Lot 185
Rutledge, Edward (1749-1800), South Carolina signer of the Declaration of Independence, lawyer, politician, Governor of South Carolina. Autograph Document Signed, 1½ pages (two leaves), 8 x 12¾ Charleston, S.C., April 16, 1791. Discharge of debt owed to the estate of one James Penman and his heirs by Revolutionary War hero General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. The first page, in the hand of James' son Edward Penman, is a list of "Papers deposited by Edwd. Penman with Edwd. Rutledge Esq." itemizing debts owed Penman by Wayne including a Bill of Exchange dated 28 Sept. 1785 in the amount of £1,000 drawn by Willem & Jan Willink of Amsterdam [Dutch merchants to whom Wayne had mortgaged his Pennsylvania property to gain funds for his Georgia enterprise] and payable to Penman; also "a Bill of Sale of 33 Negroes from Genl. Wayne to E. Penman", a "Lease and release from Genl. Wayne to E. Penman of Richmond & Kew" [the names of Wayne's two rice plantations] and a "Warrant of Atty. by E. Penman to Wm. Lewis Esqr. [Wayne's attorney] of Phila. to enter satisfaction" [on the Pennsylvania judgment]. This list is signed by Rutledge in the lower right corner. The full second page is entirely in the hand of Rutledge and is Penman's release of Wayne's debts, having "received full satisfaction". The release is signed at the top of the third page by Penman and as witnesses by Rutledge and by Richard Wayne, Junr., a cousin who was apparently representing the General. Below this are two other shorter ADsS by Rutledge: "This release is left with me to be delivered to Genl. Wayne, when, and not before, he shall be entitled…Ed. Rutledge", and ""The General has become entitled to the Papers & Deliver them accordingly, E. Rutledge". Next appears a notarizing of Penman's signature in 1805, presumably at the insistence of Wayne's heirs. On the fourth page is a brief docket by Rutledge.
Some archival tape repairs of horizontal splits (the second leaf has been separated and rejoined along the center fold), one affecting the topmost Rutledge signature, otherwise a Fine and important Eighteenth Century document.
Estimate 3,000 - 4,000
AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENT TYING TOGETHER A SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND A KEY REVOLUTIONARY WAR FIGURE WITH FOUR SIGNATURES AND ABOUT 250 WORDS IN RUTLEDGE'S HAND.
Although nothing written by Wayne appears here, this document reflects an important chapter in his life. It marks the failure of his civilian career as a rice planter on two plantations granted him by the State of Georgia in 1782. To farm his land Wayne purchased slaves from Penman, a Charleston slave broker, incurring a debt that, after a series of misfortunes, would cost him his Georgia property. The satisfaction of the debt, several years later, is documented here, with Penman taking both plantations and the remaining slaves as the best he could get from Wayne, who agreed to value the plantations at a lower figure than he wished in order to save his Pennsylvania home, against which Penman had filed a lien.
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