Books and Manuscripts

Savannah, March 8, 1773. Fragment of a manuscript document, signed by Thomas Bosomworth, authorizing receipt of payment from Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia, Button Gwinnett, whose name appears in a secretarial hand: "Received Savannah 8th March 1773 from Button Gwinnett Esqr five Pounds Sterling in full Discharge of the above Bond." Written on the verso is a portion of the payment agreement. 2 x 10 in. (51 x 254 mm). Lightly toned, professional paper repairs along bottom. In mat and in frame, 8 1/2 x 16 1/2 in. (216 x 419 mm).

Thomas Bosomworth was a clergyman, who with his half Yamacraw wife Mary Musgrove (1700-1765), owned a small island off the coast of Georgia called St. Catherine's Island, which they acquired in 1759 through indigenous conveyance. Button Gwinnett (1735-1777) emigrated with his family to America in 1762 from England, moving to Savannah, where he opened up a mercantile firm hoping to make a fortune in the city's bustling port. After a few years his venture had failed, and he brokered a lease with Bosomworth for St. Catherine's Island to build a house, and begin the life of a plantation owner. Agriculture proved unsuccessful for Gwinnett, and he was forced to break the lease due to mounting debt around the time of this bond payment, in 1773. Upon his return to Savannah Gwinnett entered local politics, and was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress for Georgia, in 1776. He served in this capacity until his death in 1777--the result of a fateful duel with political rival Lachlan McIntosh.

A rare and contemporary document related to the most desirable of the Signers of the Declaration Independence. Due to his untimely death, relative obscurity prior to the war, and the lack of preservation of his estate and papers, there are only 51 extant authentic examples of Button Gwinnett's signature (40 of which are held by institutions). This document, although unsigned, was presumably once owned by Gwinnett, and provides an interesting record of his short life.