannah Harrington around 1763, and in 1773, they settled on lands ceded by Native Americans in what was then northwestern Georgia. He served in the Georgia militia during the Revolutionary War. After the surrender of Savannah, the state troops disbanded, and Clarke became a lieutenant colonel in the Wilkes County Militia. He fought in the Battle of Kettle Creek (February 1779) under Colonel Andrew Pickens and at the Battle of Musgrove's Mill (August 1780), during which he was wounded. Although Clarke was not present at the battles of King's Mountain and Cowpens, his frontier guerrilla campaigns were partially responsible for those victories. After the war, voters elected him to the Georgia legislature, and he served from 1781 to 1790. In early 1794, he was asked to lead a French invasion of Spanish East Florida, but President George Washington convinced the French government to abandon the project. Instead, Wilkes led his forces from Wilkes County into Creek lands, where he organized the Trans-Oconee Republic in May 1794. Four months later, state and federal troops forced Clarke and his followers to leave the settlements they had established on Creek lands. His son John Clark served as governor of Georgia from 1819 to 1823, and his grandson Edward Clark was briefly governor of Texas in 1861 after Sam Houston refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy.

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: 7.75" x 3.875"; 7.125" x 4.5"
  • Medium: DS

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