Dated 1780-82 Connecticut Pay Order Signed by Samuel Wyllys - American Revolutionary War Pay Order

Manuscript Pay Order signed by various officials making payment with Connecticut Currency and countersigned by Samuel Wyllys. Great for Colonial collectors.

Samuel Wyllys (January 4, 1739 – June 9, 1823) was an American military officer, politician, and member of the Wyllys–Haynes family. Born on January 4, 1739, and baptized on January 7, 1739, Wyllys graduated from Yale College in 1758. He sailed to England in 1764 and stayed there for six years.

In October 1771, Wyllys led the petition to establish the Governor’s Guard, becoming its first captain. In 1775, he was appointed lieutenant colonel in Colonel Joseph Spencer’s 2nd Connecticut Regiment and later promoted to Colonel. He commanded the regiment until January 1, 1776, when it was reorganized as the 22nd Continental Regiment. Wyllys served in the Siege of Boston and marched with Washington to New York, participating in the Battle of Long Island. From 1777 to 1781, Wyllys commanded the 3rd Connecticut Regiment in the Connecticut Line under General Samuel Holden Parsons. His regiment served in the New York area.

Discharged from the Army on January 1, 1781, Wyllys served as a Major General of the Connecticut Militia from 1793 to 1796. Following the war, Wyllys became a representative in the Connecticut General Assembly and served as Hartford’s town clerk. He also succeeded his father as Connecticut’s Secretary of State from 1796 to 1809, becoming the third consecutive Wyllys to hold this position. Regrettably, he resigned due to a paralytic condition.

On February 3, 1777, Wyllys married his first cousin, Ruth Belden. Ruth passed away on September 11, 1807. Wyllys died on June 9, 1823, and was interred in Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground. His grave remains unmarked, as the family decided against monuments to avoid diminishing their memory if Connecticut couldn’t recall them without them.