Reed Joseph


Joseph Reed, as Pennsylvania President, Superb 1780 DS!

Pay Order Signed by Pennsylvania President Joseph Reed, Signer of the Articles of Confederation



 

JOSEPH REED, Document Signed, Pay Order for Frederick Sneider, January 1, 1780, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 2 pp., 7.5" x 4".  Expected folds; tears on two folds.



 

Complete Transcript


To my wages for attendance at the door from the first day of October last to the thirty first day of December Instant inclusive—92 days at twenty dollars per day




690..~..~




£692..13..4




 

[Endorsement:]

For £692..13..4                                               In Council Philada January 1st 1780

Sir        Pay to Frederick Sneider or his order the Sum of Six hundred and ninety two pounds thirteen Shillings and four pence the amount of the above account.

                                                                        Jos: Reed Presdt

To David Rittenhouse Esquire / Treasurer



 

[Endorsement on verso:]

January 1 1780 / Received the Contents in full

                                                                        Fredrick Snider



 

Historical Background

In this pay order, President of Pennsylvania Joseph Reed orders the state’s treasurer to pay Frederick Sneider for his service as doorkeeper for the Supreme Executive Council from October to December 1779, and for “sundry small expenses.” The doorkeeper had several tasks, from controlling access to the Council to procuring firewood for heating the Council’s rooms.



 

In July 1779, the Supreme Executive Council agreed to allow Sneider “the same Wages as is now allowed to Robert Patton, Doorkeeper of Congress; and that the Doorkeeper of Council have an equal privilege of the State House Yard, as the Doorkeeper of the House of Assembly.” On January 5, 1781, the Council agreed to increase Sneider’s wages to “ten shillings specie per diem” for his services as doorkeeper for the Supreme Executive Council. Sneider served as doorkeeper for the Council from at least 1778 to 1790.



 



 

Joseph Reed (1741-1785) was born in New Jersey and graduated from the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1757. In 1763, he left for England, where he studied law. He opened a law practice in Philadelphia, but with the beginning of the Revolutionary War, he left his law practice and became secretary and aide-de-camp to General George Washington in 1775. He also served as adjutant-general of the Continental Army. In 1778, he was one of the delegates from Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress to sign the Articles of Confederation. That same year, he was elected as President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, equivalent to the governor, and served in that position until 1781. During his tenure, Pennsylvania passed a law for the gradual abolition of slavery.



 

David Rittenhouse (1732-1796) was born in Philadelphia and was largely self-taught, showing great ability in science and mathematics. At age 19, Rittenhouse started a scientific instrument shop. His skill allowed him to construct two orreries (scale models of the solar system) for the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) and the College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania). In 1763, he surveyed the border between Delaware and Pennsylvania, based on a twelve-mile circle about the New Castle, Delaware Court House. He later helped establish borders between New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. He made his own telescope and studied the planet Venus in 1769. He was a member and officer of the American Philosophical Society, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a rare American member of the Royal Society of London. He served as treasurer of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1789 and became the first director of the United States Mint from 1792 to 1795. In 1786, he built a house in Philadelphia adjacent to an octagonal observatory he had already built.



 

Ex-Sigety, Ex-Christie’s.



 



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