Very early ADS as governor, signed “Will’m Henry Harrison,” one page, 8 x 6, December 31, 1802. Harrison sends an instruction to “The Cashier of the Bank of the United States.” In full: “Please to pay to John Rice Jones Esquire or his order fifty Dollars being part of my salary as Governor of the Indiana Territory for the quarter ending the 31st of December 1802.” In very good condition, with some stray ink marks and brushing to the body of the document, four sets of thin cancellation cuts repaired with toned tape (two affecting the top two lines and two in the lower blank area), and a bit of show-through from docketing to reverse; nothing affects Harrison’s boldly penned signature, which is an ideal exemplar.
This is an extremely early document from the Indiana Territory, which had been incorporated by Congress in 1800. President John Adams appointed Harrison, a Northwest Territory congressman, as the first governor of Indiana, and he took office in early 1801. As Harrison organized his executive administration, he appointed John Rice Jones as the Indiana Territory's first attorney general. Years later, Jones would became a justice on the Missouri Supreme Court. Although he successfully negotiated a number of land treaties with the Native Americans in the area, Harrison did not achieve national fame for another decade with his victorious effort over Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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