Description:

William Gordon 1776 Boston ALS "our poor native country seems to be in the high road to ruin" less Than 1 Month After Siege of Boston Ended. Religious Connection to George Washington!

1p, measuring 6" x 7.625", Jamaica Plains, Boston, dated April 13, 1776. Signed "William Gordon" and addressed to Mrs. Smith, staying with Ezekiel Williams in Wethersfield. Writing during the American Revolution, Gordon mentions the recently ended siege of Boston and expresses his concerns about the war. With flattened folds, toning, and foxing throughout. A few small holes are present at the fold crosses. Minor tearing from the wax seal. The letter reads in part:

"The chief reason of my writing you these few lines is that I may through their mean give you an opportunity of conversing with my good friend Dr. Eliot who has been in Boston the whole time of it being shut up…Expect to see Weathersfield the next fall, should headquarters be at N York or the neighborhood. Our poor native country seems to be in the high road to ruin. Wish all our worthy correspondents & connections were well over & comfortably settled among us…" On verso is a note written in another hand, identifying William Gordon as the author of a history of the American Revolution.

Rev. William Gordon (1728–1807) was born in England, but his increasing sympathy for the colonies and his anti-government views strongly influenced his decision to emigrate to America in 1770. Upon arriving in Massachusetts, he became a pastor in Roxbury and embraced the Patriot cause. As early as 1776, Gordon desired to chronicle the American Revolution and sought the support of many of its leading figures, including George Washington, for his project. His complete work, "The History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment, of the Independence of the United States of America: Including an Account of the Late War; and of the Thirteen Colonies, from Their Origin to That Period" was first published in London in 1788, and an American edition was published the following year.

Gordon was a frequent correspondent with George Washington as well as a promoter of religious freedom and the Constitution. Less than two months after the present letter Washington wrote Gordon in May of 1776: “No Man has a more perfect reliance on the all-wise and powerful dispensations of the Supreme Being than I have, nor thinks His aid more necessary.” In 1788 Gordon wrote Washington "I have insertd Extracts of the Virginia act for the establishing of religious freedom as also the New Constitution, which I conclude will soon take place. May it prove a blessing to the United States in particular, & the world of mankind in general!"

The siege of Boston was the opening phase of the American Revolution, following the Battles of Lexington and Concord and lasting from April 19, 1775 to March 17, 1776. British General Thomas Gage was sent with 4,000 troops to occupy Boston and pacify its citizens. In response, numerous militias from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut arrived to surround the city, forming siege lines. Residents of Boston, both Loyalists and Patriots, were greatly restricted from movement in and out of the city. Ultimately the siege reached a stalemate and the British evacuated via Boston harbor. 

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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