A Signer Writes One Month Before the Declaration of Independence
Autograph Document Signed ("Wm Williams, Clerk"), to Connecticut Committee of Pay Table.
Stamford, Connecticut: 6 June 1776.
Price: $3,500.00
About the item
1 p. pen and ink on paper, with receipt of pay order docketed on the verso. 8vo (6 x 8-1/4 inches). A Signer Writes One Month Before the Declaration of Independence. Horizontal crease from prior folding, some wear and small tears at edges.
Item #310481
William Williams (1731-1811), delegate for Connecticut to the continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, writes on June 6, 1776, as clerk for the Governor of the Council of Safety to the Connecticut Committee of Pay Table requesting a payment of £154 to Thomas Morgan "in discharge of an order for that sum drawn by Cap. John Ely … in settlement of his acct. and service to the Company under his command in Colony service" and a payment of £30 to Samuel Shelton, "which is in discharge of Cap. Elys order for him …" Colonel John Ely (1737-1800) was a Connecticut surgeon and physician who invested nearly his entire wealth in the raising and outfitting of a regiment of regular troops. He was captured by the British in December of 1777, later refusing to be released in a prisoner exchange because his skills as a physician were desperately needed among his fellow captured soldiers.
