[Franklin, Benjamin] Franklin, Benjamin. Manuscript Document, signed
(Philadelphia), May 10, 1787. Single oblong sheet, 13 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. (349 x 400 mm). Manuscript land patent on vellum in a secretarial hand, finely signed by Benjamin Franklin as President of The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, granting Abraham Whitmer land called "Felicity" in Mount Joy Township, Lancaster County; counter-signed by James Trimble for Junior Secretary John Armstrong at bottom. Large paper seal intact in top left; docketed on verso, two seals on same. Creasing from old folds, scattered small losses along same, affecting a few words; two points of paper seal perished.
As President of The Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania (today's governor) Benjamin Franklin grants Abraham Whitmer (or Witmer) (1753-1836) land in Mount Joy Township in Lancaster County. Witmer and his wife, Elizabeth Huber, emigrated from Switzerland, and operated a farm, likely on this land, in Mount Joy Township, which descended through multiple generations of the Witmer family. They had six children.
This lot is located in Philadelphia.
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