FENN WADSWORTH - MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT SIGNED 01/17/1781 CO-SIGNED BY: HEZEKIAH ROGERS - HFSID 1963

FENN WADSWORTH and HEZEKIAH ROGERS
Fenn Wadsworth and Hezekiah Rogers, members of Connecticut's Committee of the Pay Table during the American Revolutionary War, signed this document in 1781 to pay for 8 pounds, 19 shillings and 10 pence worth of supplies.
Manuscript Document signed: "Fenn Wadsworth" and "Hez Rogers" [who has signed perpendicular to the document] as Members of the Committee, 1p, 8½x6¾. Endorsed on verso "Eleazar Pomeroy." State of Connecticut, Pay-Table Office, No place, 1781 January 17. To state Treasurer John Lawrence, Esq. In full: "Pay Coventry Committee Supplies eight Pounds nineteen Shillings and ten pence in bill of this State and charge the State." 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. WADSWORTH (1750 or 1751-1785, born in Farmington, Connecticut) was a brigade major to General James Wadsworth from 1776 to 1779. He fought in many battles during that time, but his failing health forced him to leave active service. He stayed in Connecticut's government, however, and was a member of the state's Pay-Table, which was responsible for military expenditures during the Revolutionary War. ROGERS (1738-1814) was a member of Connecticut's Pay-Table, which was responsible for the colony's military expenditures during the Revolutionary War, and was an aide-de-camp to General Jedediah Huntington during that war. Lightly soiled. Slightly frayed at left edge. Pinhead sized holes at both junctions of vertical and horizontal folds. Otherwise, fine condition.