CONNECTICUT REVOLUTIONARY WAR - PROMISSORY NOTE SIGNED 10/04/1781 CO-SIGNED BY: RALPH POMEROY, ELEAZER WALES, GENERAL JEDIDIAH HUNTINGTON - HFSID 1973

CONNECTICUT PROMISORY NOTE: JEDEDIAH HUNTINGTON, ELEAZER WALES and RALPH POMEROY. Partly Printed DS: "Eleazer Wales" as Member of the Committee, 1p, 6¼x3¾. Also signed: "Jedediah Huntington" across the printed text. State of Connecticut, Pay-Table Office, Hartford, 1781 October 4. To state Treasurer John Lawrence, Esq. In full: "Pay unto Ralph Pomeroy, Esq., D. Q. M. or Order, Eight Pounds in Lawful Silver Money, out of the Tax of Two Shillings and Six Pence on the Pound, granted by the General Assembly in May last, and charge the State." Endorsed by: "R. Pomeroy DQm/Oct 4th, 1781" on verso. This note was issued to Ralph Pomeroy, who served as a Military Paymaster, for wages, reimbursement for expenses or loss due to damages during the Revolutionary War. The military finances for the colony of Connecticut were handled by the Pay-Table, also known as the Committee of Four, during the American Revolution (1775-1783). Pay-Table members rotated during the lengthy confrontation with England, and included such notables as jurist Oliver Ellsworth, attorney Oliver Wolcott, Jr. (a future U.S. Secretary of the Treasury), Hezekiah Rogers (an aide de camp to General Jedidiah Huntington, who was also a member), William Moseley, Fenn Wadsworth, Eleazer Wales and General Samuel Wyllys, son of Governor George Wyllys. Financing the Revolution laid a heavy burden upon each colony, especially those which balked at levying taxes. In order to meet immediate needs, such as wages, the colonies relied upon wealthy revolutionists, foreign loans, and taxes and gifts from abroad. Connecticut issued promissory notes such as this. Issuing paper money was only a temporary solution, and worthless without specie or gold and silver backing. The U.S. would establish its standard monetary system in 1791. HUNTINGTON (1743-1818), a Harvard graduate with a Masters from Yale, joined the Continental Army outside Boston one week after the Battle of Lexington (1775). He commanded a Connecticut brigade throughout the Revolutionary War, being promoted to Brigadier at George Washington's personal request. After the war, he engaged in private business and served in local offices before being appointed Collector of Customs for New London, Connecticut by President Washington (1789), holding that post through four administrations until shortly before his death. Lightly creased and foxed. Slight paper separation at both ends of horizontal fold. Overall, fine condition.