Details
SHERMAN, Roger (1722-1793), Signer (Connecticut). Partly printed document signed ("Roger Sherman Assist."), New Haven, [Connecticut], 24 November 1775. 1 page, small 4to, neatly inlaid to a protective sheet, accomplished in a clerk's hand. The bottom line of the printed form has been emphatically deleted by the clerk, inking out the formulaic text "And in the Year of His Majesty's Reign."
A WRIT OF CONNECTICUT'S SHERMAN, AMENDED TO REFLECT THE END OF BRITISH RULE. An interesting instance of a standard pre-printed form retained for use after the dissolution of crown government at the beginning of the Revolution. Sherman, who began life as a poor cobbler, was a man of ambition and remarkable energy for self-improvement. He joined the bar in 1744 and held an exceptional range of posts in the colony and later, the state, of Connecticut. He was county surveyor, treasurer of Yale (1765-1776), justice of the peace, judge of the state's superior court, assistant in the upper house and member of the state legislature from 1775. "When these are added to his later offices, Sherman becomes outstanding even in a day when multiple office-holding was not uncommon" (Julian B. Boyd, in DAB). In the present writ, Sherman issues a judgment finding that the defendant, Lot Osborne of Waterbury, has defaulted payment to plaintiff Josiah Burr of New Haven "though a reasonable time hath long since elapsed" and must remit to Osborne £16 "lawfull money" plus costs.
Provenance: Philip D. Sang (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 26 April 1778, part lot 262).
A WRIT OF CONNECTICUT'S SHERMAN, AMENDED TO REFLECT THE END OF BRITISH RULE. An interesting instance of a standard pre-printed form retained for use after the dissolution of crown government at the beginning of the Revolution. Sherman, who began life as a poor cobbler, was a man of ambition and remarkable energy for self-improvement. He joined the bar in 1744 and held an exceptional range of posts in the colony and later, the state, of Connecticut. He was county surveyor, treasurer of Yale (1765-1776), justice of the peace, judge of the state's superior court, assistant in the upper house and member of the state legislature from 1775. "When these are added to his later offices, Sherman becomes outstanding even in a day when multiple office-holding was not uncommon" (Julian B. Boyd, in DAB). In the present writ, Sherman issues a judgment finding that the defendant, Lot Osborne of Waterbury, has defaulted payment to plaintiff Josiah Burr of New Haven "though a reasonable time hath long since elapsed" and must remit to Osborne £16 "lawfull money" plus costs.
Provenance: Philip D. Sang (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 26 April 1778, part lot 262).