Description:

Revolutionary War
Hartford, CT, June 2, 1777
Oliver Ellsworth Signed Pay Order for "sundries to a Sick Soldier" & "Medicines supplied the Brig Defence"
MDS

Revolutionary War. Manuscript Document Signed, "O. Ellsworth," for the Committee, 1p, 8.5" x 6", Hartford, Connecticut, June 2, 1777. Countersigned at lower left by John Lawrence as treasurer. Docketing at verso. Expected folds and creases. Very minor toning, more so at folds. Isolated dampstaining at left margin. A bit of light ink show-through. In very good plus condition and boldly signed.

In full: "Sir, Pay by the hand of Saml. Squier Esq. to Gideon Wells Physician £3.3. for sundries to a Sick Soldier in the Service of this State - also £2.2. for Medicines supplied the Brig Defence & £1.18.2. for sundries to a Continental sick Soldier as per Bills amounting to Seven pounds three Shillings & two pence & charge the State."

At verso: "Hartford June 30th 1777 / Rec'd of Treasurer Lawrence per the hand of Mr. Ephm. Peet -Seven pounds, three Shillings and two pence the Contents." Signed: "Saml. Squier."

The Pay-Table handled the military finances for the colony of Connecticut during the American Revolution. Also known as the Committee of Four, its members at different times included Oliver Ellsworth, Jedidiah Huntington, William Moseley, Hezekiah Rogers, Jesse Root, Thomas Seymour III, William Pitkin, Fenn Wadsworth, James Church, Eleazer Wales, Ezekiel Williams, John Chenward, Oliver Wolcott Jr., and Samuel Wyllys.

Oliver Ellsworth (1745-1807) was a Founding Father of the United States and one of Connecticut's first state senators. A Yale and Princeton graduate, he also trained as a lawyer and was appointed by George Washington to serve as the 3rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court between 1796 and 1800. Additionally, he received eleven electoral votes in the 1796 presidential election.

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.

Gideon Wells (1719-1805) was a surgeon who directed the Connecticut Hospital during the French and Indian War. He served as a surgeon in Webb's Regiment, 9th Connecticut Regiment during the American Revolution.

Samuel Squier or Squire (1746-1819) was a Commissary in Fairfield, Connecticut. His fellow Connecticut commissaries were considerably more famous; they included Oliver Wolcott and Joseph Trumbull, this last the Commissary General of the entire Continental Army.

Brig Defence was commissioned in New Haven, Connecticut, in February 1776, with Seth Harding as captain, Ebenezer Bartram as first lieutenant, and Samuel Smedley as second lieutenant. To protect its coast and merchant shipping from British attacks, the Connecticut Assembly created a two-ship state navy. One of these vessels was the Defence, which the state purchased and outfitted for war. The other was the warship Oliver Cromwell, which was built specifically for the navy. Bartram and Smedley recruited a crew of 100 men, many from nearby Fairfield and Stratford. Just four months after its commissioning, the Defence sailed into Boston Harbor with two captured ships and a brig, which held 330 officers and men from a Highland Regiment. This event was a significant early naval victory for the Americans and was said to be "about as daring a piece of work that ever happened in the naval history of the Atlantic Seaboard."

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: 8.5" x 6"
  • Medium: MDS

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