Description:

Philip Livingston Signed & Addressed Manuscript Letter Re: Business Dispute

A manuscript letter signed and addressed by Founding Father Philip Livingston as a merchant Agent. 3pp of a bifolium, measuring 7.5" x 10", New York, dated November 28, 1767. Signed "Phil. Livingston" and addressed to Messrs Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan. The text of the letter is written in another hand, but signed by Livingston at the conclusion and also addressed in his hand on verso. In the letter, Livingston addresses a dispute in a recent business account. The letter has flattened mail folds, uneven toning, and some staining from the wax seal. There are a few small tears in top margin which have been repaired with tape on verso. There are three small areas of paper loss which are repaired with paper and archival tape. Boldly signed by Livingston.

In part:
"you may be fully assured that the first accounts of that affair gave me great concern not on my own Acco:t but for you & your families. Any man of the least Humanity cannot help feeling on such occasions. It gives me real pleasure to find you are still of Opinion that after paying all your debts, something handsome will be left...You are most Undoubtedly Mistaken in telling Mr. Hicks that you had no concern with Mr. Verplanck. The kettles I bo:t of him for your Acco:t & on your credit entirely'I have your letter directing me to buy of him so that I was only an Agent for you & as such I had an undoubted right to charge comm:s for my Trouble, without making myself at all liable for the debt, which I would however not have charged had you not insist:d on it...I have further to Observe to you that Mr. Verplanck never Opened his lips to me Abo't this Affair since the purchase was made so that the steps he has taken to Arrest You are Entirely without my Knowledge privity or Procurement...there can be no reason Assigned why I should pay the money out of my pocket not having had any view in the whole Transaction..." Livingston further provides the accounts for the purchase of "2 casks raw brass Indian kettles" for a sum of '119 12 shillings and 6 pence.

John Baynton, Samuel Wharton, and George Morgan were partners in a mercantile business in Philadelphia from 1757-1763, at the end of the French and Indian War. With an aim of investing large amounts of money in land made available to English colonists through the Treaty of Paris (1763), they engaged in a wide variety of domestic and foreign trade. Some of their ventures included trade in Quebec, Detroit, and Fort Pitt, as well as the West Indies, Portugal, and London.

Samuel VerPlanck came from a wealthy Dutch merchant family which dates back to 1634, when Jacob A. Planck and Abraham I. VerPlanck arrived from Holland. Abraham Verplanck settled in New York and established a trading post with local Native Americans where he traded Dutch goods for furs, tobacco, and more. During the English colonial period, the Verplancks became quite prosperous and erected a mansion on Wall Street. Prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Samuel Verplanck became involved with anti-British groups and joined "the Committee of Safety of One-Hundred" in Manhattan, and during the war, he turned his home, Mount Gulian, over to the Continental Army and it became the headquarters for General Friedrich Von Steuben in the spring of 1782 through late 1783

Philip Livingston (1716-1778) was an American merchant and statesman from New York City who became a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He represented New York in the First Continental Congress and would later serve as a delegate in the Second. During this time, Livingston notably favored imposing economic sanctions upon Great Britain as a way of pressuring the British Parliament to repeal the Intolerable Acts.

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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