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Lot 314
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Signer William Williams 1776 Receives Payment for Col. Isaac Sears
Signer William Williams 1776 Receives Payment for Col. Isaac Sears
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Description:

William Williams
Hartford, CT, May 28, 1776
Signer William Williams 1776 Receives Payment for Col. Isaac Sears
AES

WILLIAM WILLIAMS, Autograph Endorsement Signed, May 28, 1776, on Thomas Seymour and William Pitkin, Manuscript Document Signed, Order to John Lawrence, May 27, 1776, Hartford, Connecticut. 2 pp., 8.5" x 7". Expected folds; general toning; includes PSA Letter of Authenticity.

On May 27, 1776, at Hartford, the Connecticut Council of Safety declared, "Col. Isaac Sears, who had been employed by this Board to purchase many articles of iron, cordage, rigging, for the use of the Colony brig Defence, a row-galley at N. Haven, and a ship building at Saybrook &c., had delivered his account for settlement. The same is examined and allowed, amounting to the sum of £776 3 6, L. money, and voted that an order be drawn up on the Pay-Table for that sum."

This pay order authorizes Treasurer John Lawrence to pay £778..8..0 to Col. Isaac Sears for supplies to equip the colony's armed vessels. Signer of the Declaration of Independence for Connecticut, William Williams, acknowledged receipt of the £778..8..0 the following day. Six weeks later, on July 11, 1776, the Connecticut General Assembly elected Williams to replace Oliver Wolcott at the Continental Congress. He arrived in Philadelphia on July 28 and signed the formal copy of the Declaration of Independence on August 2, as a representative of Connecticut, along with Samuel Huntington and Roger Sherman. Wolcott, who had resigned because of illness, returned to Congress briefly in the autumn of 1776 and signed the Declaration as well.

Complete Transcript
"Sir
Pay to Col. Isaac Sears the Sum of Seven hundred & Seventy Eight pounds eight Shillings money for sundry Articles of Iron &c Supplied for the Armed Vessels &c for use of this Colony—allowd by Govr & Council of Safety—& Charge the Colony acct—May 27th 1776.
T Seymour }
Wm Pitkin } Comtee
John Lawrence Esq
Treasurer
£778:8:0"

[Receipt:]
"28 May 1776 Hartford
Recd ye Contents, for Col Sears
W. Williams"

Historical Background
The Pay Table handled the military finances for the colony of Connecticut during the Revolutionary War. 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.

In August 1775, the Connecticut General Assembly established the Connecticut State Navy to protect the state's merchant shipping and coastal communities from British attacks. The navy's first two ships were the Minerva and the Spy, and they began operations in October. In December, the General Assembly authorized the acquisition of more ships, including another armed vessel and four row galleys. The state purchased the brigantine Defence and gave Seth Harding the command of it. The Defence entered the service in April 1776. The state ultimately built only three row galleys—Whiting, Shark, and Crane—which were ready for service in July 1776. In February 1776, the state navy commissioned the submersible Turtle, the world's first submarine.

William Williams (1731-1811) was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, and graduated from Harvard College in 1751. He studied theology for a year and then pursued a career as a merchant. He served as the town clerk of Lebanon from 1753 to 1796. He represented Lebanon in the Connecticut House of Representatives (1757-1762, 1763-1776, 1780-1784), and served as speaker in 1775 and 1781-1783. From 1773 to 1776, he was a colonel in the Connecticut militia. Elected to the Continental Congress in July 1776 and 1777, he signed the Declaration of Independence and helped to frame the Articles of Confederation, though he did not sign them. He was a member of the Connecticut Council of Safety during the Revolutionary War and judge of the Windham County Court from 1776 to 1804. As a delegate to the state's Constitutional ratifying convention in January 1788, he ignored instructions from his constituents and voted for ratification.

Isaac Sears (1730-1786) was born in Massachusetts and moved with his family as a child to Connecticut. At the age of 16, he was apprenticed to the captain of a coastal vessel. By 1752, he commanded his own sloop and established a reputation as a privateer during the French and Indian War. He moved to New York City, where he became a merchant with investments in ships trading with the West Indies. In January 1770, he was a leader of the Sons of Liberty in New York City and captured two British soldiers who were posting handbills and marched them toward the mayor's office to file a complaint. The resulting "Battle of Golden Hill" was bloodless and occurred six weeks before the Boston Massacre. In 1775, he was arrested for his anti-British activities, but supporters rescued him at the prison door. When news of the Battle of Lexington arrived, he seized the arsenal at the Custom House and was the de facto leader of Patriot forces in New York City until Washington's army arrived in June 1776. After the capture of New York, he returned to Massachusetts and engaged in privateering from 1777 to 1783. After the war, he returned to New York City, revived the Sons of Liberty, and called for the expulsion of all Loyalists. He bought up soldiers' pay certificates at depressed prices and used them to speculate in forfeited Loyalist property. By 1786, he fled the state to avoid arrest and died after contracting fever and dysentery in Batavia (modern Jakarta, Indonesia) and was buried on an island in the harbor of Canton (Guangzhou), China.

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 an 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.

William Pitkin (1725-1789) was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the son and namesake of a colonial governor of Connecticut, who held that office from 1766 until he died in 1769. The younger Pitkin married Abigail Church (1728-1807). He was an officer in the French & Indian War and a member of the Council of Safety during the Revolutionary War. He also served as assistant to and clerk of the Connecticut General Assembly and as judge of the Hartford Superior Court.

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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