Benjamin Franklin Signed Land Grant.

Rare partially printed document signed by Benjamin Franklin as President (Governor) of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, June 13, 1788, granting land in Cumberland County, PA, to Chew, the tract to be called “Chew’s Addition.” One page, partially printed, retaining the original white paper seal. The document grants land in Cumberland County, PA, to Chew, the tract to be called “Chew’s Addition.” Any gold or silver found was retained “for the use of this Commonwealth.” The document concludes that “His Excellency Benjamin Franklin, Esq., President of the Supreme Executive Council, hath hereto set his hand and caused the Great Seal of the Commonwealth to be hereunto affixed.” On October 18, 1785, Benjamin Franklin was unanimously elected the sixth President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania (essentially he was governor). He held that office for over three years, longer than any other person, and served the constitutional limit of three full terms. In 1787 he was elected President of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery. And on May 28 though September 17, he served as a delegate to the constitutional convention held in Philadelphia. At its conclusion, he signed the U.S. Constitution. Benjamin Chew was a prominent attorney in Pennsylvania in the Revolutionary War era. He represented the interests of the Penn family, served as Pennsylvania Attorney General, and rose to the position of Chief Justice of Pennsylvania in 1774. With the post war adoption of a Pennsylvania constitution, Governor Thomas Mifflin in 1791 appointed Chew to the High Court of Errors and Appeals, a post he held until 1806. Chew was also noted as a friend of George Washington and John Adams. Chew’s home, called Cliveden, is today a tourist attraction. In near fine condition. Acquired directly from the descendants of the owner of that plot of land and never before offered for sale.