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Lot #4007
Benjamin Franklin Document Signed for "firewood for the Pennsylvania guards"

As president of Pennsylvania, Benjamin Franklin orders a payment to supply "firewood for the Pennsylvania guards and Oil for the Lamp kept in the guard room"

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Description

As president of Pennsylvania, Benjamin Franklin orders a payment to supply "firewood for the Pennsylvania guards and Oil for the Lamp kept in the guard room"

Manuscript DS signed "B. Franklin," one page, 7.75 x 6.5, June 13, 1787. Pay order issued to Treasurer David Rittenhouse, in part: "Pay to John Nicholson Esquire or order the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds for defraying the contingent Expences of the Comptroller General's Office including expences for firewood for the Pennsylvania guards and Oil for the Lamp kept in the guard room." Prominently signed at the conclusion by Franklin and endorsed several times by Nicholson on the reverse. In fine condition, with a thin old mounting strip along the left edge, and partial fold separations repaired on the reverse. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder.

Franklin signed this as president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, a position analogous to the modern position of governor. The resolution approving this pay order is documented in the Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, published by the state. A superb and interesting piece signed by Franklin in the course of his important governmental work.

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