1785, James Irvine, Pennsylvania Council, War payment signed, John Nicholson

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

1785, James Irvine, Pennsylvania Council, War payment signed, John Nicholson:
$127.50

This is a wonderful, original document, dated 1785, Pennsylvania Council, where Vice President James Irvine and John Nicholson have issued a pay order to Sergeant Thomas Johnston of the 11th Regiment. Signed on front by Irvine and Nicholson and on back by Adam Hubley. Document is 6x8, mild toning, else in overall good condition.

James Irvine(August 4, 1735 – April 28, 1819) was aPennsylvaniasoldierandpoliticianof theColonial,Revolutionary, and Post-Revolutionary periods. He was an officer of theContinental Army, a member of thePennsylvania General Assembly, andVice-President of Pennsylvania(a position comparable toLieutenant Governor).

In the fall of 1775 Irvine was commissioned alieutenant colonelin the1st Pennsylvania Battalionof the Continental Army. He served inVirginiaandCanada, and was promoted tocolonelinPennsylvania\'s 9th Regimentin late 1776; he was then given command of the2nd Regiment. Irvine resigned, believing that he should have been promoted togeneral. However, a few months later he was commissioned abrigadier generalin thePennsylvania militia.

After returning to the battlefield Irvine was captured by the British in a skirmish atChestnut Hill, near Philadelphia, on December 5, 1777. He suffered neck injuries and lost three of the fingers on his left hand in the fight. He was held prisoner by the British for nearly four years, first inNew Yorkand then inFlushing. He was released June 1, 1781. He was active in planning the defense of Philadelphia against suspected British attack.

After the war, he held the rank of major general in the Pennsylvania militia from 1782 to 1793.

John Nicholson (1757–1800) was the principal financial officer of Pennsylvania and a prominent speculator in public securities. After serving as clerk tothe Continental Board of Treasury from 1778 to 1781, he was appointed state comptroller general in 1782 and given responsibility for settling all the accounts to which the state was a party.

In 1785 he was also appointed receiver general and in 1787, escheator general, responsible for liquidating the estates of those attainted of treason. In politics Nicholson was a defender of the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 and a prominent Antifederalist. In the late 1780s his political leanings combined with his extensive powers to make him the object of criticism from Federalists in the state legislature.

In 1790 he was charged with abuse of his authority, and an attempt was made to remove him from public office. The enclosure has not been found but may have been a copy of Nicholson’s defense,Address to the People of Pennsylvania Containing a Narrative of the Proceedings against John Nicholson(Philadelphia, 1790). In 1793 he was impeached by the Pennsylvania house of representatives for redeeming his own state certificates instead of funding them in new federal certificates. He was acquitted in the Pennsylvania senate in 1794 but resigned all of his offices.

Nicholson was later involved with Robert Morris and James Greenleaf in investing in lots in the new federal city, which along with other speculations led to the collapse of his finances in 1797 and subsequent imprisonment for debt.

Please view the other historical and Civil War related documents I\'ll be listing this week.SEE SCAN.I now accept PAYPAL but PREFER other forms of traditional paper payment. Buyer pays shipping(usually FREE within the US and $12 for International),payment must be received within 5 days.