Connecticut Military History Signed Comptroller’s Receipt for Revolutionary War State Notes

Connecticut Soldier's Wages

Manuscripts & Autographs

Benvour, William. Signed receipt dated April 7, 1789, documents Connecticut’s postwar public-finance system through the redemption of state-issued notes, showing how Revolutionary War obligations to individual soldiers were settled through the comptroller’s office. Issued in Hartford during Oliver Wolcott Jr.’s tenure as comptroller, the document records the administrative process by which a claimant presented state paper, received payment, and acknowledged the transaction by signature. Connecticut State Library’s records of the comptroller identify Wolcott as the official appointed when the state established the office, placing this receipt within the developing fiscal administration used to manage Connecticut’s public accounts. The document provides primary-source evidence for research into Revolutionary War compensation, state debt, veterans’ finances, and the settlement of wartime obligations during the early national period.

Benvour, William. Hartford, Connecticut. April 7, 1789. One manuscript receipt from the office of Comptroller Oliver Wolcott Jr.; dimensions not supplied. The receipt records payment of one pound, thirteen shillings, and six pence in redemption of Connecticut state notes issued during the Revolutionary War. Signed “William Benvour” at the lower right, the document connects a named claimant with the state’s accounting and redemption procedures, demonstrating how Connecticut converted paper obligations into acknowledged payments through its comptroller’s office. Contemporary dealer records identify Benvour as a Revolutionary War soldier and describe this same receipt and amount, although his regiment and dates of military service have not been independently verified from the available evidence.

Dated three weeks before George Washington’s inauguration on April 30, 1789, the receipt survives from the transition between government under the Articles of Confederation and the opening of the new federal administration. Its use of pounds, shillings, and pence preserves Connecticut’s customary accounting language while documenting the continued state-level settlement of obligations created by the Revolution. Minor handling wear, if any, is not specified; manuscript entries and signature remain dark and clearly legible, near fine. Directly signed record of Connecticut’s redemption of Revolutionary War state debt during the formative months of the federal republic.

Item #3811

Price: $225.00