Description
Hopkinson Francis 1737 - 1790 Pristine Continental Loan Office Third Bill of Exchange signed by Signer of the Declaration of Independence Francis Hopkinson, William Bingham and John Benezet
Partly Printed Document Signed "F. Hopkinson" as Treasurer of Loans, 1 page, 8.25" x 3.5". United States of America, March 2, 1779. Third Bill of Exchange. Watermarked "UNITED STATES 3" across the center. Countersigned "Tho: Smith" as Commissioner of the Continental Loan-Office in the State of Pennsylvania. Completed in manuscript. To the Commissioner or Commissioners of the United States of America, at Paris. Lightweight watermarked laid paper. Endorsed on verso "Andrew Yeatman."
Also, one signed endorsement in English by Bingham and one in French by Benezet on verso, with show-through in center of the Bill of Exchange not near superb Hopkinson signature. Fine condition.
"Exch. for 60 Dollars, at five Livres Tournois p Dollars Numb. 357 - At Thirty Days Sight of this Third Bill, First, Second and Fourth not paid, pay to Andrew Yeatman or Order, Sixty Dollars, in Three Hundred Livres Tournois, for Interest due on Money borrowed by the United States..."
William Bingham was an American Statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a Delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788, and later served in the United States Senate from 1795 to 1801 and as President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate.
March, 1st, 1779-Dated Revolutionary War Period, Partially-Printed Document Signed, "F. Hopkinson" as Continental Congress Treasurer of Loans, Third Bill of Exchange $60 Sight Draft, printed in Violet, Green and Black, Very Choice Crisp About Uncirculated. This bright, clean and fresh Continental Treasury form being beautifully printed upon watermarked "UNITED STATES 3" fine quality laid period paper. It is made to "Andrew Yeatman" on interest due on Money borrowed by the United States. This form is made:
"To the Commissioner or Commissioners of the United States of America, at Paris. - Countersigned, Tho(mas) Smith - Commissioner of the Continental Loan-Office in the State of Pennsylvania -- (Signed) F(rancis) Hopkinson - Treasr. of Loans."
This form is in superb, bright overall quality having a bold signature of Hopkinson measuring fully 2.5" long. The blank reverse is endorsed at top by Yeatman, being signed to William Bingham, authorized by John Benezet, and then further endorsed and noted in French on July 13, 1779, Signed by "Wm. Bingham" with his bold signature with a lovely flourish below.
John Benezet was a native of Philadelphia and the son of Daniel Benezet, a prominent Philadelphia merchant. Benezet briefly attended the College of Philadelphia in 1757 and was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1768. In 1775, he married Hanna Bingham, and with that, his father gave him £3,000 plus £6,000 in stock to set up an import business. Benezet became active in political affairs, but only briefly. In early 1775, John Benezet served as one of the Secretaries who recorded proceedings at the Pennsylvania Provincial Congress. In August of that year, he was named to Philadelphia's Committee of Correspondence. Two years later, in 1777, the Continental Congress appointed Benezet as Commissioner of Claims in the Treasury Office, later resigned and returned to his business interests. Benezet died in the Winter of 1780-81, when his ship, the Shillelagh, was lost at sea during a voyage to France.
Francis Hopkinson, signer of the Declaration of Independence, signs this bill of exchange as Treasurer of Loans. Francis Hopkinson (September 21, 1737 - May 9, 1791), an American author, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence as a delegate from New Jersey.
He later served as a federal judge in Pennsylvania. His supporters believe he played a key role in the design of the first American flag. Francis Hopkinson was born at Philadelphia in 1737, the son of Thomas Hopkinson and Mary Johnson. He became a member of the first class at the College of Philadelphia (now University of Pennsylvania) in 1751 and graduated in 1757, receiving his masters degree in 1760, and a doctor in law (honorary) in 1790.
He was secretary to a Provincial Council of Pennsylvania Indian commission in 1761 that made a treaty with the Delaware and several Iroquois tribes. In 1763, he was appointed customs collector for Salem, New Jersey. Hopkinson spent from May 1766 to August 1767 in England in hopes of becoming commissioner of customs for North America. Although unsuccessful, he spent time with the future Prime Minister Lord North and his half-brother, the Bishop of Worcester Brownlow North, and painter Benjamin West. After his return, Francis Hopkinson operated a dry goods business in Philadelphia and married Ann Borden on September 1, 1768. They would have five children. Hopkinson obtained a public appointment as a customs collector for New Castle, Delaware on May 1, 1772.
He moved to Bordentown, New Jersey in 1774, became an assemblyman for the state's Royal Provincial Council, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar on May 8, 1775. He resigned his crown-appointed positions in 1776 and, on June 22, went on to represent New Jersey in the Second Continental Congress where he signed the Declaration of Independence.
He departed the Congress on November 30, 1776 to serve on the Navy Board at Philadelphia. As part of the fledgling nation's government, he was Treasurer of the Continental Loan Office in 1778; appointed Judge of the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania in 1779 and reappointed in 1780 and 1787; and helped ratify the Constitution during the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
On September 24, 1789, he was nominated by President George Washington to the newly created position of Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania. He was confirmed by the United States Senate, and received his commission, on September 26, 1789.
As a Federal Judge, Hopkinson died in Philadelphia at the age of 53 from a sudden epileptic seizure. He was buried in Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia. He was the father of Joseph Hopkinson, member of the United States House of Representatives and Federal judge. A nearly identical note but not as pristine sold at Early American Auctions in August of 2014 for around $1500.
