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Samuel Gray

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:1,000.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Samuel Gray

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Auction Date:2017 May 10 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : 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
Rare manuscript DS, signed “Saml Gray,” one page, 7.25 x 3, July 30, 1765. Receipt issued to Thomas Fayerweather for £20 worth of cordage and yarn. With the exception of the upper left field, Gray fills out the receipt in his own hand. Professionally inlaid into a larger sheet and in fine condition.

Gray was one of three men instantly killed by British troops during the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770, taking a bullet to his skull and falling alongside James Caldwell and Crispus Attucks. Gray worked as a rope maker at John Gray’s Ropewalks in Boston, but he was also known as a talented scrimshander, brawler, and tavern regular. On March 2nd, just days before the massacre, Gray was purportedly among several rope makers involved in a massive brawl with British soldiers. Matthew Killroy, the soldier charged with killing Gray, was also noted to be among those present in the altercation. In John Adams’ famous defense of the British soldiers, he called into question the character of the deceased, declaring that Gray, based on witness accounts, was ‘in liquor’ and ‘with a stick under his arm,’ claims which were never proven true. Gray remains incredibly rare, as well as a fascinating persona from one of New England’s most formative events. The first instance we have offered Gray in any format.