Description:

Gorham Nathaniel

Nathaniel Gorham, Constitution signer

 

Signature of Constitution signer Nathaniel Gorham (1738-1796) as "N Gorham" on the front of a partly printed paper fragment laid down on a 5.25" x 3" unlined cream stock card typed "Nathaniel Gorham, Canandaigua, N.Y." In near fine condition, with some uneven toning to card. From the Collection of Charles Forbes. Comes with a pencil-inscribed filing folder, and a photocopy of Forbes' bookplate.

 

Constitution signer Nathaniel Gorham was a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention. In 1788, the affluent merchant also co-purchased land and title rights to an enormous tract of western New York from the state of Massachusetts and the Seneca nation. Accounts of the land size vary, but the "Phelps and Gorham Purchase" encompassed between 2.2 million and 6 million acres of land around modern day Canandaigua. Gorham and his business partners later defaulted on the purchase, and it was sold to Philadelphia financier Robert Morris. Gorham died in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1796.

 

The typed card caption almost certainly confused Nathaniel Gorham Sr. with his oldest son Nathaniel Gorham, Jr. (1763-1826). Gorham Jr. acted as his father's business agent and moved to Canandaigua around 1800; Gorham Sr. never visited his newly purchased land holdings in Canandaigua.

 

Ex-Charles Forbes Collection. Forbes purchased this piece in 1949, making it 60 years since it has appeared on the market.

 

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