Pennsylvania’s Revolutionary Governments, Supreme Executive Council, Report: Depreciation Pay (Pennsylvania Line), February 15, 1782; Accounts, 1781; Accounts (Public Buildings and Grounds), 1777-1790; Accounts (Commissioners: Connecticut-Pennsylvania Claims), 1782-1790; and Reports: Comptroller General (Depreciation Pay Interest), 1782-1783. The original document scans at the end of this roll of microfilm are of payments made to Jonathan Smith (August 27, 1777) and Christopher Marshall (December 5, 1777). These materials were found after the collection was microfilmed., This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER LIBRARY: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education., Accounts, 1781, arranged alphabetically by individual to be paid. Accounts of Public Buildings and Grounds, arranged chronologically by the date person was paid. Accounts of the Commissioners Appointed to Settle the Connecticut-Pennsylvania Claims, arranged by Secretary’s receiving date. Accounts, 1781: A record of orders given to State Treasurer, David Rittenhouse, to pay a given amount to a person named. Listed are the amounts to be paid, reason for payment, payees name and place of residence. Each order is signed and dated by the person giving the order (usually President Joseph Reed or Vice President William Moore.) Also included are receipts, signed by the person receiving the amount, attesting that they were paid, and specifying the date, sum of money handed out and who it was paid by. Accounts of Public Buildings and Grounds: A record of payment, ordered by the President or Vice President of the Supreme Executive Council, to various craftsmen and tradesmen for their supplies, labor, or skills used to build, repair or renovate state buildings or grounds. These projects included work on buildings, laying floors, bridge repair, building a library and courthouse, collecting wood for firewood, repairs made to clocks and ringing town bells. A ledger of accounts paid to carpenters for their work, materials, help in demolition, etc., is also present. Noted are the person’s name, date of work, amount paid, and a general description of the job accomplished. Accounts of the Commissioners Appointed to Settle the Connecticut-Pennsylvania Claims: A record of payment by the Supreme Executive Council to the Commissioners who worked to settle the Connecticut-Pennsylvania dispute. Payment was made to compensate agents and solicitors (lawyers) for expenses incurred traveling between states, temporary residency, daily expenses, and the procurement of documents to help with the case. Also noted are receipts given in payment for the above-mentioned services. Receipts are dated, signed by payee (David Rittenhouse), list amount received and contain the recipients signature verifying that payment was made. Depreciation Pay Interest Reports of the Comptroller General: A record of orders identifying persons entitled to interest due on depreciation certificates of pay. Each order names the recipient, date interest was due, the soldiers rank and company, the amount of the certificate and the amount of interest. Also included are lists of men who qualified for depreciation pay, amount of principle and lists of men who applied for it. These lists also record the name of office issuing the qualifiers, the date and the signature of parties involved. Report of the Auditors of Accounts of the Depreciation Pay of the Pennsylvania Line: A record of M. Nicholson’s audit of the depreciation pay given citizens and soldiers in keeping with the General Assembly’s Act of 1781. Included is an explanation of who received payment, what was paid, where payment was received and why it was given. Nicholson’s report also includes a list of persons overpaid in this distribution, place of residence and amount paid. For more details, please see the published Guide to the microfilm of Pennsylvania’s revolutionary governments, 1775-1790 (record group 27) in the Pennsylvania State Archives: https://archive.org/details/guidetoofrecords00penn/page/n3/mode/2up
