State of Connecticut Promissory Note Signed

Connecticut: State of Connecticut, 1781. Near fine.. Partially printed state note to pay six pounds to the Deputy Quarter Master General of Connecticut, who was in charge of dispersing military-related payments during the American Revolution. Ralph Pomeroy, sometime correspondent of both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, was a lawyer and public servant who held positions such as justice of the piece, city alderman, and (after the war) state comptroller (see McLachlan, Princetonians). During the war he was intimately involved in the financial logistics of the Connecticut military, serving as the Deputy Quarter Master General. Because state governments, newly independent, often did not yet have stable systems in place to collect taxes as income, some states financed their part of the Revolution using promissory notes, as here. A compelling artifact of the financial realities of fighting for independence. 3.75'' x 6''. Single sheet printed recto only with date ("December 26th"), amount paid ("Six Pounds"), and signatures of the Pay-Table committee (Fenn Wadsworth and William Moseley) added in manuscript. Further ink annotations on verso, including signature of Ralph Pomeroy. Uniformly toned with a couple tiny stains to verso, else clean and intact.