Revolutionary War
Hartford, CT, October 31, 1782
Connecticut Militia Brigadier General Seeks Payment for Expenses
ADS

[REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] Erastus Wolcott, Autograph Document Signed, Account with State of Connecticut, October 31, 1782, [Hartford?], Connecticut. 1 p., 8.375" x 8.5". Expected folds; general toning; very good.

Brigadier General Erastus Walcott submitted this account for payment of ?4..0..4 for expenses incurred from December 1780 to May 1782. Expenses included hiring horses to attend meetings to settle his accounts with the army and sending express riders to deliver orders. Justices of the Peace William Wolcott Jr. (1711-1799) and Daniel Elsworth (ca. 1727-1803) of Hartford County reviewed and approved the charges, adding an order for Treasurer John Lawrence to make the payment. William Wolcott Jr. was Erastus Wolcott's cousin.

Excerpt
[Endorsement:]
"E Wolcott Novr 21 1782
To John Lawrence Esqr Treasurer of the State of Connecticut &c
These are your order to pay to Erastus Wolcott Esqr ?4.0.11 lawful Money to ballance the above Acct which has been eximend & is allowed by us the Subscribers
Wm Wolcott Just. p?
Danl Elsworth Just. Pais"

Erastus Wolcott (1722-1793) was born in Windsor, Connecticut. His father Roger Wolcott served as colonial governor from 1751 to 1754. His brother-in-law Matthew Griswold was governor of Connecticut from 1784 to 1786, and his younger brother Oliver Wolcott was lieutenant governor from 1787 to 1795 and governor from 1796 to his death in 1797. Erastus Wolcott served in the Connecticut General Assembly (1758-1762, 1768-1773), as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in 1774 but refused to serve outside of Connecticut, as Speaker of the Assembly (1776), as a member of the Council of Safety (1778-1779), as a member of the Council of Assistants (1786-1789), and as a justice on the Connecticut Supreme Court (1789-1792). He rose in the ranks of the colonial militia to colonel in 1774, commanded a regiment to reinforce General George Washington at Boston in 1776, and became brigadier general of the first brigade of Connecticut militia in December 1776. In January 1781, he resigned in protest of Governor Jonathan Trumbull's direction of the war effort.

John Lawrence (1719-1802) served as treasurer of the colony and then the state of Connecticut for twenty years from 1769 to 1789. During the Revolutionary War, he was also commissioner of loans for the United States.

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.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.
8.375" x 8.5"