mentioned with the Original Record of the said Letters Patent in the Petty Bag Office with the Proper Officer there, and this Deponent further saith that the annexed Paper Writing is a true Copy of the Record of such Letters Patent now Remaining in the said Petty Bag office with the Proper Officer there. WILLIAM CHAMBERLAYNE Sworn the 16th day of July 1767 before me Recorded the 5th Jan. 1768 Exd. C. P. To all to whom these Presents shall come I Sir Robert Kight Knight Lord Mayor of the City of London In Pursuance of an act of Parliament made and Passed in the fifth year of the Reign of his late Majesty King George the second Intitled an act for the more easy Recovery of Debts in his Majesties Plantations and Colonies in America Do Hereby Certify that on the day of the date hereof personally came and appeared before me William Chamberlayne the Deponent named in the affidavit hereunto annexed being a person well known and Worthy of Good Credit and by Solemn Oath which the said Deponent then took before me upon the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God did solemnly & Sincerely declare Testify & Depose to be true the several matters and things mentioned & Contained in the said Annexed Affidavit. Seal of the City of London. * * In faith & testimony whereof I the said Lord Mayor have caused the seal of the Office of Mayoralty of the said City of London to be hereunto put and affixed and the Copy of Letters Patent mentioned and Referred to in and by the said Affidavit to be hereunto also annexed Dated in London the sixteeenth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Seven. Recorded Jan. 1768. Exd. per C. P. HODGES. Deputation from Maurice Morgann to Joseph Reed, Jr., to be Deputy Secretary of the Colony of New Jersey. [From Book AB of Commissions, in Secretary of State's Office, at Trenton, fol. 4.] TO ALL TO WHOм these Presents shall come, Maurice Morgan of Parliament Street Westminster, Esquire Sendeth Greeting Whereas his Present Majesty by his Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain bearing Date at Westminster the Eighteenth day of June in the seventh year of his Reign Did Give and Grant unto the said Maurice Morgan the Offices and Places of Secretary, Clerk of the Council, Clerk of the Supreme Court, Clerk of the pleas, Surrogate and Keeper and Register of the Records in the colony of Nova Ceesarea or New Jersey to have hold exercise and Enjoy the said Offices and Places by himself or his sufficient Deputy or Deputies during Pleasure together with all Fees Profits Priviledges and advantages to the said Offices belonging and appertaining now know ye that for Divers Good Causes and Considerations him the said Maurice Morgann hereunto moving He the said Maurice Morgann hath made ordained Constituted Deputed and Appointed and by these presents Doth make Ordain Constitute Depute and Appoint Joseph Reed Junior' of the Colony of New Jersey aforesaid This is the person who figures in history as Washington's Adjutant-General, and later as President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. The "Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, by his grandson, William B. Reed," Philadelphia, 1847, is very meagre in details of the early life of the subject of the book. He was born at Trenton, New Jersey, August 27, 1741; soon after, his father (Andrew Reed), removed to Philadelphia, where he lived until 1752, when he returned to Trenton. Young Reed (who was sometimes called "Junior," probably to distinguish him from his uncle, Joseph Reed), having been graduated from Princeton in 1757, studied law with Richard Stockton, was admitted to the bar in 1763, and then went to London, where he entered the Middle Temple, remaining there until the spring of 1765, when he returned to America and began practising law in Trenton. What more natural than to suppose he won the favor of Mr. Esquire his the said Maurice Morgann's Deputy of and in the said Offices of Secretary, Clerk of the Council, Clerk of the Supreme Court Clerk of the Pleas, Surrogate and Keeper and Register of Records of the said Province for and during the Pleasure of him the said Maurice Morgann. And the said Maurice Morgann doth hereby authorize & Impower the said Joseph Reed to do Perform and Execute all and every such act and acts, Matters and things as to the Duty and Offices of Secretary, Clerk of the Council, Clerk of the Supreme Court, Clerk of the Pleas, Surrogate and Keeper and Register of Records of the said province shall appertain or belong or which may or ought to be Done Performed and Executed and also to have receive and take all Fees dues Rights profits priviledges and advantages whatsoever to the same Offices or any or either of them belonging or of Right appertaining thereto or which shall arise happen or become due during such time as he shall continue Deputy in the Offices aforesaid he the said Maurice Morgann hereby Ratifying and Confirming all and whatsoever his said Deputy shall Lawfully do or Cause to be Done in the Premises In Witness Whereof the said Maurice Morgann hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal this Twenty Seventh day of June in the seventh year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the year of our Lord one Thousand and Seven Hundred & Sixty Seven. MAURICE MORGANN. [Seal.] Morgann while pursuing his law studies in the Middle Temple? His father's illness, his growing practice and other interests doubtless combined to cause him to give up his office in 1769 (see post, under date of October 27, 1769), and his father having died that same year (December 16), in March, 1770, he went to England to claim his promised bride (Esther De Berdt), with whom he returned in October, when he settled in Philadelphia, and thereafter was identified with the history of Pennsylvania.-Reed's Reed, I., 26-42; Hist. Pres. Church in Trenton, by John Hall, D. D., New York, 1859, 74, 75, 196-200.-[W. N.] Sealed and Delivered (being first duly stampt) in the Presence William Chamberlayne, Thomas Cotton, Atty near the Hermitage. Memorandum that on the Tenth day of October 1767 Joseph Reed Esq. in the within Deputation named appeared before me Charles Read Esq. one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the Province of New Jersey and took the Oaths and made and Subscribed the Declaration appointed by Act of Parliament and also an Oath for the due Execution of the Offices within mentioned which I administered to him by Virtue of a Dedimus Potestatem. Recorded 5th Jan. 1768. Exd. C. P. CHAS. READ. WILLIAM CHAMBERLAYNE of Lincolns Inn in the County of Middlesex Gentleman maketh oath and saith that he this Deponent did see Maurice Morgann of Parliament Street Westminster Esquire sign and seal and as his act and deed Deliver the Deed Poll or Instrument in Writing hereunto annexed in the presence of him this Deponent and Thomas Cotton Gentleman the other subscribing witness to the Execution thereof and this Deponent further saith that the name Maurice Morgann set and subscribed against the seal as the party Executing the Deed pol or Instrument in Writing hereunto annexed and the names Wm. Chamberlayne, and Thos. Cotton subscribed as witnesses to the Execution thereof are of the Respective Proper Hands writing of said Maurice Morgann Thomas Cotton and of this Deponent, Wm. Chamberlayne. Sworn the 16th day of July 1767 before me ROBT. KITE, Mayor. Recorded 5th Jan. 1768 Exd. C. P. To all to whom these presents shall Come I Sir Robert Kite Knight Lord Mayor of the City of London In Pursuance of an act of Parliament made and Passed in the fifth year of the Reign of his late Majesty King George the Second Intituled an Act for the more easy recovery of Debts in his Majesty's Plantations and Colonies in America Do hereby Certify that on the day of the Date hereof personally came and appeared before me William Chamberlayne, the Deponent named in the Affidavit hereunto annexed being a person well known and worthy of Good Credit and by Solemn Oath which the said Deponent then took before me upon the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God did Solemnly & Sincerely declare testify and depose to be true the several matters and things mentioned and Contained in the said annexed Affidavit. * Seal of the City of London. * In Faith and Testimony whereof I the said Lord Mayor have Caused the seal of the Office of Mayoralty of the said City of London to be hereunto put and affixed and the Deed Poll or Instrument in Writing mentioned and Referred to in and by the said Affidavit to be hereunto also annexed Dated in London the sixteenth day of July in the year of our Lord one Thousand seven Hundred and Sixty Seven. Recorded Jan. 5th 1768. Exd. per C. P. HODGES. Commission of Joseph Reed as Provincial and Principal Surrogate of New Jersey. [From Book AB of Commissions, Secretary of State's Office, Trenton, fol. 8.] By his Excellency William Franklin Esq. Captain General and Governor in Chief, in and over his Majesty's Province of New Jersey and Territories thereon depending in America, Chancellor and Vice Admiral |