1683 Letter from Acting Gov. Anthony Brockholls to Governor William Penn (RARE)

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1683 Letter from Acting Gov. Anthony Brockholls to Governor William Penn (RARE):
$40000.00

The Acting Governor of New York Thanks William Penn for a Gift

“As the loadstone attracts Iron, so ought acknowledgemts to pursue faviours … [I] dare not presume any further having soe lately recd soe great a marke of your bounty….”

Deputy Governor Anthony Brockholls of New York extends a cordial note to Governor William Penn in the midst of continuing deliberations between Penn and Lord Baltimore over the southern boundary of Pennsylvania and possessionof Delaware.

ANTHONY BROCKHOLLS.Autograph Letter Signed to Governor William Penn. New York, May 1, 1683, with autograph address leaf. 1 p.

Inventory #21618

Complete Transcript

[New Y]orke Primo[1st] May 1683

Right Honble,
As the loadstone attracts Iron, soe [loss] ought acknowledgemtsto pursue faviours the wch am in some measure guilty of but dare not presume any further having soe lately recd soe great a marke of your bounty wch I esteame after tryall to be the best I have seen in these parts and wish my selfe able to make retaliacon but you finding inabilitie want [loss] part, wch I am troubld at, so pleased to comand what [loss] score till [fur]ther order and think my selfe honord to have ye [loss] so to subscribe my selfe Sir,
Your Servt: &c
Antho: Brockholls

[address leaf:] For The Honble William Penn Esqe / Proprietary & Governor. / Pensilvania / Philadelphia

Historical Background
Despite previous controversies between Sir Edmund Andros (Governor of New York and Brockholls’s boss) and the proprietors of West Jersey, including William Penn, Brockholls and Penn were on good terms. They negotiated recognition of the Duke of York’s lease to Penn of the three “lower counties” (now Delaware). According to local official John Moll,Penn obtained the Delaware settlers’ consent to his authority based in part on the formal handover of power, “Which Actings of us was fully Accepted and well approved of by Antho Brockhold then Commander in Cheife & his Counsell at New Yorke … by their Declaration bearing date the 21. of Novembr Ao1682.” Brockholls seemed to believe that Penn was the key to good relations between all of the middle colonies. In February 1683, Brockholls had written warmly to congratulate Penn on his return from Maryland and to express happiness that “such amicable proceedings are onfoot between my Lord [Baltimore] and your selfe.”

It was in 1683, during Brockholls’s provisional administration, that several leading NewYork politicians forced Brockholls to accept New York freemen’s right to a written constitution and an elected assembly. The colony was reorganized, divided into twelve counties, and all foreign emigrants professing Christianity were naturalized.

This is almost certainly the earliest cover in private hands addressed to the founder of Pennsylvania after Penn’s arrival in his colony.

An Aug., 24, 1684 cover (address leaf only, without the original letter), Siegel sale Galleries, October 24, 2007, Historical Society of Pennsylvania offer, described as “ALMOST CERTAINLY THE EARLIEST COVER IN PRIVATE HANDS ADDRESSED TO THE FOUNDER AND FIRST PROPRIETOR OF PENNSYLVANIA, WILLIAM PENN,” sold for $46,000. The present item is fifteen months earlier, and includes not just the cover, but also the excellent contentletter from the Acting Governor of New York to William Penn.

Anthony Brockholls – in 1674, when the Duke of York appointed Sir Edmund Andros governor of New York, he named Brockholls his deputy governor. Like the future James II, Brockholls was Catholic; he had also served at one point on the Duke’s own troop of Horse Guards. In 1676, Brockholls played a critical diplomatic role in colonial affairs, helping convince the Mohawk Indians to attack King Philip’s Indian Confederation, then in rebellion against Massachusetts authority. At several junctures, Brockholls assumed the authority of acting governor. He was relieved of duty in 1683 but continued to serve on the Provincial Council, and commanded the garrison of New York until 1690.

Condition

Some text loss, conserved.

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