1786 Revolutionary Financier Blair McClenachan Signed Letter – £8,000 Virginia Public Securities
Original autograph letter signed by Blair McClenachan, prominent Philadelphia merchant, Revolutionary War financier and later United States congressman. Written at Philadelphia on December 2, 1786, and addressed on the integral leaf to John Groves, merchant of Richmond, Virginia.
In this historically substantive letter, McClenachan discusses £8,000 in certificates issued in the currency of Virginia. He asks about the regular payment of interest, the terms upon which the securities might be realized, the prospects for funding public securities and whether the certificates should be sold if future interest payments appeared uncertain.
Written during the financially unsettled Confederation period, the letter offers firsthand evidence of the market in American state debt shortly before the Constitutional Convention. McClenachan was a major Philadelphia merchant who supported the Revolutionary cause with money and credit, served with the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry and later represented Pennsylvania in Congress.
One manuscript folio with integral address panel and partial red-wax seal. Period folds with separations and weakness, marginal losses, scattered toning and staining, and several old repair or mounting tabs. Ink remains strong and the principal text and signature are clearly legible.
Original autograph letter signed by Blair McClenachan, prominent Philadelphia merchant, Revolutionary War financier and later United States congressman. Written at Philadelphia on December 2, 1786, and addressed on the integral leaf to John Groves, merchant of Richmond, Virginia.
In this historically substantive letter, McClenachan discusses £8,000 in certificates issued in the currency of Virginia. He asks about the regular payment of interest, the terms upon which the securities might be realized, the prospects for funding public securities and whether the certificates should be sold if future interest payments appeared uncertain.
Written during the financially unsettled Confederation period, the letter offers firsthand evidence of the market in American state debt shortly before the Constitutional Convention. McClenachan was a major Philadelphia merchant who supported the Revolutionary cause with money and credit, served with the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry and later represented Pennsylvania in Congress.
One manuscript folio with integral address panel and partial red-wax seal. Period folds with separations and weakness, marginal losses, scattered toning and staining, and several old repair or mounting tabs. Ink remains strong and the principal text and signature are clearly legible.
