APPOINTED BY COMMAND OF GENERAL SCHUYLER

JOHN HANCOCK. Partly Printed Document Signed as President of the Continental Congress, no place [Philadelphia PA], 10 June 1777. With an Autograph Note Signed by JOHN LANSING. 1 page, 13½" x 8¾".

A fine Revolutionary War military commission issued by the "Delegates of the United States" in the Continental Congress and signed by John Hancock as President of that body. A Massachusetts merchant with a long career in local and national politics, Hancock was the first Signer of the Declaration of Independence, and he served as President of the Continental Congress from May 1775 through October 1777.

This commission names Teunis T. Van Vechten an Assistant Deputy Quarter Master General in the Continental Army, here called “the Army of the United States, raised for the Defence of American Liberty.” John Hancock has signed the commission at the lower right as President of the Congress, with a large, dark, Declaration-style signature. The document is countersigned at the lower left by Charles Thomson as Secretary of the Congress.

The appointee, Teunis Van Vechten (1749-1817), was a merchant in Albany, New York, and in the wide left margin of this commission is a very unusual notation that his appointment was made “By Command of the Honorable Major General Schuyler.” Philip Schuyler, a prominent Albany landowner, politician, and soldier, was at this date a Major General in the Continental Army in charge of the Northern Department, which was a leading theater of the Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1777. Schuyler organized the unsuccessful American expedition against Canada in 1775-76, and he led the defense against the subsequent British invasion from Canada until he was relieved of command in August 1777. Later one of New York’s first U.S. Senators, Schuyler would be a strong supporter of the financial program of his son-in-law, Alexander Hamilton.

The marginal note was written and signed by Schuyler’s military secretary, John Lansing, here signing as “J. Lansing Junr Secy,” who also appears to have filled in Van Vechten’s name and rank on the document. Later a prosperous Albany lawyer, Lansing would serve as a New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, but he left that assembly early, believing it was exceeding its powers in drafting a new Constitution rather than simply amending the Articles of Confederation. He went on to become a judge and then chief justice of the New York Supreme Court.

The document has some discoloration and chipping in the top blank margin which could be matted out. There is some other minor staining and toning, and fold breaks have been professionally repaired on the back. Overall, the document is in very good condition, with a dark, clear Hancock signature. $12,500.00

A close-up of Hancock's signature is shown above; the full document is shown below.

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