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1789 dated Payment Order signed by Oliver Wolcott, Jr. & Jedediah Huntington - American Revolutionary War

Inv# CT1015   Autograph
State(s): Connecticut
Years: 1789
Civil List, Comptroller’s Office Pay Order dated 1789 signed by both Oliver Wolcott, Jr. and Brigadier General Jedediah Huntington. Hole cancellation slightly affects Wolcott’s signature. Extremely Fine Condition. Rare!!!

Oliver Wolcott Jr. (January 11, 1760 – June 1, 1833) was the second United States Secretary of the Treasury, a judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit, and the 24th Governor of Connecticut. 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, then graduated from Yale University in 1778 and read law in 1781.

He was clerk of the Connecticut Committee on Pay-Table from 1781 to 1782. He was a member of the Connecticut Committee on Pay-Table from 1782 to 1784. He was a commissioner to settle claims of Connecticut against the United States from 1784 to 1788. He was Comptroller of Public Accounts for Connecticut from 1788 to 1789. He was Auditor for the United States Department of the Treasury from 1789 to 1791. He was Comptroller for the United States Department of the Treasury from 1791 to 1795. He was a commission merchant in New York City from 1793 to 1815. He was the 2nd Secretary of the Treasury from 1795 to 1800.

On May 21, 1796, one of Martha Washington's slaves, Oney Judge (sometimes known as Ona), escaped from the Executive Mansion in Philadelphia, where she lived with the Washingtons during his presidency, serving as Washington's chambermaid. As Secretary, Wolcott was George Washington's intermediary in getting the Collector of Customs for Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Joseph Whipple, to capture and send Judge to Mount Vernon, where she had begun serving the Washingtons. Whipple met with Judge, discussed why she had escaped and tried to ascertain the facts of the case. After she told him she did not desire to be a slave again, Whipple refused to remove Judge against her will, said that it could cause civil unrest because of abolitionists, and recommended for the president to go through the courts if necessary. In their correspondence, Washington said that he wanted to avoid controversy and so he did not use the courts to take advantage of the method that he had signed into law under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Wolcott_Jr.

Jedediah (or Jedidiah) Huntington (4 August 1743 – 25 September 1818), was an American general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he served in numerous civilian posts. Huntington was born in Norwich, Connecticut, the son of Jabez and Elizabeth (Backus) Huntington. Huntington graduated from Harvard in 1763 and received a master's degree from Yale University in 1770. He was engaged in commercial pursuits with his father, was an active member of the Sons of Liberty, and of the Committee of Correspondence established at Norwich on 6 June 1774. He was a slightly built man: "His greatness was rather intellectual and moral than physical, as there is in existence a memorandum of the weighing of several revolutionary officers at West Point, August 19, 1788; when Gen. Washington weighed 209 pounds, Gen. Lincoln, 224, Gen. Knox, 280, and Gen. Huntington, 132."

As the war approached, Huntington became an active officer in the Norwich militia. He was appointed ensign of the first Norwich militia company in October 1769, became a lieutenant in 1771, and a captain in May 1774. In October 1774, Huntington was made Colonel of the 20th Regiment of Connecticut Militia. When Israel Bissell brought the Lexington Alarm to Norwich on April 20, 1775, he personally delivered it to Colonel Huntington, who immediately got his men ready to march. On April 26 they arrived in Wrentham, Massachusetts, and a few days later they were in Roxbury and became part of the Siege of Boston.

About May 20, 1775, Colonel Huntington traveled the 65 miles back to Norwich to put his affairs in order before returning to his command. While there, he arranged for his wife Faith and some of the other officer's wives to travel back to Roxbury to join their husbands at the siege. On their way back, the axle of their carriage was broken in an accident on June 13 near Providence, RI, and their journey was delayed. They arrived back in Roxbury just in time to see the bloody aftermath of the Battle of Bunker Hill. The shock of seeing this, and the realization of the danger her family was in, caused Faith to start having bouts of serious depression. Despite the best efforts of the family she continued to deteriorate and hanged herself on November 24, 1775. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedediah_Huntington

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Condition: Excellent
Item ordered may not be exact piece shown. All original and authentic.
Price: $175.00