[Autograph Letter Signed by John Young

Item #85151

(AMERICAN REVOLUTION). (PHILADELPHIA). [Autograph Letter Signed by John Young, dated May 7, 1777]. 1pp. "At a meeting of the Committee of Fifty May 7, 1777. On motion. Voted that a Committee be appointed of this board to assist the Commisarys - the better to enable them to prosecute the Arduous works for which this board was instituted. Messrs John Lisle, Robert Smith & Edward Evans were unanimously chosen." The verso states "Copy of the Vote of the Committee of 50 appointing assistant commissary." A few vertical folds, toning to margins and creases, else very good. Philadelphia's Committee of Fifty was chosen in April 1777 to remove all the provisions and stores in the city so that they did not fall into British hands. In early 1777, Washington was uncertain of the British plans, but he suspected they involved capturing Philadelphia. In September, following Washington's defeat at Brandywine, the British began an eight month occupation of the city, wintering in relative luxury while the Continental Army suffered at Valley Forge. There were some prestigious citizens on the Committee of Fifty, including the painter Charles Willson Peale. John Young was the Captain of a company who served in Colonel Jonathan Pachall's Regiment in the Chester County militia during the Valley Forge encampment of 1777-1778.

Price: $1,500.00