Lot 48
Decatur Stephen 1751 - 1808 Stephen Decatur signs a receipt for his certificates before his deadly duel. With Chesapeake Affair association.
Single page, 8" x 6.25" , appears as the top half of a sheet. Single fold. Thin tissue paper line across left edge on verso. Written and signed by Stephen Decatur as "Stephen Decatur" and although not dated by year, it is dated my the month of "Nov 25th". Faint handling marks, else near fine
A hand written receipt scripted entirely in the hand of Decatur and signed by him. The receipt acknowledges that John Bullus, a Navy agent and surgeon had delivered Stephen Decatur with his U.S. stock certificates which he had held at the time on his behalf. The receipt states in full:
"Rec'd Nov 25th of John Bullus Esq/All the certificates of U.S. Stock which he held belonging to me/ Yours/Stephen Decatur"
The two party's, Decatur and Bullus, appeared to have known each other in 1807, when the British warship HMS Leopard had attacked and boarded the American frigate USS Chesapeake, which was under the command of Commodore Barron, in an attempt to capture four alleged British deserters. Twenty-one Americans were killed or wounded as the four men were brought aboard the HMS Leopard. Decatur was one of the members of the court martial that had found Barron guilty of unpreparedness in the affair, and had barred him from a command for the next five years. John Bullus was on board the Chesapeake on his way to a Consulate in the Mediterranean when the Leopard attacked, and in 1807 Bullus had hand-delivered a letter from Secretary of State James Madison to U.S. Minister James Monroe in London concerning the Chesapeake-Leopard affair. As an eyewitness, Bullus also personally related to Monroe the details of the attack which led to Barron's court martial. It is quite probably that John Bullus and Stephen Decator worked together during the court martial.
After a long simmering personal and professional dispute with Commodore James Barron, Barron proceeded to resort to the common and accepted manner to resolves personal differences at the time by challenging Decator to a duel. Regretfully Decator accepted. This was a ill fated move for Decator as he did not survive the duel, ultimately resulting in his demise in 1820. Stephen Decator was the youngest man to reach the rank of captain in the history of the United States Navy.
A rare autographed and signed receipt in excellent condition.
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