EXTREMELY RARE
AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED
BY COMFORT SANDS !!!
WEST POINT in the AMERICAN REVOLUTION !!!
SUPPLYING PROVISIONS TO WEST POINT FUTURE SITE OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY DRUING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION!!!
This rare document is an ORIGINAL autograph letter signed by Mr. Comfort Sands, he provisioned the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
The letter is written from Fishkill, New York in the Hudson River Valley just 12 miles north of present day West Point.
It was written just months after the Commander in Chief, General George Washington had ordered Sands to provide provisions and sustenance to the Garrison at West Point.
The letter is one page with the integral address leaf to "Mr. Foot, Superintendent of Cattle" at West Point.
It is dated January 10, 1782.
Measures 13 x 8 inches.
Reads as follows:
Yesterday I came from West Point and found that the Cattle you had Sent t was not Merchantable & that they had Sent them Off again from the Point. I desired Mr. Newcomb to take them and have appointed appraisers if t was anymore in your Drove not to fitt [sic] to Kill to take them the same way. I now send for the rest which please to deliver the Bearer if they are fitt to kill but don't send any that is not, and after this I will not take one more so that should any come to have, to you - do what you think best with them.
I am your most humble & obt servant
[Signed] Comfort Sands
An amazing document written at the height of the American Revolution and in response to a direct request from the Commander in Chief. The letters from George Washington are in the collection at the University of Virginia and follow this correspondence with Comfort Sands. The scan of the broadside issued in December 1781 is provided for informational and historic purposes only. Note: The original broadside is not part of the auction.
Condition of Letter: Loss from seal tear at right margin, weak at folds, light toning, else very good.
Provenance: Ex. Henry E. Luhrs Collection.
The Lincoln Library, Shippensburg, PA
Robert Black, 1961 Sale Catalogue, List #88, Item #11.
TRULY A GREAT PIECE OF AMERICAN HISTORY !!!
Comfort Sands (1748-1843) was an influential New York merchant and supporter of the American Revolution. Officially he was the state auditor, but privately he ran ships through the British blockade.
Brief Bio of Comfort Sands
SANDS, Comfort [1748-1834] -- American merchant
Sands Point, Long Island, NY, is named for him.
Born: Sands Point, NY February 26, 1748
Died Hoboken, NJ September 22, 1834
Comfort Sands (1748-1843) lived far longer than most people of his time and had an illustrious career like his brother, the Colonel [John IV, 1737-1811]. ... A substantial businessman, he was a founding director of the Bank of New York in 1784.
Comfort was 17 when he was part of a group that burned 10 bales of papers brought over from London. Four years later, he joined an association that vowed not to import goods from Great Britain until the repeal of the Tea Act and the Act imposing duties on glass and paint. In 1774, he was appointed by Congress to be a member of the Committee of 60, to carry out the non-importation resolution. He was subsequently elected a member of the Provincial Congress and served on the Committee of Safety. Although he stayed away from Long Island to avoid capture during the war, he supported the Revolution by serving on various provisional bodies.
He also aided the cause [by] using merchant ships that he owned, and lost one vessel to the British that had a cargo worth £10,000. He later accepted an appointment as auditor general of the State of New York, a position he held until his resignation in 1782.
He was the Son of John and Elizabeth (Cornell) S.; married Sarah Dodge, June 3, 1769; married 2d, Cornelia Lott, Dec. 5, 1797; 18 children including Robert Charles.
Opened a store, Peck Slip, N.Y., 1769, mcht. in West Indian trade, 1769-...
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