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STEWART, MATTHEW; NEW LONDON, CT, 1761.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 400.00 USD
STEWART, MATTHEW; NEW LONDON, CT, 1761.
Two ALS to John Tully, Esq. Saybrook, concerning tickets for Matthew Stewart's Connecticut property sale by lottery. Stewart was a New London merchant who invested heavily in farmland, and by the 1750s devised a lottery sale scheme to stave off bankruptcy.* 1. Single-sheet ALS from John Stewart, New London, to John Tully Esq. in Saybrook, January (?), 1761. Addressed on one side, letter on the other. Stewart writes that the Managers are "...preparing to draw my lottery soon wherefore must beg the favour of you if can to put of the tickets... in your hands speedily," and promises him good returns. He adds: "My worthy friends Coll. Hamlin Esq(?), Whitmore and some other gentlemen in Middletown join together and took in different companies 133 tickets..." 11 3/8in. x 7 1/2in. Condition: Two vertical and three horizontal folds; several tears at fold creases and a hole at center where the wax seal attached (3/4in. x 1/4in.); toning, foxing/old dampstains; portion torn/missing from l/l; edge tears/folds. 2. Single-sheet ALS from Matthew Stewart in New London, to John Tully Esq. in Saybrook, March 24, 1761. Addressed on one side, letter on the other. Stewart thanks Tully for his "endeavors to try to dispose of" his property lottery tickets, and says he must "beg the favour of you to deliver them and the money to the barer(?) Mr. Samuel Bill..." He continues: "my lottery commences drawing next week and the managers must have all the money and tickets unsold in there hands when they begin..." 12 1/4in. x 7 3/8in. Condition: There are two vertical folds and at least four horizontal folds, with small tears in the creases, and four larger holes, the largest where the wax seal attached (1in. x 1/2in.); toning, foxing/old dampstains. *See the Connecticut Department of Transportation website (ct.gov 2022) for 18th-century homestead research of the Thomas Daniels Archaeological Site, which summarizes Matthew Stewart's lottery scheme. PLEASE NOTE: THE DOCUMENTS ARE TONED/DARKENED WITH AGE; IMAGES MAY APPEAR LIGHTER ON DIFFERENT SCREENS. This lot and the other Chapman-related items offered in this sale were part of a collection of papers and ephemera related to the family of Edward Mortimer Chapman (1862-1952), a Connecticut pastor, academic, and author, and a descendant of Robert Chapman, one of the first settlers of Saybrook, Connecticut (c. 1635).