Lot 228

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Lot 228
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Hugely Important Signed Documents by All Delegates to the Hartford Convention, 1814-1815, Nearly 30 Items
Hugely Important Signed Documents by All Delegates to the Hartford Convention, 1814-1815, Nearly 30 Items
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Hugely Important Signed Documents by All Delegates to the Hartford Convention, 1814-1815, Nearly 30 Items

"You will have seen that the Hartford Convention have been prudent."—Gouverneur Morris to Congressman Moss Kent
"I beseech you to beseech them to propose a separate Peace with England.... NOTHING else will be of any avail."—Rev. Elijah Parish to Jedidiah Morse

This fascinating compilation of original documents written and/or signed by members of the Hartford Convention of 1814-1815 was compiled by Washington real estate developer and manuscript collector Marshall B. Coyne. The archive includes documents from all twenty-six delegates from five states and the Convention secretary. It also includes two documents providing contemporary commentary on the Convention by Gouverneur Morris of New York and Elijah Parish of Massachusetts.

The compilation, housed in sleeved pages in a four-ring binder, includes a brief history of the Hartford Convention, a list of all delegates, including their state and birth and death dates, and complete typed transcripts of each of the documents. Because many of the delegates were attorneys, their letters in this collection detail legal business or cases in which they were involved.

[HARTFORD CONVENTION.] Archive of 32 documents, 1776-1838. 60 pp., various sizes. Several documents have tears along folds or edges; some are attached to paper mounts. All are enclosed in 12 x 15 sleeved pages, which are enclosed in a four-ring binder with encased leather cover measuring 14.5 x 16 overall. Binder rings do not all align properly; fabric-covered case is split on two edges but could be repaired; very good overall.

Individual delegate signed and/or authored documents include:
• Hodijah Bayliss, Partially Printed Document Signed, Appointment of Executor, May 3, 1825.
• Timothy Bigelow, Partially Printed Document Signed, Certificate of Military Service for John Whitney, June 12, 1780.
• George Bliss, Autograph Letter Signed, to Congressman Samuel Lathrop, January 10, 1822.
"The other subject you mention is one which I think an exceedingly interesting one that of the civilization & instruction of the Indians. I hope the subject will be understood & examined fairly. I think experiments are now making upon a more rational plan & with fairer prospects of success than have occurred for a long time. I hope you & some other Gentn from this quarter will be furnished with a slate of facts in regard to the schools in the Cherokee & Choctaw tribes of Indians and the encouragement there is to continued and increased exertion. The great object is to instruct children, not neglecting adults, in science & morals & religion, and to combine with these labour in agriculture and the mechanic arts & domestic employment."
• George Cabot, Autograph Letter Signed, to Unknown, July 1, 1803.
• Nathan Dane, Autograph Letter Signed, to Thomas S. Winthrop, May 6, 1809.
• Calvin Goddard, Autograph Letter Signed, to Mason F. Cogswell, May 28, 1822.
• Chauncey Goodrich, Autograph Letter Signed, to Congressman Samuel F. Dana, January 17, 1805.
"It is understood the money awarded to the Mariners for Losses of property on board the Brig Sally of New York by Commissioners under the British treaty is placed at the disposition of the Secretary of State. Inclosed is a joint, & several Letter for yourself & Daniel Franciss to receive this money: on the supposition of Mr. Franciss having left Washington I give you this trouble, if he should be at Washington or Georgetown he will I presume do this business: otherwise I must pray you to attend to it immediately: I tax your goodness the more readily as two of the concerned are amiable young widows, who have some appropriate claims on Batchelors: I act for them, & as they are ignorant of the Sums they are entitled to be so good as to examine for Papers to adjudicate the matter."
In October 1803, the English privateer Rover from Jamaica captured the brig Sally of New York, of which Daniel Lovett was master. The first lieutenant of the privateer came on board and demanded the brig's papers. The English claimed that 28 bags and 4 barrels of coffee and 14 bags of cocoa were Dutch property. Captain Lovett told them they could not break open the hatches unless by force, and the privateers beat him and broke open the hatches. Because of rough seas, they could not transfer the cargo, so they sent all of the crew of the Sally to the Rover and took Captain Lovett and the Sally to Jamaica.
• Chauncey Goodrich, Autograph Letter Signed, to Mr. Jacobs, December 28, 1786.
"In the present weak State of our Goverments debtors may defy Creditors with Tenders Suspensions &c. Suits at Law I fear will not answer the purpose. We must make Abatements on the a/c.s, give long terms of Payment on Security. Or if nothing better can be had, we must accept Mortgages of land in case the Law permits foreigners to hold lands, and wait for more Energy in Government to do Justice."
• William Hall Jr. et al., Manuscript Document Signed, Petition for a Turnpike Road Company, October 6, 1815.
• Benjamin Hazard, Autograph Document Signed, Certification of Power of Attorney Appointment by Mary Landers, January 16, 1802.
• James Hillhouse, Partially Printed Document Signed, Summons of Nathan Wheeler & Peter Williams, June 16, 1789.
• James Hillhouse, Autograph Letter Signed, to Governor Samuel Huntington, December 6, 1791.
"As you have always manifested a friendly disposition to, and interested yourself in favour of, the Manufactures of our Country, the patronizing and encouraging of which is of great public utility & as Norwich is also somewhat of a manufacturing town I have inclosed you the Report of the Secretary of the Treasury [Alexander Hamilton] on that Subject. Nothing very important has yet been completed, the fixing the Ratio of Representation on the first Census has been warmly agitated and a Bill fixing of it at one for Thirty Thousand has been lost by a disagreement between the houses on account of its giving an unequal Representation much against the northern States in proportion to their Numbers. All that we wish for who were against the Bill was a less and more equal Representation, and to be represented in proportion to the number of our Inhabitants compared with those of the Southern States. And we are not willing tamely to Submit to a deprivation of that priviledge, as a fair and equel Representation is of the highest importance to a free People."
• Stephen Longfellow Jr., Autograph Letter Signed, to Thomas G. Thornton, October 30, 1804.
• Daniel Lyman, Autograph Letter Signed, to Ray Green, October 20, 1794.
• Joseph Lyman Jr., Autograph Letter Signed, to Jonathan Jackson, October 16, 1801.
• Edward Manton, Endorsement on Samuel Eddy, certification of Manton's attendance as a senator in the General Assembly of Rhode Island, July 9, 1812.
• Mills Olcott, Autograph Letter Signed, to John Wheelock, President of Dartmouth College, November 21, 1800.
"I am informed that in consequence of the forgery of Dr. Laban Gates of a conveyance formerly given by yourself to him of the land where his house stands, that the validity of the deed is destroyed & that the legal title is now in you. I am likewise informed that you do not propose to avail yourself of this advantage but generously intend making some provision from it for his family. If you conclude Sir not to retain it, it will readily own to you that fair & honest Creditors of Gates have at least an equal if not superior claim on the score of justice to that of his family from motives of humanity. I have a demand left with me in favour of a Mechanic against the Dr. of about $70. for articles which have since been attached by other Creditors & were furnished when it was fairly presumable that Gates ownd the property. I have intimated my belief to him that it would be considerd, in any arrangement you should make respecting this concern & I submit to your consideration the propriety of this intimation."
• Harrison Gray Otis, Autograph Letter Signed, to Unknown, September 19, 1821.
• Harrison Gray Otis and Timothy Bigelow, Manuscript Document Signed, Massachusetts Senate Resolution Conveying two townships of land to the Falmouth & Cumberland Canals, February 26, 1806.
• William Prescott, Autograph Letter Signed, to Ephraim Root, September 3, 1798.
"I have been prevented from giving more early attention to your last letter by the sickness and death of one of my Children, which happened last week. Upon receipt of your Letter I should without hesitation have directed the Note to be taken out of the Bank, if there had been any person in Boston that I could have asked to take charge of the business. My friend Mr Lee and the few other acquaintances I have in that Place, whom I should be willing to trouble with business of this kind, have moved out of Town to avoid the Fever that prevails there."
The 1798 Yellow Fever epidemic struck both New York and Boston with particular force. From July to October, some 2,100 people out of New York's population of 35,000 died. During the same period, approximately 200 people died in Boston.
• Roger M. Sherman, Autograph Letter Signed, to Hiram Ketchum, November 14, 1836.
• Nathaniel Smith, Autograph Letter Signed, to Samuel W. Dana, February 3, 1795.
• Zephaniah Swift, Autograph Letter Signed, to John McClellan, July 5, 1807.
• Joshua Thomas, Autograph Letter Signed, to Unknown, January 13, 1810.
• John Treadwell, Manuscript Document Signed, Arrest Warrant for Thomas Way, June 10, 1800, on Indictment of Thomas Way by Grand Jury, June 9, 1800.
"To John Treadwell Esqr Lieutenant Governor of the State of Connecticut comes Isaac Cowles of Farmington in Hartford County, one of the Grand jurors for sd. Town & County, who in the name & behalf of the State of Connecticut, on his oath, presents, complains & says that on the 3rd day of June instant. at sd. Farmington, Thomas Way a Malatto man of sd. Farmington, not having the fear of God before his eyes, & instigated by the devil, did, with force & arms make an assault upon the body of his wife Lois Way, and her did, in a most cruel and barbarous manner, beat, wound and evilly entreat, so that he left her stretched on the ground apparently dead, and though she afterwards revived, yet she still languishes with her wounds, & her life hangs in doubt, & is almost despaired of; all against the peace, & contrary to the form & effect of the Statute in such case provided, whereupon the sd. Grand juror prays due process &c."
• Daniel Waldo, Autograph Letter Signed, to William Prince, September 28, 1827.
• Samuel Ward, Autograph Letter Signed, to John Cushing, December 24, 1781.
• Benjamin West, Autograph Letter Signed, to Rufus G. Amory, September 3, 1776.
• Samuel S. Wilde, Isaac Parker, and Samuel Putnam, Manuscript Letter Signed, to President James Monroe, December 1, 1824.
"Understanding that an appointment is soon to be made to the office of Navy Agent for the District, and that the opinions of persons acquainted with the Candidates, in regard to their character & qualifications may have some influence in the selection; we take the liberty to state that from an intimate acquaintance with Capt. Richard Derby for more than twenty years we feel entirely justified in recommending him as a Gentleman of the most scrupulous integrity, and of great personal activity & industry. Indeed were we to be called on to select any man of our acquaintance as a standard for the imitation of others in perfect moral rectitude, fidelity & high sense of honour, and as in all respects trustworthy either by the Government or individuals, we know of no one whom we should sooner select for this purpose than Capt. Derby."
• Theodore Dwight (secretary of the Hartford Convention), Autograph Letter Signed, to Hiram Ketchum, April 10, 1838.
"I am, however, more apprehensive that some measure will be adopted respecting the presidential election, than anything else. My own plan would be on this, & in truth on all occasions, never to bring out a candidate for that office, until the year preceding the election. My doctrine is, never to be placed on the defensive. I would not have a candidate to defend, but would always be the attacking party. Van Buren is already sinking under the perpetual batteries which have been played off upon him; & if for two seasons more, this kind of warfare should be kept up, there will be nothing of him left. If any man should be named by our friends, it would make no difference who he might be, the whole power of Loco Focoism would be levelled at him, & we should be forced to defend him against their falsehoods, whether we would or not. Without such a candidate in the field, we shall have nothing to do but to assail our opponents, & we could not fail to make more or less impression upon him. I can perceive a disposition here to do what has been done in other places—mention Mr. Clay as a favourite candidate, but still engage to take any man who shall be named by a national convention. I take it for granted such a convention must be held...."
The Whig Party held a national convention in December 1839 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The convention nominated William Henry Harrison of Ohio for president and John Tyler of Virginia for vice president. Harrison and Tyler went on defeat incumbent Democratic President Martin Van Buren with 52.9 percent of the popular vote and carried 19 of 26 states for a victory in the Electoral College of 234 to 60.

Contemporary Commentary on the Hartford Convention:
• Gouverneur Morris, Autograph Letter Signed, to Congressman Moss Kent, January 10, 1815.
"You will have seen that the Hartford Convention have been prudent. Their Doings bring to mind one of La fontaine's fables. A council of Rats being convoked, to devise Measures of Defence against feline Depradation, a sleek young member was much applauded for proposing to tie a Bell around Pussy's Neck, which, giving seasonable Notice of her approach, would enable every one to take Care of himself. Before the question was put, an old Rat, addressing the Chair, said ‘I too "Sir" entirely approve of our young friend's Proposal, but wish, before I vote, to know who will fasten on the Bell.'
"You, However, who are somewhat of a Yankee, will see, in the modest Propositions from Hartford Matter more serious than the Ratling of Words. Yankees like to make what they call a fair Bargain and will, I guess, easily take up the Notion of bargaining with the National Government, which according to my Notion, can make no Bargain, of practical Result, which will not amount to a Severance of the Union....
"This is the tenth Day of January. No Bank you can incorporate will now avail. You may, indeed by some Bubble relieve the Speculators who can find rich Dupes. But rich Men, whether Rooks or Dupes, are scarce fish in the whirlpool of National Bankruptcy....
"It is, moreover, too late for the seasonable operation of even wise Measures. Opinion, too, is against you. And in Matters of Credit, as in TransSubstantiation, the Faith makes the Thing.
"I am told that, even now, there are Federalists who whish for Office. This seems strange. They resemble Philistines strugling for a seat in the Temple of Dagon while Sampson was pulling it about their Ears."
• Rev. Elijah Parish, Autograph Letter Signed, to Jedidiah Morse, November 4, 1814.
"If you have any personal influence with any member, & I doubt not that you have with many members of the Hartford Convention, I beseech you to beseech them to propose a separate Peace with England. I was in Port yesterday; this is expected here & by some of the principal men in the Commonwealth. NOTHING else will be of any avail. We are thinking & talking about a county convention to address the august sages at Hartford. Pray stir up one in Middlesex, & write the address yourself; dip your pen in the sun beams of heaven, warmed with the electric flashes of the skies."

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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