Alexander Hamilton Autograph Letter Signed.

HAMILTON, Alexander.

$20,000.00

Item Number: 120624

New York:, 2 April 1799.

Rare autograph letter signed by Alexander Hamilton to the trustees of Isaac Riley, notifying them of the manner in which he will submit a mortgage payment despite Riley’s imprisonment. One page, folio, dated 2 April 1799, the letter reads, “I am informed that You are Assignees of Isaac Riley under the Insolvent Act. Some time since I purchased of Isaac Riley Eight lots in the Outward upon which as he then informed me there was a mortgage to Ebenezer Young for Two hundred & forty pounds which was deducted out of the purchase money & left to be paid by me pursuant to the Tenor of that mortgage. It appears that this mortgage was not recorded till within a fortnight past. In my opinion This will not defeat the right of Mr. Young’s Representations to receive payment from me in preference to the Trustees. But I have thought it right nevertheless to mention the affair to you. If I do not within four days from the date of this letter, being the second of April, receive notice of a claim from the Trustees with the assurance of an Indemnification… I shall act as if no such claim was intended to be made.” The Insolvent Act Hamilton here refers to was passed into law one day prior to this letter in New York State as “An Act to amend the Act entitled an Act for the relief of Debtors with respect to the Imprisonment of their Persons” and allowed a debtor lawfully imprisoned by his creditors to be liberated.  In near fine condition. The entire piece measures 24 inches by 13 inches.

The first treasury secretary of the United States and one of America's founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton founded the nation's financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and the New York Post newspaper. He was the main author of the economic policies of George Washington's administration and, as Secretary of the Treasury, established a national bank, system of tariffs and trade relations with Great Britain. After the American Revolutionary War, Hamilton resigned his seat in the Congress of the Confederation to practice law, which he returned to in 1795 and was active in ending the legality of the international slave trade.