Details
THORNTON, Matthew (1714-1803), Signer (New Hampshire). Autograph endorsement signed twice ("Matthew Thornton,"), as Justice of the Peace, [New Hampshire], 17 April 1755. 1½ pages, small folio, Thornton's endorsement contains four lines plus dateline and signature, at end of the indenture, slight browning along folds.
Thornton, an Irish-born physician, certifies a legal document by which one John Alexander of London, New Hampshire conveys a "tract or piece of meaddow" in Londonderry "known as Butterfield's meadow," for the sum of £70 sterling. The exact boundaries of the tract are carefully spelled out and at the end Justice of the Peace Thornton certifies the validity of the transaction: "Province of New Hampshire. The above named John Alexander Acknowledged the above Instrument by him signed to be his free act & Deed. Before Mathew Thornton. Justice of Peace."
From 1758 Thornton served in the colonial legislature, became active in the opposition to the Stamp Act and was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775, arriving in Philadelphia in November 1776, in time to add his signature to the engrossed Declaration of Independence.
Thornton, an Irish-born physician, certifies a legal document by which one John Alexander of London, New Hampshire conveys a "tract or piece of meaddow" in Londonderry "known as Butterfield's meadow," for the sum of £70 sterling. The exact boundaries of the tract are carefully spelled out and at the end Justice of the Peace Thornton certifies the validity of the transaction: "Province of New Hampshire. The above named John Alexander Acknowledged the above Instrument by him signed to be his free act & Deed. Before Mathew Thornton. Justice of Peace."
From 1758 Thornton served in the colonial legislature, became active in the opposition to the Stamp Act and was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775, arriving in Philadelphia in November 1776, in time to add his signature to the engrossed Declaration of Independence.