Details
FRANKLIN, Benjamin. Autograph note signed ("B Franklin Presidnt." with large flourish) as President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 4 November 1786. 1 page, oblong (229 x 167 mm.) part of a larger sheet, eight-line legal text on verso, with a fine, bold signature.
AN ORDER TO ISSUE A COMMISSION. A very attractive--if cryptic--order, penned in Franklin's most graceful, slightly florid hand as President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, directing the issuance of a commission of an unspecified nature: "Let a Commission be issued directed to Edward Shippen, Matthew Clarkson, Matthew Mease, George Hughes & Peter Baynton Esqrs. or any four of them." Clarkson (1758-1825), was a distinguished soldier who had served as aide to Benedict Arnold and fought with distinction at Saratoga, and later served as assistant to Secretary of War Benjamin Lincoln; he was a member of the New York Assembly in 1789-90, where he introduced a bill for the gradual abolition of slavery. Edward Shippen (1728-1806), an eminent jurist, was the father of Peggy, wife of the traitor Benedict Arnold; despite his neutrality during the war, he held a variety of legislative and judicial positions in Pennsylvania, including the office of Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court.
AN ORDER TO ISSUE A COMMISSION. A very attractive--if cryptic--order, penned in Franklin's most graceful, slightly florid hand as President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, directing the issuance of a commission of an unspecified nature: "Let a Commission be issued directed to Edward Shippen, Matthew Clarkson, Matthew Mease, George Hughes & Peter Baynton Esqrs. or any four of them." Clarkson (1758-1825), was a distinguished soldier who had served as aide to Benedict Arnold and fought with distinction at Saratoga, and later served as assistant to Secretary of War Benjamin Lincoln; he was a member of the New York Assembly in 1789-90, where he introduced a bill for the gradual abolition of slavery. Edward Shippen (1728-1806), an eminent jurist, was the father of Peggy, wife of the traitor Benedict Arnold; despite his neutrality during the war, he held a variety of legislative and judicial positions in Pennsylvania, including the office of Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court.
Special notice
Tax exempt.