Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Delaware (1734–1817) who later served as a Revolutionary War officer, delegate to the Continental Congress, and governor of Pennsylvania. Manuscript DS, signed “Tho M:Kean,” one page, 8.25 x 13.5, November 1, 1798. Document ordering several men to be returned to the Sheriff of Philadelphia County. In part: “Whereas our Chief Justice of our supreme court is given to understand and be informed, that the malignant & poisonous fever which for the last three months hath raged with extreme violence and proved mortal to some thousands of the inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia, hath greatly abated and has nearly if not altogether ceased; and that the prisoners sent from the debtors apartment…for the preservation of their lives from the contagion of the above-mentioned destructive malady…may now be removed with safety to their healths back to the gaol of the county of Philadelphia.” In very good condition, with intersecting folds, scattered toning and soiling, old repairs on reverse to fold splitting, and an old strip of mounting residue along back right edge. The document has been removably archivally sleeved in acid free Mylar.
McKean, in his capacity as chief justice of Pennsylvania, here orders debtors back to prison following a yellow fever epidemic. The 1798 epidemic had killed nearly 1,300 Philadelphians—down from the 5,000 people who died in an epidemic five years earlier. At the peak of the 1798 epidemic, all but 7,000 residents had left the city or, as in the case of the aforementioned debtors, were removed for their own safety. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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