LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Apr Books, Manuscripts & Autographs #658  / 

25007

Declaration Signer George Clymer 1776 ADS

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:750.00 USD Estimated At:3,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD
Declaration Signer George Clymer 1776 ADS
<B>Declaration Signer George Clymer Autograph Document Signed</B></I> "<I>Geo Clymer</B></I>". One page, 8.25" x 5", Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 8, 1776. Bartlett writes, "The committee within by leave to report that the treasury borrow money on the terms contained in the form of a note herewith exhibited." The document is also signed by James Biddle who was part of the "Fort Island Committee" with Clymer. In full, the document reads: "<I>Gentlemen, please pay to Messrs James Worral and Robert Alisson, one hundred pounds for the purchase of logs for the defences of Fort Island agreeable to directions of the Committee of Safety.</B></I>" Fort Island was sometimes called "Mud Island" and was an important point in the defenses of the Delaware. An earthworks hastily built in 1776, on Mud Island, and then surrounded by water with a deep channel is now firmly united with the mainland. It was called Mud Fort and had ramparts, timber abatis, stockades, block houses, and mounted 25 cannon. In 1776 and 1777, the Committee of Safety, in conjunction with Congress, hurriedly completed the work. On Sept. 26, 1777, the British army entered Philadelphia, but being dependant on their ships for military supplies, the troops became marooned in the city until the fleet under Admiral Howe could move up the river to the city front. It was Mud Fort's task to oppose the fleet's passage to the last ditch and nobly did the handful of Connecticut and Rhode Island troops composing its garrison respond to Washington's appeal. <BR><BR>Clymer, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Pennsylvania, made a fortune as a Philadelphia merchant. Because of British restrictions on his business, Clymer was one of the first to advocate complete independence. In 1775, he was one of the first Continental treasurers, and underwrote much of the war by exchanging his specie for currency. He attended both the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, and then served in the House of Representatives. Fine condition; two minor tape reinforcements on verso. In 25 years at major auction, only one other 1776 Clymer item has sold.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Books & Catalogs (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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