New York Military History DeWitt Clinton Signed Militia Captain’s Commission, 1825

De Witt Clinton

Manuscripts & Autographs

Clinton, DeWitt. Signed militia appointment certificate, 1825, documents New York State’s administration of military authority during Clinton’s final gubernatorial term. Issued to Philip H. Ruckhoub as captain in the 21st Regiment of Infantry, the commission records the formal process by which the governor constituted officers within the state militia. Clinton’s surviving official papers from 1825 to 1828 include military commissions executed in his capacity as governor, placing this document within an established body of state administrative records supporting research into militia organization, executive authority, and public service in the early republic.

Clinton, DeWitt. July 18, 1825. One partially printed page. New York. Appointment certificate addressed “To the People of the State of New York,” declaring in part: “We have appointed and constituted, and by these Presents, Do appoint and constitute Philip H. Ruckhoub, Captain in the 21st Regiment of Infantry of our said state.” The standardized printed language and manuscript insertion of the officer’s name and rank illustrate how gubernatorial authority operated in practice through formally issued commissions. Signed “DeWitt Clinton,” the document provides primary-source evidence for the study of New York’s militia administration and the mechanisms by which state military offices were assigned.

Executed in the year the Erie Canal was completed, the commission dates from a consequential period in Clinton’s governorship, although the document itself concerns militia administration rather than canal policy. Clinton was closely identified with the canal’s construction and with the expansion of New York’s governmental and economic reach during the 1820s. Reinforced along the folds, with otherwise limited wear; good. A signed gubernatorial commission preserving direct evidence of military appointment and executive administration in antebellum New York.

Item #8351

Price: $285.00