Books and Manuscripts

Baltimore, June 20, 1777. Single sheet, 13 1/2 x 17 1/2 in. (343 x 445 mm). Manuscript document, signed by Signer of the Declaration of Independence from New York, Francis Lewis, as a member of the Continental Board of Admiralty, authorizing an account of receipts and expenditures for the armed sloop Montgomery, commanded by Capt. William Rogers. Creasing from old folds; lightly toned. In mat and in frame, unexamined out of frame, 20 1/2 x 24 1/2 in. (520 x 622 mm).

A great example of one of the rarest autographs among the Signers of the Declaration. Francis Lewis (1713-1802) was a New York merchant, and served most of his term in the Continental Congress as a member of the Admiralty Board due to his shipping experience. The sloop Montgomery was a successful privateer that operated out of New York harbor during most of the American Revolution.

Historian Charles Paullin, clearly referencing this document, describes in his The Navy of the American Revolution the very same transactions printed here, "New York's fleet captured some eight or ten prizes...The 'Montgomery' had best success...she captured several merchantmen which were libeled in the admiralty courts of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Maryland...'Montgomery's' most valuable prize was the schooner 'Hannah' libeled in Baltimore, for 11,281. Another prize, the 'Minerva'...was tried at court the same time with the 'Hannah' and was freed; whereupon, Francis Lewis, a delegate of New York to the Continental Congress, was then in session in Baltimore..." (p.475).