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177

Declaration of Independence: Thomas Nelson

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD
Declaration of Independence: Thomas Nelson

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Auction Date:2012 Jul 18 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, 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
Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Virginia (1738-1789). He represented Virginia in the Continental Congress and was its Governor in 1781. Rare LS signed “Thos Nelson, Jr,” one page, 6.25 x 7.75, September 19, 1781. Letter to Brigadier General George Weedon, promising ample ammunition and reinforcements for the coming siege of Yorktown. In part: “I have this morning rec’d your Favor of yesterday. The reason, I imagine, no relief has arrived in your camp is that the militia of all the counties except King & Queen which you mention were ordered to come down on this side, and the militia of the counties north of Pamunkey River, to form the Gloucester Army. The militia of King & Queen had no right to a discharge…according to the…Militia Law. I have already given the necessary orders respecting ammunition, and shall take care that your force be so respectable, as to enable you to awe the enemy on your side, and to act an offensive part." Reverse of second integral page bears an address panel and docketing in an unknown hand. In very good condition, with intersecting folds, one through a single letter of signature, several creases and spots, small pencil notation to top left, and some paper loss to second integral page. In his 1995 reference History Comes to Life, Kenneth Rendell places Nelson’s autograph material into the “very rare” category among the Signers—an echelon second only to that occupied by the virtually unobtainable Gwinnett and Lynch.

Ten days before the the Siege of Yorktown, Nelson wrote to Brigadier General George Weedon, whose brigade of Virginia militia would cut off the one means of escape for the British at Gloucester Point. In the letter, he mentions the militia of King and Queen County, Virginia. A native of Yorktown, Nelson served as the commanding general of the Lower Virginia Militia, and was engaged at the siege. According to legend, he urged Washington to fire on his own house, where Cornwallis had established his headquarters, and promised a reward of five guineas to any man who hit it. An extremely rare and desirable letter written in the prelude to the pivotal battle of the Revolutionary War.
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