1431476
Robert Morris
James Marshall
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The Signer of the Declaration of Independence and his son-in-law,
John Marshallʼs younger brother James,
sign a stock certificate to Benjamin Franklinʼs grandson
on the 20th anniversary of Paul Revereʼs famous ride
Robert Morris, Jr., 1734–1806. Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and United States Constitution. Partially printed Document Signed, Robt Morris, Jr., one page, 9½" x 12", Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 18, 1795. Countersigned by James Marshall, 1764–1848, James Marshall.
This is an outstanding triple association document. Robert Morris, a wealthy businessman known as the ”Financier of the Revolution,” signs this certificate as president of the North American Land Company to convey for 10 shares of stock to Temple Franklin, the grandson of the iconic Benjamin Franklin. He does so twenty years to the day after Paul Revereʼs famous horseback ride westward from Boston to warn Massachusetts patriots that British regulars had left Boston, headed for Concord. The document is countersigned by Morrisʼs son-in-law, James Marshall, the younger brother of John Marshall, who shortly would serve as Secretary of State and then would become the greatest Chief Justice of the United States.
Morris became heavily involved in real estate transactions following the Revolutionary War. The North American Land Company, which he helped to found in 1795, was one of the largest land trusts in American history. It owned some 6,000,000 acres of land in Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and five southern states, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky. It had 30,000 shares of stock valued at $100 each. This certificate promises that annually the shareholder would receive at least $6 in dividends—about $114 today—per share.
William Temple Franklin (1760–1823), known as "Temple,” was the illegitimate grandson of Benjamin Franklin, the son of Franklinʼs own illegitimate, but recognized, son, William (1730-1813). He was Benjamin Franklinʼs only grandson through the male line. He was born in London while William studied law there and was placed in foster care, where he remained when William returned to North America to accept appointment as the last colonial governor of New Jersey. Benjamin learned of him during a mission to London and brought him home to live with him in 1775. At age 16, Temple accompanied Benjamin to France in late 1776 when the elder Franklin was appointed the American commissioner to France, charged with obtaining French support for the Americans during the Revolutionary War. Temple stayed in Paris with his grandfather and later served as the secretary to the American delegation that negotiated United States independence at the Treaty of Paris in 1782–1783, where he sought British accommodation for his father, a British loyalist who had been imprisoned by the Americans during the war. He reconciled with his father, who by then was living in London, before he returned to the United States with his grandfather in 1785. Benjamin encouraged him to invest in real estate, given the speed of post-war development in the United States. Temple returned to London after Benjamin died in 1790, and there he acted as Morrisʼs European agent.
The North American Land Company, though, had financial problems from the start. There were questions about the validity of some of its land titles. Some 2 million acres of its land in Georgia were difficult to sell because they consisted of bare, sandy wilderness. Furthermore, the financial situation in Europe made Marshall unsuccessful in his efforts to sell the companyʼs stock there. The French Revolution and the revolutionariesʼ declaration of war against Britain, Spain, and the Netherlands in 1793 and the subsequent War of the First Coalition, which pitted Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, Spain, Sardinia, and the Netherlands against France in northern Italy in 1796–1797, played havoc with the European economy.
When one of Morrisʼs partners, James Greenleaf (1765–1843), could not obtain personal loans from Dutch investors, he paid his own debts with North American Land Company money. Because of his embezzlement and other corrupt business practices, Morris and his other partner, John Nicholson (1757–1800), bought his interest in the company. But their own financial situations were so precarious that they defaulted on their promissory notes to Greenleaf, who wound up in debtorsʼ prison in 1797. Morris and Nicholson were soon imprisoned for debts, too. Morris served some 3½ years in prison, from February 1798 to August 1801, before Congress, in part acting to release Morris, enacted the Bankruptcy Act of 1800.
James Markham Marshall served as a captain in the 1st Virginia Regiment in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He served in France as the commercial agent of New York City, Boston, and Charleston during the French Reign of Terror. President George Washington appointment him the United Statesʼ agent to seek release of the imprisoned Marquis de Lafayette. When Marshall returned to Virginia in 1795, he married Morrisʼs daughter Hester. He was appointed a federal judge by President John Adams, but he served less than a year during 1803 before returning to private law practice.
This scalloped-edge document is very nice for its age. It has a few scattered small holes, mostly in the vertical fold, which has a 2¼" split at the bottom, affecting no text. Neither signature is affected. Both Morris and Marshall have signed with 3" signatures, and Morrisʼs signature is particularly bold. There is a bit of rippling along the edges at the top right, but it is not particularly noticeable. Overall the document is in fine condition.
Unframed.
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