Description:

Revolutionary War

William Paterson, Constitution Signer & Governor  of New Jersey, Orders Payment for Doorkeeper, Rare

 

WILLIAM PATERSON, Autograph Document Signed, November 29, 1792, Trenton, New Jersey. 1 p., 8.25" x 6". Dark staining on left third of document; some edge loss of paper, but Paterson signature unaffected.

 

Complete Transcript

These are to certify that John West attended two days in May last on The Court of Errors as Doorkeeper – for which he is entitled to receive twelve shillings

Trenton November 29 1792

Wm Paterson, Presidt

To the Treasurer of the State of New Jersey

[Endorsement:] John West

[Docketing:] John West / £0 12 0 / No 55 / [Ed V Alla?] / S. Ogden / Newton / J. H. Imlay

 

Historical Background

Under the New Jersey Constitution of 1776, the upper house of the legislature, called the Legislative Council, and the governor comprised the Court of Errors and Appeals. As governor, therefore, William Paterson also served as the President of the Council and the Court of Errors and Appeals. In this order, President Paterson orders state treasurer Mott to pay West twelve shillings for serving as doorkeeper for the court for two days in May 1792.

 

William Paterson (1745-1806) was born in Ireland and moved to the American colonies at a young age. After graduating from the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1763 and studying law under Richard Stockton, he was admitted to the bar in 1768. He helped write the 1776 Constitution of New Jersey and served as the state’s Attorney General from 1776 to 1783. He represented New Jersey at the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, where he proposed the New Jersey Plan, providing for equal representation among the states, and signed the new United States Constitution. Paterson represented New Jersey in the U.S. Senate as a Federalist from 1789 to 1790, and played a major role in drafting the Judiciary Act of 1789, establishing the federal court system. He resigned from the Senate to become the second governor of New Jersey, a position he filled from 1790 to 1793. In the latter year, President George Washington nominated him for the Supreme Court of the United States, and he resigned as governor to serve as an Associate Justice from 1793 until his death.

 

James Mott (1739-1823) served as New Jersey State Treasurer from 1783 to 1799. He was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1776 to 1779. He won election as a Democratic-Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served from 1801 to 1805.

 

John West served as the doorkeeper for the Legislative Council from 1791 to 1799.

 

 

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