Robert Morris Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

ROBERT MORRIS (1734-1806) had founded the North American Land Company with John Nicholson, the Comptroller General of Pennsylvania, and James Greenleaf in 1795. Morris 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.