A scalloped edge ship's insurance document with an intriguing double connection to Revolutionary War hero and statesman Alexander Hamilton (1755/57-1804). The document is signed by Nicholas Low, a business associate of Hamilton's; and concerned a lost property claim filed on behalf of Nicholas Cruger, who mentored Hamilton on the island of St. Croix in the early 1770s.

The document is partly printed and partly handwritten on watermarked cream laid paper. Dated February 28, 1799. Co-signed by Nicholas Low (1739-1826), President of the United Insurance Company; Joseph Stansbury (1742-1809), Secretary of the United Insurance Company from ca. 1798-1809; Thomas White, one of the insured; and two witnesses, Cholinley Douglas and John Marston. Bearing an embossed "United Insurance Company" paper seal at lower right; an embossed revenue stamp near the top recto; and an embossed notary stamp near the top recto. Docketed by a notary recto. Expected wear including paper folds, some brittle, with breaks, minor closed tears, and occasional loss, and professionally repaired. Isolated discoloration and scattered collector's pencil inscriptions. Else good to very good. 19.5" x 15.25."

An insurance policy dated August 8, 1798 stipulated that the United Insurance Company insured "certain Goods Wares + Merchandizes [sic] laden on board the good Brig Sally whereof A. Masterson was Master upon a voyage at and from Newyork [sic] to Martinique." The insureds were Thomas White and Nicholas Cruger (1743-1800), New York City merchants. This document from February 28, 1799 authorized an insurance payout of $2,500 to the insureds to compensate them for the loss of the brig's cargo.

The First Alexander Hamilton Connection

The United Insurance Company was a joint-stock and incorporated insurance company established by one of New York City's leading merchants, Nicholas Low. In addition to serving as president of United Insurance Company, Low also served as the business agent of Rufus King, U.S. Minister at the Court of St. James's. Low had met Alexander Hamilton in 1783. After 1790, Low heavily invested in marine insurance ventures--such as the United Insurance Company--as well as in land speculation and banking. Low frequently called on Hamilton to handle United Insurance Company litigation, and Hamilton served as the company's general consul in the 1790s.

The Second Alexander Hamilton Connection

The insureds covered on this United Insurance Company policy were Thomas White and Nicholas Cruger. The latter, in the words of one late-nineteenth-century source, "continued the third generation of this eminent race of merchants." Nicholas Cruger was the nephew of John Cruger, mayor of New York City, and the first president of the New York Chamber of Commerce. In the mid to late 1760s, Nicholas Cruger moved to Christiansted, St. Croix where the 12-year-old Alexander Hamilton soon became apprenticed at Cruger's firm. Nicholas Cruger appointed Hamilton as acting chief of operations during the former's trip to New York City in 1771. Six pieces of correspondence exchanged between Nicholas Cruger and Alexander Hamilton dating from 1771-1772 are listed in the Founders Online database, National Archives.

The other insured, Thomas White, was most likely the son, nephew, or grandson of Thomas White (1724-1781), one of the most prominent New York City merchants of the colonial, pre-Revolutionary War period. According to the same late-nineteenth-century source, the elder Thomas White was a "large importer of European and East India goods" and one of 20 leading merchants to form the New York Chamber of Commerce in 1768. The elder Thomas White's property was confiscated in 1779 because he was a Loyalist, but the younger Thomas White could have recouped some of the family's mercantile holdings in the 20-year period between 1779 and 1799.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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