Peyton Randolph promissory note signed ("Peyton Randolph"). One partially printed page, 6.25" x 3", no place, [Virginia], April 1, 1773. Partially printed document completed in manuscript. Scarce document signed by the first President of the Continental Congress. A note from the "Virginia James River Bank," No. 8/783, where "Robert Carter Nicholas, as Treasurer of the Colony and Dominion of...Virginia, Promise...before the tenth Day of December one thousand seven hundred and seventy five) to pay to (or) the Bearer on (demand) Twelve Pounds Current money..." Signed "Peyton Randolph". Countersigned by Robert Carter Nicholas (1715-1780) as Treasurer and John Blair (1732-1800). The verso contains the sternly phrased stamp that reads "Death to Counterfeit." John Blair was an important early American statesman and jurist who served as a delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention in 1787. He was picked by George Washington to serve as an associate justice of the first Supreme Court in 1789. Nicholas, likewise, was an early jurist who was a member of the House of Burgesses and the Committee on Correspondence. He served as the Treasurer of the Colony of Virginia from 1766 to 1777. Peyton Randolph (1721-1775) was unanimously elected the first President of the Continental Congress on September 5, 1774. He resigned shortly thereafter to attend the state legislature but was elected again on May 10, 1775 and served for four days before he resigned once again, this time citing poor health. He died of a stroke while attending a dinner with Thomas Jefferson and Henry Hill on October 22, 1775. Given his premature death, his signature is one of the scarcest of the Presidents of the Congress. The document is accompanied by an engraved portrait of Randolph by Goodman & Piggott. Condition: Uneven edges. .5" closed tear at top edge. Light soiling and foxing. HID03101062020 © 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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