(AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1775) Bond for the sum of two thousand

Sale 2546 - Lot 24

Price Realized: $ 1,500

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(AMERICAN REVOLUTION--1775.) Bond for the sum of two thousand pounds for the armed brigantine Minerva. Document Signed by Andrew Johannot and Benjamin Henshaw with their paper seals, plus witnesses Titus Hosmer and Hezekiah Hosmer. One page, 13 x 7 3/4 inches, plus docketing on integral blank; folds, minimal wear. Middletown, CT, 11 September 1775

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The brig Minerva was the first naval vessel chartered by Connecticut for the war, on 3 August 1775. It was originally intended to defend the state's coastline on the Long Island Sound. Officers were appointed on 8 September, including Andrew Johannot as steward. Three days later he signed this £2000 bond (with a co-signer) as "Steward of the armed brigantine Minerva in the Service of this Colony," to be void if he rendered "a true and faithfull account of all such sum or sums of money as he shall receive out of the Colony Treasury for the use of said brigantine."
The ship narrowly averted glory. In early October, before the formal establishment of the Continental Navy, the Continental Congress requested that Connecticut send the ship north to Quebec on a secret mission. However, the majority of the crew flatly refused to leave the Connecticut coast. The mutinous men were discharged, and the ship was decommissioned. It later saw service as a privateer, having missed the opportunity to be the first naval vessel in Continental service.