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Matthew Thornton

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
Matthew Thornton

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Auction Date:2018 Jul 11 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Revolutionary War–dated manuscript DS, signed "M. Thornton," one page, 6 x 6.25, November 26, 1777. Issued by Meshech Weare as president of New Hampshire, an order to pay Matthew Thornton for the period that covered his signing of the Declaration of Independence. In full: "In pu[rsuan]ce of a Vote of the Council and Assembly pay the Honble. Matthew Thornton Esq. Seventy five pounds which together with Forty five pounds formerly receiv’d by him at twice to be accounted for is in full for his Salary as one of the Puisne Jus[tice] of the Superior Court from the fifth d[ay of] January 1776 to the fifth day of January next making in the whole One hundred & seventy pounds agreeable to said Vote." Signed at the conclusion by Wear, "M. Weare, Pres't," and endorsed on the reverse by Thornton to confirm receipt, "M. Thornton." In fine condition, with two large cancelation holes affecting some text.

This historic pay document accounts for the period of time during which Thornton signed the Declaration of Independence as one of New Hampshire’s delegates to the Second Continental Congress. On September 12, 1776, Thornton was appointed by the New Hampshire House of Representatives as a delegate to the Continental Congress for a term of one year. He did not take his seat until November 4, four months after the passage of the Declaration of Independence, and he immediately acceded to the Declaration and was permitted to place his signature on the document. In addition, Thornton served as a justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire from 1776 to 1782. An outstanding financial document from America’s foundational moment.