December 2012 Auction Ends Tuesday, December 18th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/18/2012
George Clymer autograph letter signed: ''G Clymer'' and datelined [Roxborough], Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Friday morning, 10 November 1768. The Declaration signer considers swapping slaves with Colonel George Morgan of Princeton, New Jersey. The letter reads: ''...Captain Litle proposed to me, provided his wife agreed, to exchange his black girl registered in Penn'a for Judy. Mrs. C. wishes to know something about her before I talk further to him on the subject. Mrs. M or Mrs. Livingston may know what she is good for. Litle says she is a good girl, for which reason he should not know of the inquiry, as he may think his word alone might have been taken. Mrs. C would wish to know immediately, as otherwise she must if she can get a Dutch woman...'' Clymer signed the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and served on the Continental Congress. Pennsylvania's 1780 law for gradual emancipation prohibited the purchase of new slaves, but trading was still legal, and children born in slavery could be enslaved until age 28. Letter measures 6.5'' x 8.25''. Wear and tissue repairs to folds, silked on pages 1 and 4, postal markings on address panel, else near fine.
Declaration Signer George Clymer Autograph Letter Signed Regarding a Slave Exchange -- ''...Captain Litle proposed...to exchange his black girl registered in Penn'a for Judy...'' -- 1768
Click above for larger image.