Description:

HENRY LAURENS
(1724 - 1792) American Revolutionary statesman and first President of the Continental Congress, captured by the British while attempting negotiations with the Dutch and later exchanged for Gen. Cornwallis. Rare war-date A.L.S. as President of Congress, with franking signature on verso, 1p. legal folio, York, Mar. 19, 1778 to South Carolina Gov. Richard Caswell. Laurens refers his correspondent to a letter he had written five days earlier, "...sent under the protection of General Scott". He continues: "...The present cover will convey to your Excellency an Act of Congress of the 16th for obtaining from each State in the Union proper information of the determination in each, respecting the Acts & Recommendations of Congress transmitted & to be transmitted from & after the 1st November 1777...". A miniscule filled hole just beneath Laurens' signature, very slight show-through, verso slightly soiled, else very good. Interestingly, the docket on verso indicates that the letter was not delivered until April 21st. The only action we see taken by Congress on Nov. 1, 1777 is their proclamation of the first Thanksgiving, written by Sam Adams and honoring the Americans' victory at Saratoga.

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May 13, 2009 10:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

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