1824 New York Militia Commission Signed by Governor Joseph C. Yates—Walter Mead, Orange County
Original New York State military commission issued in 1824, appointing Walter Mead as an ensign in a regiment of infantry.
The partly printed parchment commission was issued at Albany under Joseph C. Yates, New York’s seventh governor and commander-in-chief of the state militia. Mead’s rank is recorded as dating from September 19, 1823. The document bears the blind-embossed New York Seal for Military Commissions and the signatures of Governor Yates and Deputy Secretary of State Archibald Campbell. Yates’s signature, located at lower right, is now very faint.
An important manuscript endorsement on the reverse records that Mead appeared at Wallkill, Orange County, on August 21, 1824, and “taken and subscribed the oaths required by law.” It is signed by Colonel James Faulkner.
Joseph Christopher Yates served as governor of New York from 1823 through 1824. A prominent early New York lawyer and statesman, he had previously served as mayor of Schenectady, state senator and justice of the New York Supreme Court. His brief gubernatorial tenure makes surviving commissions bearing his signature particularly interesting artifacts of early New York political and military history.
The document exhibits extensive water staining, numerous folds and creases, edge chipping, tears, small losses and a substantially faded gubernatorial signature. Despite these faults, most of the printed text remains present, the embossed military seal is visible, and the Orange County oath endorsement remains legible. An evocative, displayable survivor from New York’s early state militia.
Original New York State military commission issued in 1824, appointing Walter Mead as an ensign in a regiment of infantry.
The partly printed parchment commission was issued at Albany under Joseph C. Yates, New York’s seventh governor and commander-in-chief of the state militia. Mead’s rank is recorded as dating from September 19, 1823. The document bears the blind-embossed New York Seal for Military Commissions and the signatures of Governor Yates and Deputy Secretary of State Archibald Campbell. Yates’s signature, located at lower right, is now very faint.
An important manuscript endorsement on the reverse records that Mead appeared at Wallkill, Orange County, on August 21, 1824, and “taken and subscribed the oaths required by law.” It is signed by Colonel James Faulkner.
Joseph Christopher Yates served as governor of New York from 1823 through 1824. A prominent early New York lawyer and statesman, he had previously served as mayor of Schenectady, state senator and justice of the New York Supreme Court. His brief gubernatorial tenure makes surviving commissions bearing his signature particularly interesting artifacts of early New York political and military history.
The document exhibits extensive water staining, numerous folds and creases, edge chipping, tears, small losses and a substantially faded gubernatorial signature. Despite these faults, most of the printed text remains present, the embossed military seal is visible, and the Orange County oath endorsement remains legible. An evocative, displayable survivor from New York’s early state militia.
