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John Hancock

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:7,000.00 - 9,000.00 USD
John Hancock

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Auction Date:2014 May 14 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : 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
Partly-printed DS, one page, 13.5 x 8.75, Philadelphia, August 10, 1776. As president of the Second Continental Congress, Hancock appoints Selah Benton “to be second Lieutenant in a Company in the nineteenth Regiment of Foot commanded by Colonel Charles Webb in the Army of the United Colonies raised for the defence of American Liberty, and for repelling every hostile Invasion thereof.” Boldly signed at the conclusion by Hancock and countersigned by Charles Thompson. In very good condition, with professionally repaired partial separations to intersecting folds, moderate scattered staining, and a small area of repaired paper loss where the regiment is named (with the two affected letters expertly restored).

A member of the 19th Regiment since its inception eight months prior—during which time he had marched under General George Washington from Boston to New York—Selah Benton was promoted Second Lieutenant by President Hancock on August 10, 1776. After participating in the Battle of Long Island—and losing legendary captain Nathan Hale, who was captured and hanged as a spy for his scouting work there—the 19th marched on, fighting at the Battle of White Plains at the end of October, then joining John Glover’s Brigade in John Sullivan’s division. Following the surrender of Fort Washington on Manhattan Island, Washington ordered the withdrawal to New Jersey, and the soldiers of the 19th crossed the Delaware on Christmas day of 1776, taking part in the American victory at the Battle of Trenton the following day. An exceptionally bold and highly desirable Hancock signature, greatly enhanced by the significant revolutionary associations with the soldier’s famous regiment.