William Henry Harrison Autograph Document Signed

Very early ADS, signed â€Å“Will'm Henry Harrison,â€Â one page, 8 x 6, December 31, 1802. Handwritten pay order submitted to the "Cashier of the Bank of the United States," in full: "Please to pay to John Rice Jones Esquire or his order fifty Dollars being part of my salary for Governor of the Indiana Territory for the quarter ending the 31st of December 1802." Endorsed on the reverse by Jones, directing the payment to Simon & Philips, merchants in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In fine condition, with four small old tape stains.

This is an extremely early document from the Indiana Territory, which had been incorporated by Congress in 1800. President John Adams appointed Harrison, a Northwest Territory congressman, as the first governor of Indiana, and he took office in early 1801. As Harrison organized his executive administration, he appointed John Rice Jones as the Indiana Territory's first attorney general. Years later, Jones would become a justice on the Missouri Supreme Court. Although he successfully negotiated a number of land treaties with the Native Americans in the area, Harrison did not achieve national fame for another decade with his victorious effort over Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.