signed
by JAMES WILSON
JAMES WILSON (1742-1798). Wilson was one of only six people to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and he was an original Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. DS. 1 pg. 6 x 12. July 23, 1779. Cumberland County. A partly printed legal document signed Wilson Junr on the back. The front of the document states: George the Third, by the Grace of GOD, of Great-Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. To the Sheriff of Cumberland County, GREETING: We command you, that of the Goods and Chattels, Lands and Tenements of Hugh Cook late of your County yeoman in your Bailiwick, you cause to be made, as well the Sum of Forty five pounds Lawful money of Pennsylvania which James Irwinof Robert Callender lately in our County Court of Common Pleas, before our Justices at Carlisle, recovered against him of debt as Twenty one shillings and ten pence which the said James in our same Court were adjudged to his damages, which he sustained by Occasion of the Detention of that Debt, whereof the said Hughes convict. The witness is listed as John Amstrong, and the front is then signed John Agnew. John Agnew, a Carlisle merchant, signed in his capacity as Cumberland County Clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions. John Amstrong (1717-1795) was a logical choice to serve as a witness, for he was then serving as a brigadier general in the Continental Army and as a major general in the Pennsylvania Militia, and later served as a delegate to the Continental Congress for Pennsylvania. The parties in the case were all prominent Pennsylvania men. Hugh Cooke was a wealthy landowner who passed away in 1765. His will seems to be the cause of this legal dispute. Colonel Robert Callender (1726-1776) was a Revolutionary War soldier, Indian trader, and wealthy landowner and James Irwin (1758-1847) was a fellow soldier. Most likely, Irwin was representing the interests of the recently deceased Callendar in this litigation. The back, all handwritten, notes the following: No. 101 April Term 1776 James Irwinof Robert Callendar V .Hugh Cook levied on the defendant Horses& Land subject of Prior Executions. It lists various fees that total the previously mentioned twenty-one shillings and ten pence, and then signed in another hand by Wilson, Junr. James Wilson signed this document in no official capacity, but as a successful Pennsylvania lawyer probably representing one of the parties. The document is in excellent condition with a central fold. (Inventory #: 6195)
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