DS, signed "Th: Jefferson," one page, 8 x 13, December 16, 1791. An Act of the Second Congress, in part: "An Act for the relief of David Cook and Thomas Campbell. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That David Cook, a captain of artillery in the late war, and who, being shot through the body at the battle of Monmouth, is rendered incapable to obtain his livelihood by labor, shall be placed on the pension-list of the United States, and shall be entitled to one third of his monthly pay, as a captain of artillery…Thomas Campbell [shall] be placed on the pension-list, and…the half pay of a captain of infantry be allowed to the said Thomas Campbell, who has been so injured by repeated wounds in the service of his country, that he is unable to support himself by labor." Signed at the conclusion by Jefferson as Secretary of State, with typed signatures of George Washington, John Adams, and Jonathan Trumbull also present. Elegantly double-cloth-matted and archivally framed with a color portrait of Jefferson and a small plaque to an overall size of 27.25 x 24.25. In fine condition, with light soiling, minor corner loss, and indications of being mounted to a same-size sheet (not examined out of the frame).



Jefferson was serving as Washington's secretary of state when he signed this act granting pensions to two Revolutionary War veterans, David Cook and Thomas Campbell. Cook had been wounded at the Battle of Monmouth on June 27, 1778 in Monmouth County, New Jersey. During the war, the Continental Congress recruited soldiers using the nation's first pension law, which promised half pay for life in cases of loss of limb or other serious disability. The national government did not have the funds to make these payments, however, and the duty was passed on to the states. In 1789, Congress assumed the responsibility for veterans benefits when it passed the first federal pension legislation. A rare and desirable Act of Congress signed by a founding father.