Autograph receipt signed by Robert Niles (1734-1818) recording a financial transaction with Jas. Bachus. N.p. [Norwich, New London County, CT?], 17 February 1798. 1p, approx. 6 3/8 x 2 3/4 in. Docketed to verso "Elijah Bachus / Bill." A receipt related to a transaction between Niles and Captain Elijah Backus (1726-1798) and his son James Backus (1764-1816). Accompanied by a later newspaper clipping featuring the headline "Headstone at the Grave of Capt. Robert Niles" and a captioned photograph of aforementioned headstone which bears the inscription "A patriot who commanded the Spy during the Revolution / He carried the treaty to France / delivering it to / Benj. Franklin / Capt. Niles served his country / faithfully and died a christian / in the year 1818 / aged 83 years." 

A native of Groton, Connecticut, Robert Niles served in the militia during the French and Indian War before moving his family to New London County, Connecticut. There he became involved in the expansion of the trade with the West Indies, working as a merchant captain on voyages that would unknowingly provide maritime training for subsequent wartime commands. A supporter of the Patriot cause, Niles was well-known to powerful Connecticut leaders, including Governor Jonathan Trumbull. In 1775, Niles was chosen to fulfill a request of General Washington that a Loyalist ship in a Connecticut harbor be secured for the use of the Continental Army. Niles successfully seized the vessel. When the Connecticut Navy was established in July 1775 and two vessels were fitted out for the defense of the colony, Niles was again chosen to command one of them, aptly named the Spy. He was directed to "seize and bring into port any provision vessel or vessels which she may be able to discover and take, in or about the harbor of New London, offing, or sound, bound to sea and the same hold or detain." He was also tasked with intelligence-gathering. As the war progressed, Captain Niles proved an invaluable asset to the Connecticut State Navy and the Patriot cause. Though he captured eight enemy vessels, he is best known for evading British vessels in 1778 and successfully delivering to American commissioners in France (including Benjamin Franklin) two ratified treaties, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance, sealing the alliance between fledgling United States and its new French ally. 

A scarce signature from an important Revolutionary War naval hero.

[Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe]

Toning, folds, adhesive repair to verso.