AN EXTRAORDINARY CONNECTION BETWEEN A SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN SOLDIER IN THE VIRGINIA CONTINENTAL ARMY

HARRISON, Benjamin (1726-1791). Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier, Council Chamber, Richmond, 20 June 1783. One page, oblong 16mo (101 x 144 mm), countersigned by Thomas Meriwether, lightly browned, framed and glazed. Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, confirms a land grant for an African-American patriot and veteran of the Continental Army: “I do certify that Daniel Cumbo is entitled to the proportion of land allowed a Private of the Virginia Continental line for three years service.” Daniel Cumbo, of James City, Virginia, appears on the roster of “Virginia Negro Soldiers and Seamen in the American Revolution” published in The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 27, 1942. A HIGHLY UNUSUAL DOCUMENTARY CONJUNCTION OF A SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEMBER OF THE VIRGINIA CONTINENTAL LINE.