FRANKLIN, Benjamin (1706-1790). Document signed (''B. Franklin'') as President of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 5 December 1785.

FRANKLIN, Benjamin (1706-1790). Document signed ("B. Franklin") as President of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 5 December 1785.

One page, 329 x 792mm, on parchment with wax and paper seal at lower right corner (not examined outside of frame; typical light soiling along folds).

Benjamin Franklin approves the sale of land from the confiscated estate of Loyalist Andrew Allen. Allen (1740-1825), a member of the prominent Pennsylvania family that founded Allentown and a vocal critic of imperial attempts to tax the colonies in the 1760s and early 1770s, had been elected as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. On the subject of independence however, Allen was a decided moderate, and when discussions began in earnest on a resolution supporting independence, Allen ceased attending Congress. In December 1776, Allen switched sides and fled to the British lines for protection. As a result, Allen was “attainted of High Treason," and the state of Pennsylvania confiscated his lands to be sold to the public. This document confirms James Clyde's title to a 250 tract sold to him by Allen prior to his defection.

Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY OF A LADY AND A GENTLEMAN