Rush, Benjamin. Document Signed ("Benj:n Rush"), one page, 9½ 7¾ in., Philadelphia, March 20, 1813. An affidavit, sworn by Rush, that in 1795 he and his wife sold a parcel of land to one Robert Morris, the said Morris having died and the original deed was lost. In part: "…I Benjamin Rush of the City of Philadelphia Practitioner of Physick, hereby certify, that I owned the above described land, and together with Mrs. Rush conveyed the same by deed regularly executed…to the late Robert Morris Esqr. That on its being represented to me by the Trustees of the Asylum Company, that the said deed so made & executed was lost or mislaid and not to be found,…I together with Mrs. Rush executed and delivered a new conveyance & Release to the said Trustees dated the 20th July 1812, in order to supply the said lost deed, & for no other purpose…."
The Robert Morris to whom Rush originally sold this land was almost certainly his colleague and fellow Signer. Morris (1734-1806) was one of the first major American financiers whose financial downfall came about when extensive land speculations in which he was engaged collapsed. Light toning, else fine. Bold signature. This affidavit was signed one month before Dr. Rush's death (April 19) during a typhus epidemic.
Rush was a member of the Continental Congress in 1776 and 77 and signed the Declaration for Pennsylvania. He also served as Surgeon General of the Continental Army, was a member of the Pennsylvania constitutional ratification in 1787, and was treasurer of the U.S. Mint (1797-1813). He also wrote the first chemistry book in the U.S. Rush is rare.
Estimated Value $3,000 - 4,000.
Signers of The Declaration of Independence
