1783 Captain's Commission for Daniel Dunham
We thank Elliott P. Smith for sharing this scanned document with us. The graphics were in gray scale when I received them via email from Elliott. I colorized them to make them more appealing to the eye, and have found that colorizing sometimes makes documents easier to read. When I received the scan, the area which is the seal was pitch black. I had to lighten the document until the text on the page had all but disappeared. I colored the wax seal and the paper separately.
The document is dated 24 Oct 1783. Persons mentioned in it are Daniel Dunham and Jonathan Trumbull.
I wasn't sure whether the year stated was 1788 or 1783. It was only when I was able to make out the faint image of the three grapevines that was present on the state of Connecticut's seal that I determined the date had to be 1783. That was the last year that particular seal was used. The wording on the seal made mention of the Colony of Connecticut. Since it was no longer so, the seal was redesigned and used beginning in 1784.
Mary Stone Todd mentions this Commission document in her DAR application.
