Thomas McKean document signed ("Tho M:Kean President") as President of the Continental Congress. One partially printed page, 16.5" x 13.5", Philadelphia; December 1, 1781. A letter of marque signed by Thomas McKean as President of the Continental Congress, granting license to a ship owned by Nathaniel Tracy. A letter of marque granting "license and authority to Nathaniel Cutting Mariner, Commander of the Ship called the Elizabeth of the burthen of three hundred & fifty tons or thereabouts, belonging to Nath'l John Tracy Esq. of Newbury port in the County of Essex in the Commonwealth of Masstt. To fit out and set forth the said ship in a war like manner, and by and with the said ship and the Officers and Crew thereof, by force of arms to attack, subdue, seize, and take all ships and other vessels...belonging to the King or Crown of Great-Britain..." Signed, "Tho M:Kean President" as president of the Continental Congress. Countersigned by Charles Thomson as secretary. With embossed wax and paper seal at upper left. Thomas McKean (1734-1817) served as a delegate from Delaware to the Continental Congress from 1777 to 1783 and signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. He was elected president of the Continental Congress, a position he held for only four months in 1781, and also served as the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 1777 to 1799. He served as the interim president of Delaware and later, the second governor of Pennsylvania. Prior to the war, Nathaniel Tracy (1751-1796) operated a successful merchant business in Newburyport, Massachusetts. His wealth enabled him to purchase and operate a large number of ships which he then turned to privateering during the American Revolution. Between 1775 and 1783, he outfitted twenty-four cruisers manned by 2,800 men and approximately 110 merchant vessels. While Tracy's fleet captured over one hundred enemy vessels, he ultimately lost all but fourteen of his own ships by the end of the war. Their loss when combined with the significant amount of money Tracy donated to the American government, resulted in Tracy spending the final years of his life in bankruptcy. The document is accompanied by an engraved portrait of McKean by T. B. Welch. Condition: Professional restoration on verso to separations at folds. Two folds with chipping and some loss to text, though document remains legible. Scattered soiling, toning and foxing. Pencil notations on verso. HID03101062020 © 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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