The Alexander Hamilton Collection of John E. Herzog

New York, April 6, 1790. One sheet, 4 x 7 1/4 in. (102 x 184 mm). Manuscript promissory note in a secretarial hand, signed by Prussian and American military officer Baron von Steuben, to New York physician James Tillary, for "Sixty pounds New York currency in specie"; endorsed by Alexander Hamilton, Tillary, William Maxwell, and Bank of New York cashier, Charles Wilkes, on verso, docketing by Tillary to same. Creasing from original folds; some ink smudging, left side; old mounting tape along top edge verso. Lot includes ephemera relating to Steuben and Hamilton.

Baron von Steuben suffered financial hardships following the American Revolution, with Congress failing to pay him a pension, and often honoring only some of his expenses. Hamilton and friend Benjamin Walker often aided Steuben in his times of need, and it wasn't until 1790, the year this note was issued, that Steuben received a fraction of the pension owed him. The little Congress gave Steuben allowed Hamilton to help stabilize his finances, and for the remainder of his life he split his time between New York City and land granted him for his war service in Utica, New York. He died in 1794.

James Tillary was a New York physician and Federalist politician, and close friends with both Steuben and Hamilton. Steuben at one point rented an apartment from Tillary at the southeast corner of Broadway and Wall Street, and Hamilton often lent money to Tillary.