Pay Order signed by Benjamin Huntington, Oliver Wolcott, Jr. and Jed Huntington - 1782 Dated Autograph

Pay Order issued to and signed by Benjamin Huntington on the back. Also signed by Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury, Jed Huntington and John Lawrence. Front and back illustrated.

Benjamin Huntington (April 19, 1736 – October 16, 1800) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from Connecticut. He served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the First United States Congress.

Born in Norwich, Connecticut, Huntington was the only child of Daniel and Rachel Huntington. He graduated from Yale College in 1761, became surveyor of lands for Windham County in 1764, and was admitted to the bar in 1765. He practiced law in Norwich and received an LL.D from Yale College.

Huntington served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1771 to 1780, serving as speaker in 1778 and 1779. He served on the committee of safety in 1775 and advised Governor Jonathan Trumbull during the legislature’s recess. In 1778, he was appointed a delegate to the Provincial Congress at New Haven.
From 1780 to 1784, and again in 1787 and 1788, Huntington served in the Continental Congress. He also served on the Connecticut council of assistants from 1781 to 1789 and 1791 to 1792, and on the State Senate from 1781 to 1780 and 1791 to 1793. In 1789, he was elected to the First Congress of the United States as a Pro-Administration Party candidate, serving from March 4, 1789 to March 3, 1791.

In 1784, he was elected Norwich’s first Mayor, serving until 1796. He was appointed judge of the superior court of Connecticut in 1793, holding this office until 1798.

Huntington married Anne Huntington, of Windham, Connecticut, on May 5, 1765. She died in Norwich on October 6, 1790. Their son, Benjamin Huntington, was born.

Huntington died on October 16, 1800, in Rome, New York, and is interred in the Old Colony Cemetery in Norwich.

Jedediah Huntington (1743–1818), a prominent American merchant, Continental Army brigadier general, and federal official from Connecticut, was born into a wealthy Norwich family and educated at Harvard. He was an active member of the Sons of Liberty and quickly rose through the ranks during the Revolutionary War, serving at the Siege of Boston, in New York, and during the harsh winter at Valley Forge. Renowned for his intellectual prowess and military capabilities, he served on crucial courts-martial, including the trials of General Charles Lee and spy John André, and was a close associate of General Washington.

After the Revolution, Huntington joined the Society of the Cincinnati and held various positions in Connecticut. In 1789, President Washington appointed him as the first federal collector of customs for New London, a position he held for 26 years until his death in 1818. Huntington was married twice—first to Faith Trumbull, daughter of Governor Jonathan Trumbull, and later to Ann Moore—and was known for his unwavering dedication to public service and his philanthropic support for local institutions.

Oliver Wolcott Jr. (January 11, 1760 – June 1, 1833) was an American politician and judge. He served as the second United States Secretary of the Treasury, a judge on the United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit, and the 24th Governor of Connecticut. Wolcott began his adult life working in Connecticut, later joining the federal government in the Department of Treasury, before returning to Connecticut, where he spent the remainder of his life until his death. Over the course of his political career, Wolcott's views shifted from Federalist to Toleration and ultimately to Jacksonian. He was the son of Oliver Wolcott Sr. and was part of the Griswold-Wolcott family.

Born on January 11, 1760, in Litchfield, Connecticut Colony, British America, Wolcott served in the Continental Army from 1777 to 1779 during the American Revolutionary War. He graduated from Yale University in 1778, where he was a member of the Brothers in Unity society, and studied law in 1781.

Before becoming the second Secretary of Treasury, Wolcott was the first Auditor in the Treasury Department. According to Richard White, his duties as Auditor involved making the initial examination of accounts and determining balances on all claims against the government. Working alongside the first Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, and as a fellow Federalist, Wolcott became a target for criticism from Thomas Jefferson. This was due to the rivalry between Hamilton's Federalists and Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans, who were the two main political factions of the time.

Capt. John Lawrence (1719-1802), who served as treasurer of the Colony and subsequently the State of Connecticut from 1769 to 1789, is the signatory of this document. During the war, he held the position of commissioner of loans for the nascent nation. 

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