American Historical Ephemera & Photography

OLIVER, Andrew, Jr. Autograph note signed ("A. Oliver") by Andrew Oliver, as administrator of the estate of Nathaniel Loring. Salem [MA], 8 May 1770. 6 1/8 x 4 7/8 in. (sight), 8 7/8/ x 7 1/2 in. (framed) (ink bleed, toning, unexamined outside frame).

Andrew Oliver Jr. was a gentleman scientist, and the son of the much-despised Andrew Oliver, a British official who in 1765 was hung in effigy on Boston's Liberty Tree for his implementation of the Stamp Act. Born into a wealthy and politically powerful merchant family, the younger Oliver attended Harvard and Yale. He ultimately settled in Salem, MA, the home of his wife Mary Lynde Oliver. He became a county judge in 1761 and a representative to the Massachusetts General Court the following year. Oliver corresponded with Benjamin Franklin and authored  scientific essays. Along with John Adams, Oliver helped found the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The note offered here indicates that Oliver was acting as administrator of Boston merchant Nathaniel Losing's estate, with verso docketing "Andrew Oliver Junior Esq. / Order on Nathl. Loring / Admr. for possession of his / Warehouse 19th May 1770." Oliver would have been well-connected with New England merchants, as his father and grandfather were wealthy merchant businessman.

[With:] DULANY, Daniel (1722-1797). Manuscript legal opinion related to disposition of a land title signed ("Danl. Dulany"). 6 March 1767. 4pp, 7 5/8 x 12 1/2 in. (folio, nearly completely separated along center fold, creasing, chipping at edges some affecting text).

Known as Daniel Dulany the Younger,  the Royalist Maryland politician was considered one of the greatest legal minds of his day. He served as Commissary General in 1754, and 1759; Deputy Secretary of Maryland in 1761; and Mayor of Annapolis, 1764-65. Notably, his Considerations on the Propriety of Imposing Taxes in the British Colonies argued against the Stamp Act and enumerated the grievances associated with taxation without representation. Ultimately, however, Dulany opposed forcible separation from England and aligned with the British during the Revolutionary War.

[With:] Signatures of post-Revolutionary War British Generals including Godfrey B. Mundy, James Hay, Andrew Pilkington, Isaac Gascoyne, William Nicolay, and Charles Otto Baron Grothe.