Description:

Order From Connecticut Governor and Council of Safety to Pay One of Connecticut's Foremost Post Riders

Thomas Seymour of the Connecticut Committee of the Pay Table signed this order, instructing Connecticut Treasurer John Lawrence to pay Jesse Brown £10 for his services as a post rider to and from Fort Ticonderoga in northern New York.

In June 1776, the Connecticut Assembly authorized Governor Jonathan Trumbull to "employ a suitable person to ride post from this Colony to Albany, and to any further or more northern place or stage as shall be necessary and his Honor shall direct, to carry and bring letters and intelligence, for the year ensuing." Governor Trumbull appointed Jesse Brown to this position. Brown served as an express rider from Connecticut to Albany, New York; Fort Ticonderoga; the Northern Army; General Washington's Camp; and the Continental Congress at Philadelphia from at least June 1776 to May 1777. In October 1777, the Continental Congress observed that Brown "hath proved himself faithful and alert in that business" and employed him as an express rider in the Continental Service, which he continued to perform into 1780. In March 1779, a congressional committee observed that he had performed his duty "with much punctuality, fidelity and dispatch" and because he had supplied his own horses and forage allowed him more for his express services though his account "is the most exorbitant of the kind that was ever exhibited to the Commissioners."

A small force of American patriots led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had surprised the small British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775 and taken over the fort. Colonel Henry Knox led a "noble train of artillery" from the Fort to Boston to break the impasse and force the British to evacuate the city in March 1776. Fort Ticonderoga served as a base for the American invasion of Quebec later in 1775. The Americans held the fort until July 1777, when the British under General John Burgoyne forced their withdrawal.

[REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] Thomas Seymour III, Manuscript Document Signed, Pay order for Jesse Brown, October 8, 1776, [Hartford, Connecticut]. 2 pp., 8.25" x 4.5". Expected folds; general toning; very good.

Complete Transcript
Sir / Pay to Mr Jesse Brown post Rider to Ticonderoga the Sum of Ten pounds money on account of his Services - ⅌ order Govr & Council, & Charge the State. Octr 8th 1776.
T Seymour } Comtee
John Lawrence Esqr / Treasurer
£10

[Endorsement:]
Recd Octr 8th 1776 of Treasurer Lawrence Ten pounds Lawful Money the Contents
⅌ Jesse Brown

Historical Background
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, Fenn Wadsworth, Eleazer Wales, Ezekiel Williams, John Chenward, Oliver Wolcott Jr., and Samuel Wyllys.

Thomas Seymour III (1735-1829) was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and graduated from Yale College in 1755. He married Mary Ledyard, with whom he had seven children. He received appointment as King's Attorney in 1767 and served as State's Attorney after the Revolutionary War. Commissioned as a captain of militia in 1773, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1774 and led three regiments of light cavalry in support of the Continental Army in New York during the summer of 1776. The General Assembly appointed Seymour in April 1775 to be one of the Committee on the Pay Table. He represented Hartford in the Connecticut General Assembly at eighteen sessions between 1774 and 1793 and served as Speaker five times. He served in the Connecticut Senate from 1793 to 1803. He also served as mayor of Hartford from its incorporation in 1784 until his resignation in 1812.

Jesse Brown (1752-1816) was born in Stonington, Connecticut. During the Revolutionary War, he served as a post rider for the State of Connecticut and then for the Continental Congress. In December 1790, he established a line of stages from Hartford to Boston by way of Norwich and Providence. He also kept a tavern at Norwich, where President John Adams and First Lady Abigail Adams were guests on August 1, 1797.

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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