Revolutionary War MAJOR GENERAL Joseph Spencer SIGNED 1778 Field Staff DOCUMENT

Description: - MAJOR GENERAL Joseph Spencer SIGNED Document 1778 -- WAGES Due the FIELD STAFF of Colonel Crary’s REGIMENT -- SIGNED by COLONEL Archibald Crary TWICE (Front + Back) -- SIGNED by Rhode Island “Brigadier General” Ezekiel Cornell -- SIGNED by ADJUTANT + Pay Master General Benjamin Steele - RARE and attractive Revolutionary War DOCUMENT titled along the top – “An Abstract of the Wages due To the Field Staff + Several Companies of Col’o Archibald Crary’s Regiment in the Service of the United States of America in the State of Rhode Island from the 1st February to the 1st March 1778”. The FRONT of the document is neatly penned, completely authentic, and lists the wages due to the Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major, Adjutant, Quarter Master, Surgeon, Surgeons Mate, Sergeant Major, and Quarter Master Sergeant in Colonel Crary’s Regiment. It also lists the wages due to EIGHT different Captain’s & their Companies in the Regiment as well. Right below this numerical accounting of wages due, Colonel Archibald Crary has genuinely SIGNED his name, indicating this is “A true Abstract as witness My hand”. Directly below Colonel Crary’s signature, Rhode Island BRIGADIER GENERAL Ezekiel Cornell has genuinely SIGNED his name on April 12th 1778, at Providence, indicating that he “Then Compared the Above Abstract with the Company Abstracts and them with the Weekly Returns and find the Same Just”. Below General Cornell’s signature, ADJUTANT + PAYMASTER GENERAL Benjamin Stelle has genuinely SIGNED his name on April 13th 1778, again at Providence, stating that he “Examined the above abstract + compared the same with the Company Rolls”. On the BACKSIDE of the document, Continental Army MAJOR GENERAL Joseph Spencer has genuinely SIGNED his name on April 13th 1778, at Head Quarters at Providence, authorizing the payment of “Three Thousand Seven hundred + Nineteen Dollars + 20/72 of a dollar” to Colonel Archibald Crary for “the Within Abstract”. MAJOR GENERAL Spencer signed this document just two short months before he resigned his commission from the Continental Army on June 14th 1778. This is likely one of the last surviving documents Joseph Spencer signed as a Major General. Just to the left of General Spencer’s signature, his son Isaac Spencer has SIGNED his name as well as his SECRETARY, “By his Honour’s Command”. Finally, along the very bottom, COLONEL Archibald Crary has SIGNED his name a SECOND time, acknowledging receipt of $3719 dollars + 20/72 of a dollar from Adjutant + Pay Master General Stelle at Providence on April 13th 1778 in full of the within abstract. Joseph Spencer SIGNED documents from the Revolutionary War seldom turn up for sale. In a 1967 Manuscript Society publication, John F. Reed contributed an article, a chapter titled “Revolutionary Rarities”. In it, he lists the autograph of JOSEPH SPENCER under the “RARE” category, providing some important perspective as to the availability of Joseph Spencer’s WAR DATE signature up until that point in time among knowledgeable, early American autograph collectors. From my own experience over the past 30 years, Spencer’s autograph continues to remain elusive of WAR DATE. JOSEPH SPENCER (1714 - 1789) studied law at Yale College in 1746, becoming a Connecticut attorney and a Judge of Probate. As a soldier, he served as a Lieutenant Colonel in “King George’s War”, the last “French and Indian War”, and as a Major General during the Revolutionary War. At the outset of the Rev War, he was appointed Brigadier General of Connecticut militia and in command of the 2nd Connecticut Regiment during the early “Siege of Boston”. When the 2nd Connecticut was adopted into the Continental Army in June of 1775, Spencer became a Continental Army Brigadier General. He was one of the first eight Brigadier Generals so appointed by the Continental Congress. In 1776, he was promoted to Major General in the Eastern Department in support of Major General William Heath. Spencer resigned his commission on June 14th 1778 and was elected a representative to the Continental Congress from Connecticut in 1779. CONDITION: document is guaranteed authentic and original (NOT a copy). It measures about 8 x 13 inches in size and is in EXCELLENT overall condition with dark writing and bold signatures. There are five horizontal folds, but NO rips or tears. It would be difficult to improve on the condition of this early Rev War document (see SCANS). The signatures / autographs of MAJOR GENERAL Joseph Spencer, COLONEL Archibald Crary, BRIGADIER GENERAL Ezekiel Cornell, and ADJUTANT Benjamin Steele are ALL guaranteed authentic. Winning bidder to pay $35 for shipping, postage & INSURANCE. Please let me know if you have any additional questions. PLEASE READ: I have been buying + selling American historical autographs & documents for over 40 years and a former member of both the “Manuscript Society” and the UACC. We ship everything INSURED (thru the USPS) with a value over $50. This helps us know that the item you took the time to purchase arrived safely. Packages are shipped out within 1 – 3 business days, but typically the next day. Please understand, we do not make any money on shipping costs, but rather run a deficit over the course of a year. 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You will receive the exact item pictured and in the same condition as described in my listing.

Price: 2500 USD

Location: Massachusetts

End Time: 2025-01-13T02:42:29.000Z

Shipping Cost: 35 USD