Price: $4,750
President of the Continental Congress; first Chief Justice of the United States; first Minister of Foreign Affairs; negotiated with Franklin and Adams the Treaty of Paris which ended the American Revolution; co-authored the Federalist Papers; negotiated the Jay Treaty of 1794; governor of New York.
Autograph Manuscript, one and a half pages, legal folio, undated. This manuscript, undoubtedly written by John Jay while Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court, consists of a list of twenty-six acts concerning a range of matters, including the pardon of Amy Auger for murdering her bastard child; administration of the oath for continuing the powers of commissioners of conspiracies; holding of Inferior Courts in Charlotte; prohibition of distillery operations from grain; procuring flour supplies for the army; cancellation of bills of credit under a dollar; regulation of prices by innkeepers; recovery of Continental debts; roads for Albany, Tryon, Ulster, and other New York towns; the prevention of abuses of flags of truce; raising 5000 men for frontier defence; provisions for persons disabled in the service; and other administrative details.
These notes paraphrase the contents of acts passed in the second session of the New York State Legislature (1778-1779). At the time John Jay was the Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court. These notes were probably for his use as Chief Justice and member of the Council of Revision which had the power to review all acts passed by the legislature and approve or reject them though such vetoes could be overturned.
In 1789, President George Washington appointed John Jay the first Chief Justice of the new United States Supreme Court.
This item is associated with these categories in our inventory:
- American Revolution
- Law
