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Future Secretary of Treasury and Governor of Connecticut Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Authorizes Payment for 1781 Continental Army War Service of  Reuben Cadwell Whose Light Infantry Regiment Served With the Marquis De Lafayette's Division and George Washington in Battle of Yorktown

This early document is in great condition with a large, clear signature by Oliver Wolcott, Jr. with dramatic flourishes underneath, authorizing the payment of £17, 13 shillings to Reuben Cadwell for his service in the Continental Army "in the year 1781."  Reuben Cadwell was a private in the Light Infantry of the Connecticut Line of the Continental Army, serving in Captain Roger Welles Company under Major John Wyllys of Hartford, Connecticut.

In 1781 the Connecticut Light Infantry was under the Marquis de Lafayette from February through November 1781. They were called out in February for the express purpose of marching with Lafayette to Virginia to check the traitor British General Benedict Arnold's invasion of that state.  Lafayette and his troops were placed under the command of General Nathaniel Greene, who had him skirmishing with the British most of the summer and then joined George Washington on the march to Yorktown, Virginia. There they defeated British General Cornwallis in the Battle of Yorktown that effectively ended the Revolutionary War. At the siege Lafayette's Division, which included all the Light troops in the American wing, held the post of honor on the right of the investing line. A special battalion formed under Col. Gimat, a French officer, and Major Wyllys, who headed the Company of which Reuben Cadwell was a member, led the column that stormed one of the enemy's redoubts on the night on October 14, 1781, thereby hastening the surrender.  (Source: Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution, compiled by authority of the General Assembly,  Hartford, 1889, pp. 350-353). Reubin Cadwell endorses the document on the back.

Oliver Wolcott, Jr.
 Official U.S. Treasury Portrait

Oliver Wolcott, Jr., son of Declaration of Independence signer Oliver Wolcott, was appointed by President George Washington to succeed Alexander Hamilton as the Secretary of Treasury. He continued in that post under President John Adams. His earlier career, which gave rise to the document offered here is summarized below:

Wolcott gained his first professional experience in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, performing duties as his father's aide-de-camp and then as quartermaster (1779-1881). Initially leaving the Army to practice law (1781), Wolcott quickly moved on to the financial sector, working in his home state of Connecticut as a member of the Committee of the Pay-table (1782-1788). That committee became the Office of the Comptroller of Public Accounts in 1788, and Wolcott remained in its employ, serving until 1789 as its first comptroller.

He  resigned as Secretary of Treasury effective December 31, 1800, to accept appointment as a federal district judge in Connecticut.  Wolcott later served as the first President of the Bank of North America (1812-1814). Wolcott performed other financial duties in New York but was called to public service again in 1817 when he was elected Governor of Connecticut, a post he held for 10 years. He was initially elected on the "Toleration Party" ticket whose platform included ending the establishment of the Congregational Church as the official religion of Connecticut which was supported by tax revenues. He succeeded in that task by shepherding through a new Constitution in 1818 which for the first time separated church from state in Connecticut.

The document shown below is approximately 8 1/4 x 7 inches, is in excellent condition and has a nice big and clear signature by Wolcott as well as the Revolutionary War hero Cadwell who stormed the British redoubt at Yorktown. It would be a great addition to your financial, Revolutionary War or Connecticut document collection.

Price: $175

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