ROBERT MORRIS - STOCK CERTIFICATE SIGNED 04/18/1795 CO-SIGNED BY: JAMES MARSHALL - HFSID 39371

ROBERT MORRIS and JAMES MARSHALL
Robert Morris and James Marshall sign a stock certificate for three shares in the Property of the North American Land Company.
Stock Certificate signed: "Robert Morris Esq" as President and "James Marshall" as Secretary, 1p, 12½x10. Philadelphia, 1795 April 18. Certificate No. 1591. In part: "This is to Certify that Dr. Enoch Edwards is entitled to three shares in the Property of the North American Land Company, the Dividend whereof shall not be less than Six Dollars....". Morris had founded the North American Land Company with John Nicholson, the Comptroller General of Pennsylvania, and James Greenleaf in 1795. Robert Morris (1734-1806) was a Philadelphia merchant and financier and a delegate to the Continental Congress (1775-1778). Although voting against independence, which he considered premature, Morris worked diligently on military procurement, playing a key role in keeping George Washington's army supplied. He was U.S. Superintendent of Finance (1781-1784) under the Articles of Confederation, cutting expenses and raising revenue, often borrowing in his own name, to keep the new government solvent. Morris, who was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, was George Washington's first choice to be Secretary of the Treasury. Morris declined the offer, serving instead in the U.S. Senate (1789-1795, the year he signed this stock certificate). Financially ruined by his speculative land investments, Morris was imprisoned for debt from February 1798-August 1801 and lived his remaining years in obscurity and poverty. Morris was the father-in-law of JAMES MARKHAM MARSHALL (1764-1848), the brother of John Marshall (1755-1835), also a land speculator, who became Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1801-1835). Lightly creased and soiled. Irregularly cut left edge, chipped at blank edges. Lower right blank corner missing. Overall, in fine condition for a document of its age.