ADAMS, John (1735-1826). Document signed ("John Adams"), as President of the United States, to Elizabeth FEBIGER, widow of Revolutionary War commander Colonel Christian FEBIGER. Washington, D.C., 17 May 1799.
1 page, visible 12 5/8 x 14 1/2 in., with original seal, old creases, matted and framed to 18 x 20 in., not examined out of frame. A land grant of 1,500 acres made to Elizabeth Febiger, widow of the late Colonel Christian Febiger, under the auspices of the 1790 "Act to enable the Officers and Soldiers of the Virginia Line on Continental Establishment to obtain titles to certain lands lying north-west of the River Ohio, between the Little Miami and Sciota." Signed by President Adams and Secretary of State Timothy Pickering (1745-1829).
Colonel Hans Christian "Old Denmark" Febiger (1749-1795/6) was a commander in the Revolutionary War, seeing most of the major conflicts. He was a confidant of George Washington and a founding member of the Society of the Cincinnati.
Born in Denmark he immigrated to New England and joined a Massachusetts regiment at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, distinguishing himself at the Battle of Bunker Hill on 17 June 1775. While on General Benedict Arnold's ill-fated Canadian expedition in late 1775, he was taken captive but was exchanged sometime in 1776. By 13 November 1776, he was appointed as Lieutenant Colonel of the Virginia Line. He was promoted after the Battle of Brandywine (PA) to colonel of the 2nd Virginia regiment.
He saw further action at the Battle of Germantown (PA), led 4,000 troops at the Battle of Monmouth (NJ), and personally captured the British commander at the Battle of Stony Point (NY). When not in the field, he also oversaw commissariat duties for the Continental Army at Philadelphia. He was also present at the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender of General Cornwallis. He retired from active service at the beginning of 1783 and was brevetted brigadier general on 30 September 1787, though he preferred to retain his title of "Colonel." After the war, Colonel Febiger settled in Philadelphia and was named Treasurer of Pennsylvania, a role in which he served until his death.
Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana, and Historical Documents
