Knox, Henry (1750-1806) [Excerpt of a petition in which Knox and others attempt to persuade the Massachusetts Legislature to sell uncultivated lands to officers and soldiers who served in the Revolutionary War]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.03124 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry (1750-1806) Place Written: s.l. Type: Autograph document signed Date: March 1785 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; 32.1 x 19.8 cm. Order a Copy
Signed in the docket. Knox, Benjamin Lincoln, Henry Jackson, and others attempt to persuade the General Court of Massachusetts to divide land in the eastern part of the state (present-day Maine) for officers and soldiers who served in the Revolution. Knox argues that all other states have granted uncultivated lands as such. Writes, "...it would be a subject of great mortification and depression to your petitioners that the Legislature of this Commonwealth should decline to receive in payment for [?] Lands the very money which your petitioners received for their services from the United States." First docket notes this is a draft of a petition presented to the General Court [of Massachusetts] in March 1785 and was signed by Knox, Lincoln, Jackson, and others. Second docket indicates "This petition was negatived in the house of representatives whereby the state lost much."
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