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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARK WOOLLEY, YORK, PENNSYLVANIA
FRANKLIN, Benjamin (1706-1790), Signer (Pennsylvania). Manuscript document signed ("B. Franklin," with flourish), as President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 30 June 1787. 1 page, folio (13¼ x 15¾ in.), ON PARCHMENT, large paper seal in top left corner, two additional paper seals on verso, creases from prior folding, some discoloration on verso. Matted and framed. Counter-signed by Simon Trimble, recording docket on verso.
Details
FRANKLIN, Benjamin (1706-1790), Signer (Pennsylvania). Manuscript document signed ("B. Franklin," with flourish), as President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 30 June 1787. 1 page, folio (13¼ x 15¾ in.), ON PARCHMENT, large paper seal in top left corner, two additional paper seals on verso, creases from prior folding, some discoloration on verso. Matted and framed. Counter-signed by Simon Trimble, recording docket on verso.
SIGNED BY FRANLIN WHILE SERVING AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, awarding 153 acres of York County land to Frederick Stone. It is one of the best examples of such a document we have handled. Franklin's signature is bold and clear, in spite of his 81 years. Age, gout and other infirmities did nothing to stem Franklin's vigorous public service. In these final years of his life, besides serving on Pennsylvania's Executive Council, he was president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery. But his most memorable service in these years was as the elder statesmen to the Framers in the Constitutional Convention from May to September 1787--arguably his most important public service after his wartime diplomacy in France. One historian concludes that "His closing speech supporting the Constitution was the most effective propaganda for its ratification. Franklin's presence and argument contributed more than any other element to harmonize the delegates and to persuade thirty-nine of the forty-two members present to sign the formal document" (American National Biography online).
SIGNED BY FRANLIN WHILE SERVING AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, awarding 153 acres of York County land to Frederick Stone. It is one of the best examples of such a document we have handled. Franklin's signature is bold and clear, in spite of his 81 years. Age, gout and other infirmities did nothing to stem Franklin's vigorous public service. In these final years of his life, besides serving on Pennsylvania's Executive Council, he was president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery. But his most memorable service in these years was as the elder statesmen to the Framers in the Constitutional Convention from May to September 1787--arguably his most important public service after his wartime diplomacy in France. One historian concludes that "His closing speech supporting the Constitution was the most effective propaganda for its ratification. Franklin's presence and argument contributed more than any other element to harmonize the delegates and to persuade thirty-nine of the forty-two members present to sign the formal document" (American National Biography online).