Rev. War General James Mitchell Varnum of Rhode Island 7 Document Archive

This small archive of seven documents includes five from Varnum's pre-war career as an attorney and two from after the Revolutionary War. It includes at least two documents signed by Varnum plus as many as a dozen others signed in the text if written by Varnum.

JAMES MITCHELL VARNUM, Archive of Legal Documents, 1770-1774, 1783-1788, Rhode Island. 14 pp. Expected folds; irregular edges from original separation; very good.

Contents
- Account and receipt for amounts Varnum owed Henry Rice for the service of writs to Kent, Kings, and Newport Counties, 1770. 2 pp., 4" x 12.5";
- Account and receipt for amounts Varnum owed Nathaniel Gardiner Jr. for the service of writs to Kent and Kings Counties, 1770-1771. 2 pp. + attached slip, 7.75" x 12.5";
Nathaniel Gardiner Jr. (1714-1797).
- Account and receipt for amounts Varnum owed Deputy Sheriff Jonathan Niles for the service of writs to Kent County, 1771. 2 pp., 7.5" x 12.5";
- Account and receipt for amounts Varnum owed Jonathan Niles for the service of writs to Kent County, 1774. 2 pp., 6.5" x 6.5"; includes service of a writ in a case involving Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene (1742-1786);
- Partially Printed Arrest Warrant for Philip Parker, Husbandman, of Providence, in a case against him by merchant Silas Casey of Kent County for the nonpayment of a debt of £3:9:2, June 14, 1774; signed by Varnum on verso as attorney for plaintiff. 2 pp., 7.125" x 6.5";
Silas Casey (1735-1814) was a prominent dry goods merchant in Rhode Island. He lived on the Casey Farm in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, from 1787 to 1812.
- Receipt of James Mitchell Varnum to Peter Turner, February 25, 1786. 2 pp., 7.625" x 5.75" + attached slip.
"Received of Peter Turner one note for Thirty one pounds six shillings & Eight pence Dated December the Twenty third 1782, Signed by Joseph Clarke Gen. Treasurer on which Interest has been received to Decr 23d 1784 & for which I promise to account to him on Demand [Clipped signature of Varnum]"
[Attached slip in Varnum's hand:] "There is due from James M. Varnum to Peter Turner five pounds & eleven pence specie / E. Greenwich 10 March 1788 J. M. Varnum";
Peter Turner (1751-1822) served as a surgeon in the 1st Rhode Island regiment under Colonel Christopher Greene and served for three years, including at the Battle of Red Bank and the encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
- Account and receipt for amounts Varnum owed Beriah Waite for the service of writs, 1783-1785. 2 pp., 7.5" x 12.5".
Beriah Waite (1757-1820) was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, in which he served as an ensign, lieutenant, and captain. After the war, he served as a deputy sheriff in Washington County, Rhode Island.

James Mitchell Varnum (1748-1789) was born in Massachusetts and attended Harvard College before transferring to Rhode Island College (Brown University), from which he graduated in 1769. He married Martha Child in 1770. He gained admission to the bar in 1771 and began a practice in Rhode Island. He served as a captain in the Kentish Guards militia company, and in 1775 he became the colonel of one of three Rhode Island regiments raised after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. His regiment was renamed the 9th Continental Regiment in January 1776, and participated in the Siege of Boston and the Battles of Long Island and White Plains in New York. After recruiting duty in Rhode Island, he received a commission as brigadier general in the Continental Army in February 1777, a position he held until resigning in March 1779. He led troops in the Battle of Red Bank in New Jersey in 1777 and the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778. After resigning from the Continental Army, he received a commission as a major general in the Rhode Island militia, a position he held until 1788. He represented Rhode Island in the Continental Congress from 1780 to 1782 and in the Confederation Congress in 1786 and 1787. One of the directors of the Ohio Company of Associates, Varnum received an appointment as a judge in the Northwest Territory in October 1787 and moved to Marietta, Ohio, in June 1788. After helping Territorial Governor Arthur St. Clair to create a code of laws for the territory, Varnum died of consumption in January 1789.

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