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Autographs/M: William Bingham Sells Land To Robert Morris and John Nicholson

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Autographs/M: William Bingham Sells Land To Robert Morris and John Nicholson
THOMAS MIFFLIN & WILLIAM BINGHAM. Partly-printed Document Signed "Tho Mifflin" as Governor of Pennsylvania, on vellum, December 23, 1794, 11.25" x 18", Fine. Mifflin grants 1100 acres of land in Northumberland County to William Bingham, a founder and director of the first bank in the U.S., the Bank of North America, established in 1781. On the verso of the document is a statement signed "Wm Bingham," dated January 31, 1795, by which Bingham sells the land to Robert Morris and John Nicholson. A slight dampstain at center left has lightened Mifflin's signature; also, minor toning and scattered foxing, and a couple of the paper seal's top denticles are missing. Bingham's signature on the verso is bold. This document ties Bingham, who was a successful land speculator, to two notable failures in that field: Robert Morris, who signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution, and John Nicholson, comptroller general of Pennsylvania from 1782-94. One of their best-known ventures, the North American Land Company, was founded in February 1795, a month after the two acquired this land from Bingham. After their land ventures collapsed later in the 1790s, both Morris and Nicholson wound up in debtor's prison.