Description:

William Henry Harrison
Greenville, OH, March 29, 1795
W.H. Harrison PSA NM 7 Signed Whiskey Rations Order As Wayne's Aide-de-Camp 5 Months Before Treaty of Greenville
MDS

A manuscript document signed by future 9th U.S. President William Henry Harrison (1773-1841), then in his role as aide-de-camp to "Mad Anthony" Wayne, as "Wm H Harrison / Adc" (aide-de camp) in the lower right corner. March 29, 1795. "Green Ville" (modern day Greenville, Ohio.) Inscribed on laid paper; signed, annotated, and docketed verso. Encapsulated and PSA/DNA certified and graded NM 7. Isolated ink bleed-through just touching three letters of Harrison's signature and rank. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds and unevenly trimmed along the top edge. Mounting traces verso. Else very good to near fine. The document measures 7.625" x 3.625" at the largest part and the slab measures 10.125" x 6.75."

22-year-old William Henry Harrison was then serving as the aide-de-camp of Anthony "Mad Anthony" Wayne, the legendary frontier military commander. Harrison signed this document requesting whiskey rations for a barge crew, comprised of five men and one woman, for a 2-day-long journey. The signed docket verso indicates that six gills of whiskey were distributed. In U.S. measurement, a gill corresponds to four fluid ounces, which means that 24 fluid ounces was allocated - altogether about the size of a convenient store Coke bottle. Of this, a 2 fluid ounce dose was given to each crew member each day.

The document reads in part:

"Return for Whiskey for the Barge Crew for 2 Days Commissions the 3rd and Gander (?) the 4th of March

Green Ville 2nd of March 95

the Q Master Will put (?) twelve
Ratcions of Whiskey on the above Return

Wm H Harrison
adc."

Harrison was currently stationed in Greenville, the present day county seat of Darke County in western Ohio; this was the same place where the momentous Treaty of Greenville would be signed five months later, in August 1795.

Harrison had joined the First American Regiment--the first peacetime regular American army--in 1791 as an ensign. He was promoted to lieutenant the following year, and was named a captain in 1797. As Wayne's aide-de-camp in the early 1790s, Harrison witnessed and participated in two monumental events in the history of the Northwest Territory. The first important event was the Battle of Fallen Timbers, fought on August 20, 1794 between Americans and the British allied indigenous members of the Western Confederacy (the Miami, Shawnee, Lenape, and Ottawa peoples among others.) The final battle of the Northwest Indian War, the Battle of Fallen Timbers set the stage for the second pivotal event, the Treaty of Greenville. This contract signed in early August 1795 ceded much of the territory contested during the Northwest Indian War to the Americans.

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: slabbed: 10.125" x 6.75"
  • Medium: MDS

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