September 26, 2018 O'Connor's Americana Collection
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/26/2018
HAND, Edward (1744-1802) as Surgeon's Mate of the 18th 'Royal Irish' Regiment of Foot to Ensign Francis Howard of the same, document signed Fort Pitt, 3 January 1771, one page, elephant folio, with wax seals, some separating at the folds.
Hand sells 1630 acres of land near Fort Pitt, running along the south bank of Monongahela River to its confluence with the Ohio River. He had previously purchased these lands the previous year from Indian trader and agent George Croghan. Croghan had previously acquired the land from the Six Nations of the Iroquois following the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768. The document is twice signed by Hand and bears his wax seal, and is witnessed by two officers of the 18th Foot, Lieutenant Robert Hamilton and Captain Charles Edmonstone, the latter then serving as commanding officer at Fort Pitt. Hand likely used his sale proceeds to purchase an ensign's commission in the regiment the following year, only to resign two years later and move to Lancaster. With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Hand was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Pennsylvania Rifle Battalion, distinguishing himself in the battles of Long Island, Trenton and Princeton and was promoted to brigadier general in 1777, appointed to the command of the Western Department of the Continental Army, headquartered at Fort Pitt.
Item Dimensions: 22 - 1/4" x 17 - 1/2".