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Early
America
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 1. Samuel Adams (1722-1803) Founding Father. Adams became a strong opponent of British taxation measures and organized resistance to the Stamp Act. He influenced reaction to the Tea Act of 1773, organized the Boston Tea Party, and led opposition to the Intolerable Acts. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and he continued to call for separation from Britain and signed the Declaration of Independence. He helped draft the Massachusetts constitution in 1780 and served as the state's governor from 1794 until 1797. 12  ½” x 13” partially printed document signed twice, Boston , October 7, 1770. The document is an appointment of Moses Bailey as “…First Lieutenant of the Eleventh Company (Commanded by Jonathon Abbot) in the fourth Regiment Militia….” Adams has signed twice, the second time as “Sam Adams Secy.” Also  signing are: Artemas Ward, Jacob Fisher, Moses Gill, B. White, F. Danielson, F. M. Dunn, Nicholas Cushing, Oliver Prescott, F. Miller, Aaron Wood, Sam Hills, Noah Goodman and Samuel Baker. The paper seal is attached, there is scattered toning and a pin hole in one fold. The condition otherwise is clean, fresh and excellent. All the signatures are dark and clear. The appointment has been framed between two pieces of glass, with a gold molding.
$3,800 to $5,000
 2. William Bingham (1751-1804) Statesman. Bingham was a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress and served in the United States Senate from 1795 to 1801. He helped to found the Bank of North America, the first bank of the new nation, in 1781. He was also a land surveyor, and looked to develop areas currently a part of Southern New York, and Northern Pennsylvania . Binghamton , New York was named in his honor. 9 ½” x 7 ¾” vellum stock certificate for one share of stock in the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, 1795, issued to Rebeca Gore, signed as president.
$1,000 to $1,800
 3. Peter Colt (1736-1824) Patriot. Colt was appointed Deputy Commissary General of Purchases for the Eastern Department in 1777. He assisted Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth in furnishing supplies to the French Troops under Rochambeau. From 1789 to 1793 he was Treasurer of Connecticut. Peter Colt was related Samuel Colt. 8” x 4” partially printed document signed, State of Connecticut , June 1, 1782, signed. The document is a pay order directing payment to Nathaniel Sturgess “…who had served in the Connecticut Line of the Continental Army….”
$150 to $250
 4. Eliphalet Dyer (1721-1807) Jurist. Dyer was a delegate for Connecticut to many sessions of the Continental Congress. 7 ¾” x 6 ½” document signed as “Judge of the Supr Court,” , April 1789. The document is a payorder directing payment to George Pitkin. It is signed on the reverse by Pitkin and Oliver Wolcott, Jr. (1760-1833) Wolcott was United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1795 to 1800 and the 24th Governor of Connecticut from 1817 to 1827. There  is a cancellation hole in the center not touching either signature.
$100 to $200
 5. William Ellery (1727-1820) Merchant. Ellery was among the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Ellery also served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and by 1785 he had become an abolitionist. He was the first customs collector of the port of Newport under the Constitution, serving there until his death. 7 ¾” x 12 ½” autograph document signed in the text four times and again on the reverse, April 9, 1783. The document is a Bill of Sale and Promissory Note from Joshua Landford. Minor paper loss and break in the center fold.
$600 to $1,000
 6. Oliver Ellsworth (1745-1807) Jurist. Ellsworth was the second Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He also served as a senator in the newly formed Congress. Ellsworth is primarily remembered for his contribution to the formation of the Constitution and for drafting the Judiciary Act of 1789, which provided for a strong federal judiciary system and created the United States Supreme Court. 8” x 6 ¾” payorder signed, directing payment to Michael Barber, July 17, 1777 also signed by John Chenevard (1733-1808).
$175 to $300
 7. Oliver Ellsworth . 8” x 4 ¼” payorder signed, Hartford , August 2, 1777. The order directs payment to Samuel Whiting, who has signed the reverse.
$250 to $400
 8. Francis Scott Key (1780-1843) Poet, lawyer. Key is best known for penning the poem The Defense of Fort McHenry , which later became The Star Spangled Banner . 3 ¼" x 7 ¾” receipt, October 21, 1817, signed "F. S. Key." . The document is matted with an engraving, gold fillets and brass description plaque and framed to 15 ½” x 22”.
$1,500 to $2,800
 9. Robert Morris (1734-1806) Financier. Morris was a signer to the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. Morris was known as the “ Financier of the Revolution ,” because of his role in securing financial assistance for the American side in the Revolutionary War. 8” x 9 ¾” letter signed, Washington , January 8, 1853, to Philip Phelps, Deputy Comptroller. “…Have the Legislature passed a Law yet by which I can get my salary - I have not recd one cent for my services for Jany 1 inst. Send me a check payable at any of the Banks in this city. Please answer."
$950 to $1,200
 10. (Thomas Paine) (1736-1809) Author, Founding Father. Paine's principal contributions were the powerful, widely-read pamphlet Common Sense , advocating colonial America 's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain , and The American Crisis , a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series. An extremely rare 4 ½” x 7 ½”, one hundred eighty-three page copy, The Crisis: in Thirteen Numbers Written During the Late War, Charles R. & George Webster, 1792. No cover, evenly age toned.
$400 to $800
 11. James Pemberton (1723-1808) Quaker merchant, philanthropist. Pemberton was one of the founders of Pennsylvania Hospital and succeeded Benjamin Franklin as the president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. 6 ¼” x 3 ¾” partially printed financial document signed, April 26, 1768. The document is a Pennsylvania Hospital subscription certificate acknowledging a debt of twenty pounds by Thomas Riche. Evenly age toned, there is a 3” x 1” fragment cut from the document in the right margin.
$150 to $250
 12. Timothy Pickering (1745-1829) Patriot. Pickering was appointed Washington 's Adjutant General in June of 1777. He was present at the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown and was elected to the newly created Board of War. On Aug. 5, 1780, he was appointed Quartermaster-General of the Army. Pickering was also present at the surrender of Cornwallis. He was Secretary of State under the administration of John Adams until the XYZ affair. 8” x 12 ½” autograph letter signed, Philadelphia , July 11, 1795, to John Pickering. “…I have now the pleasure to inclose your salary from Feby 11 th to June 30 th …agreeably to your request….”
$300 to $500
 13. Richard Dobbs Spaight (1758-1802) Politician. Spaight represented North Carolina in the Constitutional Convention. In 1793 he became governor, the first native-born North Carolinian to win that position. 15 ¾” x 13” partially printed document signed, State of North Carolina , May 30, 1795. The document is a land grant to Robert and William Tate. There are breaks in the fold, one through Spaight's signature
$250 to $450
 14. William Augustus Washington (1757-1810) Brigadier General. Washington was an officer of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, who held a final rank of Brigadier General in the newly created United States after the war. Primarily known as a commander of light dragoons, mounted troops under Washington 's command engaged in a number of notable battles in the Carolinas during the campaigns of 1780 and 1781. 8 ½” x 3 ¼” financial document signed, April 18, 1804, Wahsington authorizes payment of “four hundred and Ninety two dollars and twenty five cents…” to Bushrod Washington . Age toned, some paper loss in the margins, mounted. Bushrod Washington (1762-1829) was a Supreme Court associate justice and the nephew of George Washington.
$ 50 to $100
 15. Oliver Wolcott, Jr. (1760-1833) Politician. Wolcott was United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1795 to 1800 and governor of Connecticut from 1817 to 1827. 8” x 6 ½” pay order, April 8, 1779, directing payment to John Cuningham signed by John Chenevard (1733-1808) and Fenn Wadsworth (1750-1785). The order has been signed by Wolcott diagonally across the face.
$ 75 to $150
 16. Oliver Wolcott, Jr. .5 ¾” x 4 ¾” partially printed document, endorsed, State of Connecticut , March 24, 1786. The document is a payorder directing payment to Wolcott which he has signed on the reverse.
$ 75 to $125
American West
 17. Chief Abram (Burnett) (1811-1870) Indian chief. Chief Burnett was full-blooded Potawtomie. Chief Burnett signed several treaties ceding Indian land in 1832 and 1837, and on June 17, 1846, he signed a treaty for the Potawatomie, transferring land along the Osage River in Missouri and the Marais des Cygne River in Kansas to the United States for land along the Kansas River The forced removal of the Potawtomie to the present-day site of Osawatomie, Kansas in 1838, became known as the “Potawtomie Trail of Death”. 7 ¾” x 12 ¼” two page, document signed, August 28, 1840, “Invoice of Goods delivered to the Indians Emigrating under Contract…On behalf of the United States Government….” A listing of goods with their corresponding value follows with the statement:  “…goods have been received by the Indians , with the full understanding that the cost of the Same (Five Thousand Dollars) is to be deducted from the Amount due them by the United States…undersigned Chiefs and Head Men in behalf of…bands of Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottawatomia hereunto set their hand….” Signing are sixteen Chiefs including Abram Burnett, as well as eight witnesses and Indian agents. Rare.
$600 to $1,000
 18. James Masterson (1855-1895) Western lawman. Masterson was the brother of gunfighters and lawmen Bat Masterson and Ed Masterson. Jim Masterson, regardless of not achieving the fame that his brother Bat achieved, was probably involved in more shootouts than his brother ever was in his capacity as Marshall of the legendary Dodge City , Kansas . 5” x 8” autograph letter signed, Houston , November 1884, to “Secretary of State, Austin.” “…Enclosed find my oath of office as judge…to which office I was elected…Please send my commission. Write my full name James Roane Masterson. Roane is a family name….” The upper left and lower right corners are torn, not affecting the text .
$150 to $250
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