Benjamin Franklin Land Grant Signed "B. Franklin" as president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. One ve...

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Benjamin Franklin Land Grant Signed "B. Franklin" as president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. One vellum page, 15.5" x 13.5", January 30, 1787, Pennsylvania, granting David Nies "a Certain Tract of Land called 'Niesburg'", beginning, "The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania To all to whom these presents shall Come Greeting."

After spending nine very successful years in France as commissioner for the United States, Ben Franklin returned to America in 1785 and was revered second only to George Washington as a great champion of American independence. For the next three years, Franklin served as the president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. Four months after signing this document, Franklin became a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention, where he held an honorific position and seldom engaged in debate. However, when delegates became heated over the issue of proportional representation, Benjamin Franklin urged coolness. As the eldest delegate at the Convention, Franklin acted on several occasions to restore harmony between delegates, with the ultimate result being the creation of the Constitution of the United States. The Convention was one of the key events in the history of the United States and Franklin remains the only man to become a signatory on all four of the major documents concerning the founding of the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris, the Treaty of Alliance with France, and the United States Constitution.

This document contains a large star-shaped embossed paper seal above Franklin's signature. Countersigned by "James Trimble/ for John Armstrong". Blind embossed paper seal rests beside docketing on verso. Two small holes where folds intersect. Some foxing and light soiling (more heavy soiling on verso); near fine condition.