Description:

Ellsworth Oliver

This December 16, 1776 pay voucher, No. 5926, instructed Connecticut Treasurer Jonathan Lawrence to pay Samuel Bordman “One Hundred & forty Nine pounds Three Shillings & Eight Pence for Purchase & premium on 601 3/4 lb Salt Petre”. Paper slip signed by Connecticut justice Oliver Ellsworth as "O. Ellsworth" in the lower right corner and by Jonathan Lawrence as “Jn. Lawrence, Esq. Treasurer" in lower left corner. Samuel Bordman’s signature confirming payment found verso along with docket information. In very fine condition, with expected folds and toning, 7.625" x 4.75”.

Connecticut remained largely unmolested during the Revolutionary War, except for later British raids on its primarily coastal towns. The “Provision State” was thus heavily relied on by other colonies to provide them with food, livestock, arms, or in this case, “Salt Petre” . This Hartford, CT pay order was signed roughly 2 weeks before General Washington crossed the Delaware River at Trenton, New Jersey along with 2,400 troops in a surprise Christmas Day attack. Washington’s success at Trenton was not of substantial military value, but it did reinvigorate Patriot morale.

Oliver Ellsworth (1745-1807) was one of Connecticut's first state senators. Ellsworth was very involved in revolutionary politics, and helped draft the U.S. Constitution. This Yale and Princeton graduate also trained as a lawyer and was appointed by 1st U.S. President George Washington (1732-1799) to serve as the 3rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court between 1796-1800. Jonathan Lawrence is an interesting historical figure in that he served as treasurer before, during, and after the American Revolution, when Connecticut was first a colony and then a state.

In 1775, our Samuel Bordman, along with other family members, established a salt peter manufacturing factory near Broad Street in Wethersfield. The family also financed a troop transport ship early during the Revolutionary War.

Financing the Revolution laid a heavy burden upon each colony, especially those which balked at levying taxes. In order to meet immediate needs such as wages, the colonies relied upon wealthy revolutionaries, foreign loans, and taxes and gifts from abroad. Connecticut issued promissory notes such as this. Issuing paper money was only a temporary solution, and worthless without specie or gold and silver backing. The U.S. established its standard monetary system in 1791.

Ex-Charles Sigety

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