Revolutionary War Connecticut, 1781 Promissory Note Signed by Samuel Wyllys and John Lawrence
Connecticut, 1781. Handwritten promissory note to pay Nehemiah Hubbard the sum of 25 Pounds in "Bills of this State & Charge the State," dated February 6th, 1781. Signed by Pay-Table member Eleazer Wales, with Samuel Wyllys' signature across, John Lawrence also signed as Connecticut Treasurer at bottom left. Promissory Notes like this were issued by the State of Connecticut help to finance the Revolutionary War. Military finances in the state of Connecticut were managed by the Pay-Table which was also known as the Committee of Four during the Revolutionary War. Its members rotated during the lengthy confrontation with England. Samuel Wyllys (January 4, 1739 - June 9, 1823) was an American military officer in the American Revolution, Connecticut politician, and a member of the Wyllys–Haynes family. In 1775, he was appointed lieutenant colonel in Colonel Joseph Spencer's 2nd Connecticut Regiment. On July 1, he was promoted to Colonel, and commanded the regiment until January 1, 1776, when the 2nd Connecticut was reorganized as the 22nd Continental Regiment. Wyllys remained in command of the regiment, serving in the Siege of Boston until the British evacuation on March 17, and then marched with George Washington to New York. He saw action in the Battle of Long Island and served in the New York vicinity until the end of the year. From 1777-1781, Colonel Wyllys commanded the 3rd Connecticut Regiment in the Connecticut Line, serving under General Samuel Holden Parsons. His regiment served in the New York area throughout the remainder of its service. Wyllys was discharged from the Army, along with his regiment, on January 1, 1781. He later served as a Major General of the Connecticut Militia from 1793 to 1796. Following the war, Wyllys served as a representative in the Connecticut General Assembly and town clerk of Hartford. Wyllys also succeeded his father, George Wyllys, as the Secretary of the State of Connecticut, serving from 1796 to 1809. He was the third consecutive member of the Wyllys family to hold the office, as his father had succeeded his grandfather Hezekiah Wyllys in 1735. Wyllys died on June 9, 1823 and was buried in Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground. John Lawrence (1719-1802) served as treasurer of the Connecticut colony, and later as the Connecticut State Treasurer from 1769 to 1789, spanning the crucial period of colonial rule, through the American revolution, and into the early years of the United States. During the Revolutionary War, Lawrence was commissioner of loans for the new nation. Fine-VF condition with some minor tears, folds and toning along margins.
Estimate: USD 90 - 180