Declaration of Independence Signer Matthew Thornton Nicholas Gilman Constitution

Description

This original document is written and signed twice each, by two of our Founding Fathers from New Hampshire.
Matthew Thornton, 1 of the 56
Signers of the Declaration of
Independence &
Nicholas Gilman, 1 of the 39
Signers of the U.S. Constitution. This Exeter, Rockingham County, New Hampshire Land Document was written & signed
on
February 9 / 10, 1780.
On the back side it is written Matthew Thornton's deed to Samuel All (Allison) copied 12-16-1893. This listing is for the original hand written partially printed DS by Nicholas Gilman and Matthew Thornton, 1780. Nicholas Gilman Signed it twice, Matthew Thornton Signed it twice (I will note that Matthew Thornton's name appears a third time on the document front, I beleive Nicholas Gilman's hand).
It was purchased out of a local family's estate along with several 18th century
New Hampshire,
pre-statehood deeds. One of the other documents I have is drafted and signed by Matthew Thornton as Justice of the Peace, for his father in law Andrew Jack, with the signature of Matthew's wife Hannah as a witness.
This amazing document has the harder to find version of Matthew Thornton's signature, signed with two t's. Matthew more commonly signed his name "Mathew" rather then "Matthew" as he did on the Declaration of Independence. Although finding any genuine Matthew Thornton signature is difficult, finding a "Matthew" is the rare version. Nicholas Gilman was the Justice of the Peace at the time this document was drafted and he also signed it twice, once also as a witness. This document was penned by both Thornton and Gilman. The only part that is not in their hand is the signature of a witness Joseph Pearson (who was later secretary of the state for 20 years). Guaranteed 100% authentic. The ink is strong, It was kept in a document box for the majority of its existence, away from sunlight and handling. The document has separated at two of the upper half seam folds and has two very small pieces of acid free archival document tape on the back side. Please see all 12 Photos for condition.
This is a guaranteed 100% authentic 1780 original document, hand written by both Nicholas Gilman
and Matthew Thornton
. I was going to send this to PSA for encapsulation, however they informed me the largest size they can encapsulate is 8 1/2"x11", which this document exceeds.
The 12 images in this listing are photos, not scans. If you would like more pics or any questions answered please email.
This will ship free 1-day express priority mail insured, with 100% full money back satisfaction guarantee.
About the Founding Fathers:
Matthew Thornton
(March 17, 1713 – June 24, 1803) was an Irish-born signer of the United States Declaration of Independence
as a representative of New Hampshire. He was one of only eight men to sign the Declaration of Independence born outside of America.
He was the first President of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
and Associate Justice of the Superior Court
.
He was elected to the Continental Congress, one of the 56 signers.
Matthew Thornton is the last signature seen on the bottom right of our Declaration of Independence.
Matthew Thornton was a doctor and opened up his practice in Londonderry, New Hampshire in 1740. During the King George's War he served as military surgeon for the Fort Louisburg expedition, a major campaign ending with the capture of the French Fort at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.  Following his tour of duty, Thornton returned home to Londonderry.
Under the royal government, he was invested with the office of justice of the peace, and commissioned as colonel of the militia.
In 1758, he was chosen as a delegate to the colonial assembly where he represented Londonderry.
Thornton penned the document that would serve as New Hampshire’s first state constitution.
He was appointed the President of the New Hampshire Provincial Congress when it was first assembled in 1775 and also elected the Chairman of the Committee of Safety, in charge of raising munitions and
recruiting militia for the colony
.
He took an active part in the overthrow of the royal government in New Hampshire, being prominent in the agitation against the Stamp Act. He was chief justice of the court of common pleas, and from 1776 till 1782 a judge of the superior court of New Hampshire. He was elected speaker of the assembly on January 5, 1776, and on September 12, the legislature chose him as a delegate to the Continental congress. He was one of the last founding fathers to sign the declaration. His signature is the last one on the bottom right of the Declaration of Independence. He remained in the continental congress for another year, having been reelected to represent New Hampshire. In 1780 he
relinquished his medical practice and
moved his family to a farm in Merrimack County. He served as an associate justice of the superior court,  a state senator, and in 1785 was appointed a member of the council. He retired from the State Senate in his seventies to his farm and wrote political articles for newspapers.
Nicholas Gilman
(
1755-1814)
was born in Exeter, 1755. When the War for Independence began, he enlisted in the New Hampshire Continental Army and achieved the rank of Captain
serving
throughout the war.
Gilman returned home and immersed himself in politics. In the period from 1786-1788 he sat in the Continental Congress. In 1787 he represented New Hampshire at the Constitutional Convention. He was one of the 39 men to sign the Constitution.
Gilman later became a prominent Federalist politician. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1789 until 1797; and in 1793 and 1797 was a presidential elector. He also sat in the New Hampshire legislature, he held the office of state treasurer.