Skip to main content

1787-1788 Dated Two Pay Orders Signed by Oliver Wolcott Jr. and George Pitkin - Connecticut - American Revolution

Inv# AU1777   Autograph
State(s): Connecticut
Years: 1787-1788

State of Connecticut Pay Orders signed by Oliver Wolcott Jr. and twice by Geo. Pitkin. Front and back of 1st document shown signed by Wolcott on back and Pitkin on front.

Oliver Wolcott Jr. (January 11, 1760 – June 1, 1833) served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1795 to 1800 and as the governor of Connecticut from 1817 to 1827. He was born in Litchfield, Connecticut to Oliver Wolcott, Sr. and Laura Collins Wolcott. He graduated from Yale University in 1778, studied law at Litchfield Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1781. Wolcott was appointed in 1784 as one of the commissioners to mediate claims between the United States and the state of Connecticut. After serving as the state comptroller of Connecticut from 1788 to 1790, he was named auditor of the federal treasury and later became the Comptroller of the Treasury in 1791.

He was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by George Washington in 1795 to succeed Alexander Hamilton. During his tenure, he was involved in an incident concerning a runaway slave-woman whom he was tasked to return to Mount Vernon. He resigned in 1800 due to unpopularity and false accusations against him, including one that accused him of setting fire to the State Department building.

In 1799, as Secretary of the Treasury, he designed the United States Customs Service flag. Wolcott was appointed as one of President Adams' so-called "midnight judges" and served on the second circuit bench, appointed just before Thomas Jefferson's inauguration in 1801. Wolcott passed away in New York City and was interred at East Cemetery in Litchfield. Prior to his death, he was the last surviving member of George Washington's Cabinet. Additionally, the town of Wolcott, Connecticut was named in honor of both Oliver Jr. and his father Oliver.

Lieutenant Colonel George Pitkin was born in 1729 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut. His father, Governor William Pitkin, was 35 and his mother, Mary Woodbridge, was 37. He married Jerusha Church around 1753 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut. They had at least 1 son and 1 daughter. He registered for military service in 1775. He passed away on 18 April 1806 in Connecticut, at the age of 77, and was buried in Hartford, Connecticut.

Read More

Read Less

Condition: Excellent
Item ordered may not be exact piece shown. All original and authentic.
OUT OF STOCK