Partially printed DS, signed “Th: Jefferson” as president and “James Madison” as Secretary of State, one page on vellum, 12.5 x 15, August 24, 1807. A document granting an eight-hundred-acre parcel of land to Francis Eppes, “a Lieutenant Colonel for the War,” under the provisions of the congressional act of August 10, 1790 “To enable the Officers and Soldiers of the Virginia Line on Continental Establishment, to obtain titles to certain lands lying north-west of the River Ohio, between the Little Miami and Sciota.” The reverse is also endorsed in ink “H[enry] Dearborn” as Secretary of War. Eppes (evidently Francis Eppes IV, 1747–1808) was from a prominent Virginia family of soldiers and landowners. The Eppes and Jefferson families were linked by generations of intertwined associations; Jefferson’s ancestors included members of the Virginia Eppeses, Frances was a first cousin of Martha [Mrs. Thomas] Jefferson, and Eppes’ wife, née Elizabeth Wayles, was Martha’s half-sister. The close relationship between Frances Eppes and Thomas Jefferson is highlighted by the surviving correspondence between the two men; more notably, perhaps, Eppes was the cosigner on the bond for the wedding of Thomas and Martha. The paper seal remains intact at lower left. In good to very good condition, with mild toning and scattered spotting, a few small holes along intersecting folds, fold touching one letter of Madison’s signature, Jefferson’s signature on the light side but fully legible, and irregular adhesion to Dearborn’s signature. LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
