Lot Details
Lot 265
WASHINGTON, GEORGE Autograph endorsement, December 14, 1790. Single sheet, 12 1/8 x 7 5/8 (31 x 19.5 cm), the verso a docume...
. Single sheet, 12 1/8 x 7 5/8 (31 x 19.5 cm), the verso a document signed at the foot by William Martin, William Ellery, William Ellery Junior and D. Lyman, the recto endorsed at the head by George Washington, with docketing notations in another hand. Three folds, several with short separations (one minimally affecting a couple of letters of the document), some age toning, a small ink smudge (likely made at the time) below the first fold on a blank portion of the verso, Washington's endorsement signature strong and dark.
The document pertains to the retention of William Martin as the "Keeper of the Lighthouse on the Island of Connanicut [sic] in the town of James Town in the State of Rhode Island." This was under an "Act of Congress for Defraying the Expenses of the Light Houses in the several States" as stated in the document, and is signed by the lighthouse keeper, William Martin; the Collector of the Port of Newport, William Ellery; and two others (presumably as witnesses). Martin was to receive 140 dollars for the year. We find two other examples of such lighthouse-related documents endorsed by Washington at auction in the last quarter-century, but this (written during Washington's second year in the office of President) is the earliest of its kind noted. Conanicut had held considerable strategic value during the Revolutionary War and was used by both the British and the Americans during that period, so Washington would have been familiar with the area. Also included is a small cover sheet that appears to have accompanied the endorsed document; and a carefully hand-drawn and colored map, of roughly the same vintage, showing a portion of Block Island Sound as far up as Conanicut Island (both these items appear to have long been associated with the primary document).
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