Description:

Gold Selleck Silliman Signs War Dated Document

Like Paul Revere and William Dawes, who rode from Boston to warn the minutemen of Lexington and Concord of the approach of British soldiers in April 1775, express riders were employed throughout the Revolutionary War. Both civilian and military leaders employed them to deliver important messages or summon others. Joseph Noyes submitted this bill for payment for express riding services for his stepfather Brig. Gen. Gold Selleck Silliman. Noyes detailed two trips by horse in October 1780 with dispatches for and from Silliman, totaling 96 miles, for which he sought £10..5..6.

[REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] Gold Selleck Silliman, Manuscript Document Signed, Statement of Express Services of Joseph Noyes, October 11, 1780, Fairfield, Connecticut. 1 p., 8.25" x 13". Expected folds; creases; a few small holes; irregular edges.

Excerpts
"These certify that Mr Joseph Noyes did the above Services for this State. Fairfield Octobr 11th 1780
"G Selleck Silliman Brigr Gen."

"Fairfield Octor 11 1780
"We the subscribers having Examind the above acct are of opinion that the same is justley Chargd
"Sr Please to pay Mr Joseph Noyce or order Ten Pounds Five Shillings & 6d Lawfull money and Charge the State
"pr order of Saml Squier } Justices of
"Hezekiah Hubbell } the Peace
"To John Lawrance Esqr / Treasurer"

Gold Selleck Silliman (1732-1790) was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, as the son of Ebenezer Silliman and Abigail Selleck Silliman (who was the daughter of Abigail Gold). He graduated from Yale College in 1752 and practiced law as a crown attorney before the Revolution. In 1754, he married Martha Davenport (1733-1774), and they had at least two children. In 1775, Silliman married the widow Mary Fish Noyes (1736-1818), who had three sons from her first marriage, and they had two sons of their own. Also in 1775, he was appointed colonel of the 4th regiment of Connecticut militia, and he became a brigadier general in 1776. His command patrolled the Connecticut coast and border with New York to keep Loyalists in check. At the beginning of British Major General William Tryon’s attack on Danbury in April 1777, Silliman sent express riders to warn nearby towns and collect the militia. In May 1779, Tories captured Silliman and his son and returned to Long Island with the captives. Because the Americans had no prisoner of equal rank to exchange for Silliman, they captured loyalist Thomas Jones in November 1779, and Silliman and Jones were exchanged in May 1780.

Joseph Noyes (1761-1817) was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the oldest son of John Noyes and Mary Fish Noyes. After his father died, his mother remarried Gold Selleck Silliman in 1775. He graduated from Yale College in 1778 and trained as a lawyer. In 1783, he married Amelia Burr of Fairfield, who had been adopted by her maternal uncle Gold Selleck Silliman, and they had at least five children. In 1800, they moved to northeastern Ohio, then known as "New Connecticut" to cultivate land there. His wife and one of his sons soon died. He remarried and moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he kept a school until the time of his death.

John Lawrence (1719-1802) served as treasurer of the colony and then the state of Connecticut for twenty years from 1769 to 1789. During the Revolutionary War, he was also commissioner of loans for the United States.

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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