Description:

Revolutionary War
Portsmouth, NH, May 27, 1776
"Committee of Safety" Pays Man for Pursuing "Enemy to the Cause of America" Portsmouth Very Rare!
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[REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] Hunking Wentworth, Autograph Document Signed, Order to George King to Pay Samuel Staples, May 27, 1776, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 1 p., 5.75" x 4.5". Silked and laid in paper frame; very good.

The chairman of the local Committee of Safety in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, issued this pay order to George King to pay Samuel Staples 48 shillings for pursuing to Falmouth (modern Portland, Maine) a person "suspected of being an Enemy to the Cause of America." Then Falmouth, Massachusetts, was more than fifty miles from Portsmouth. The town of Falmouth had been attacked and burned by vessels of the British Royal Navy in October 1775 in retaliation for the port's support of Patriot activities in the early stages of the Revolutionary War.

Complete Transcript
Portsmh 27th May 1776
George King Esq
Sir
Please to pay Mr Staples forty eight Shillings [?] Money out of the publick Money in your hands, being for his time & Expences going Express to Falmouth in pursuit of a person suspected of being an Enemy to the Cause of America.
By Order of the Comtee of Safety
H Wentworth Chairman
£2.8.

[Endorsement on verso:] Samuel Staples

Hunking Wentworth (1696-1784) was the son of John Wentworth and Sarah Hunking Wentworth. He lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and served as the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas from 1742 to 1770. He supported the Patriot cause and was chairman of the Portsmouth Committee of Safety as long as his health permitted. His father had been lieutenant governor of New Hampshire, when it was still united with the colony of Massachusetts Bay, and his brother Benning (1696-1770) had been the first governor after the separation, from 1741 to 1766. His nephew John Wentworth (1737-1820) was the last British colonial governor of New Hampshire.

George King was a selectman for the town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1776. He also served as clerk of the Supreme Court from 1767 to 1780.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 5.75" x 4.5"
  • Medium: ADS

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