LOT #67052 |
Current Bid: $10
Henry Knox Letters Signed (3)....
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Description
Henry Knox Letters Signed (3). Three letters addressed to Sharp Delany totaling four pages, each 8 x 12 1/2 inches, "War Office," [New York]; each dated May 22, 1790. All three are signed, "H Knox." Knox wrote these letters in connection with an act passed in 1789 titled "An Act providing for the payment of the Invalid Pensioners of the United States." This legislation marked one of the federal government's earliest efforts to take responsibility for the welfare of veterans. Although the first pension laws had been enacted as early as 1776, the issue became more pressing after the war's end, as the fledgling United States worked to establish a functioning bureaucracy.All three letters were laminated with a heat setting acetate at an earlier time (circa 1930s) to an overall size of 8 1/4 x 12 3/4 inches.
Knox's first letter, numbered "18" at the top right corner, addresses the issue of identifying how many veterans are eligible for their pension. It reads, in part: "I have concluded that it would be unnecessary to transmit you a Second list of the Invalids for the State of Pennsylvania. I only transmit you my warrant for the Second moiety of the annual pension for the Invalids agreeably to the list which I transmitted you on the twenty second day of February last...As it is highly probable that several of the invalids contained in Said list who have not applied & may not apply for their second payment are dead, it is a circumstance of considerable importance to endeavour to ascertain the fact, in order that a proper list of the invalids may be had-I will therefore thank you to obtain the information as soon as possible and transmit it to me on or before the first of August next."
In his next letter, numbered "20," Knox describes the procedure for dispersing payments. In part: "Pay out of the funds furnished you by the Honourable Secretary of the Treasury for that purpose the sum of Eight Thousand seventy four Dollars and Sixty Six hundredth parts of a Dollar to the Invalid Pensioners of the United States named in the list transmitted to you on the twenty Second day of February last, or to their legal representatives according to the proportions specified opposite their names respectively in the Sixth column of said list, being for the Second moiety of their annual pension Ending on the fourth day of March one thousand seven hundred and ninety for which payment this shall be your sufficient warrant."
In the final letter, numbered "21," Knox discusses two veterans who are ineligible to receive an invalid pension, as they were given commutations for half-pay. He references a resolution of Congress passed June 7, 1785, stating that: "No officer who has accepted his commutation for half pay, shall be entered on the list of invalids, unless he shall have first returned his commutation." Knox's letter reads, in part: "It does not appear that Captain William Mackey and Lieutenant Jesse Crosby, who received the commutation of their half pay for life have returned it to the public as directed by the Resolves of Congress of the 7th June 1785. This circumstance therefore requires some investigation. Therefore before any further payments can be made to said officers they must either return to you the commutation which they have received, or they must prove that they have before returned it either to the State or the paymaster general. On Satisfactory proof in writing been made to you, of its having been returned as aforesaid you will continue the payment."
Condition: All letters laminated with a heat setting acetate; lightly toned with some edgewear, including a few short tears and small chips, affecting text at the right edges; each trimmed at the lower left corner, affecting text on letters "20" and "21". Stray pencil mark on recto of letter "18".
Auction Info
2025 November 8 Historical Manuscripts including Texana Showcase Auction #30152 (go to Auction Home page)
Proxy Bidding Ends
November
8th
Saturday
12:50 pm CT
Auction Dates
November
8th
Saturday
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15 Days
19h 13m 28s
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This lot is in: 1 -
Manuscripts Session
(Lots 67001-67182) - 1:00 PM Central Time, Saturday, November 8, 2025.
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Additional Location Info:
Heritage Auctions - Dallas
2801 W. Airport Freeway
Dallas, TX 75261
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