Description:

Thomas Jefferson
Philadelphia, PA, March 2, 1793
Thomas Jefferson Certifies 3 Acts with 3 Sigs, Securing the Coasts with Lighthouses, Injured Battle Monmouth Soldier, Hugh Mercer - Fantastic!
DS

THOMAS JEFFERSON, Printed Document Signed Three Times, "An Act for the relief of Simeon Thayer," "An Act providing an annual allowance for the Education of Hugh Mercer," and "An Act supplementary to the act for the establishment and support of Light-Houses, Beacons, Buoys, and Public Piers," all March 2, 1793, Philadelphia, PA. All signed in print by Jonathan Trumbull, Speaker of the House of Representatives; John Langdon, President pro tempore of the Senate; and George Washington, President of the United States. 2 pp., framed with a portrait of Jefferson to 29.125" x 25.625". Expected folds; hinged frame allows view of verso with third Jefferson signature.

As part of his duties as Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson signed these three acts of the Second Congress, all passed on March 2, 1793. The first act placed Major Simeon Thayer on the pension list of the United States at half-pay. The second provided $500 per year for the education of sixteen-year-old Hugh Mercer, the son and namesake of Brigadier General Hugh Mercer, who had died at the Battle of Princeton during the Revolutionary War. The third gave states another year in which to transfer property surrounding lighthouses and piers to the United States, while the national government continued to provide funds for their operation and maintenance.

Excerpts
[Thayer:] "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That Simeon Thayer, late a major in the army of the United States, who was disabled at the battle of Monmouth, be placed on the pension-list of the United States, and that he be allowed the halfpay of a major...."

[Mercer:] "That the annual allowance to be made for the education of Hugh Mercer, son of the late general Mercer,...shall be four hundred dollars from the time for which he has been last paid until his education shall be finished, or he shall arrive at the age of twenty-one years."

[Lighthouses:] "That all expenses, which shall accrue from the first day of July next inclusively, for the necessary support, maintenance and repairs of all light-houses, beacons, buoys, the stakeage of channels on the sea-coast, and public piers, shall continue to be defrayed by the United States, until the first day of July, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety four, notwithstanding such light-houses, beacons, or public piers, with the lands and tenements thereunto belonging, and the jurisdiction of the same shall not, in the mean time, be ceded to, or vested in the United States, by the state or states respectively, in which the same may be: and that the said time be further allowed to the states respectively, to make such cession."

Historical Background
On August 7, 1789, the First Congress passed "An Act for the Establishment and support of Lighthouses, Beacons, Buoys, and Public Piers." The act was designed to transfer the ownership and management of the twelve existing colonial lighthouses to the federal government and to oversee the construction of new lighthouses. It placed the lighthouses under the direction of the Treasury Department. Between 1789 and 1820, the Lighthouse Establishment constructed more than 40 additional lighthouses. After decades of neglect, Congress created the United States Lighthouse Board in 1852, which took over operational control of 331 lighthouses, 42 lightships, and numerous buoys. The board made many improvements in staffing, technology, and construction.

According to the provisions of the 1789 "Act to provide for the safe keeping of the Acts, Records, and Seal of the United States, and for other purposes," the Secretary of State was responsible for receiving signed bills, orders, and resolutions from the President and "carefully preserve the originals." This act also directed the Secretary of State to ensure that all such acts were published in at least three public newspapers and to deliver two printed copies "duly authenticated" to the governors of each state. This copy is one of those authenticated by Secretary of State Jefferson and sent to a governor. The Secretary of State also distributed one unsigned, printed copy on smaller paper to each senator and representative in Congress.

Simeon Thayer (1737-1800) was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He served in Rogers' Rangers during three separate clashes in the French and Indian War and was taken prisoner in August 1757, but escaped the massacre of many prisoners by fleeing. He was appointed captain lieutenant of the 2nd Rhode Island regiment in May 1775. He was captured at Quebec on December 31, 1775, and was a prisoner of war until July 1777. Promoted to major of the 2nd Rhode Island, he served at Fort Mercer and at the Battle of Monmouth, where he lost an eye in June 1778. He resigned from the army in 1781 and served as lieutenant colonel and then brigadier general in the Rhode Island militia. He petitioned President George Washington unsuccessfully for a federal appointment. He was married three times and had nine children. He drowned in a stream after being thrown from a horse.

Hugh Tennant Weedon Mercer Jr. (1776-1853) was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, as the youngest child of Brigadier General Hugh Mercer (1726-1777) and his wife Isabella Gordon Mercer (d. 1791). He served as a director for the Bank of Virginia from 1817 to 1851 and performed a variety of other local roles, including chairing a meeting that created a local branch of the American Colonization Society and serving as president of the Fredericksburg Classical Academy. He married Louisa Griffin (1779-1859), and they had at least six children, including Confederate general Hugh W. Mercer (1808-1877).

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: framed: 29.125" x 25.625" x 1.75"
  • Medium: DS

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