Description:

(1735 - 1817) Signer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the Continental Congress and Governor of Pennsylvania. Important partial D.S., 1p. 9 3/4" x 8", [Philadelphia, 1797], the top portion of a document in which Judge McKean finds Clement Humphreys guilty of assault and battery and fines him fifty dollars. Near fine. Clement Humphreys was the son and business partner of Joshua Humphreys, notes Philadelphia naval and commercial shipbuilder. Following long-standing anti-Federalist sympathies published in the press and local protests, including threats to burn the frigate U.S.S. UNITED STATES (one of the first six American frigates built for the new nation), on April 6, 1797 the hostility culminated in an incident that both reduced the conflict to a personal level and augured ominously for Joshua Humphreys’ career as the Naval Constructor. Benjamin Franklin Bache, the grandson of Benjamin Franklin and heir to the Franklin printing business, published the virulently Anti-Federalist daily newspaper, The Aurora. Bache had insinuated that the Federalist administration had bribed the shipbuilders to guarantee their political support. Bache even targeted the revered George Washington and recently inaugurated John Adams with his vitriolic abuse. Illegally boarding the UNITED STATES, Bache was attacked by the younger Humphreys who struck him repeatedly for his accusations and for having "abused the president on the day of his resignation". In this document, Humphrey's pays the price. He was also obliged to post a $2,000 surety bond to guarantee his future good behavior. Ex: Kenneth Rendell, ca. 1960-67.

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February 18, 2019 10:00 AM EST
Chesapeake City, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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