Manuscript DS, signed “B. Franklin,” one page on vellum, 15.75 x 13, June 30, 1787. Franklin, as President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, grants a 153-acre parcel of land called “Stonesburgh” in Newbury Township to Frederick Stone. Franklin has signed at top left, beneath the large embossed paper seal. A month earlier, on May 25, the Constitutional Convention convened at Philadelphia, and the 55 delegates, including Franklin, spent a heated summer hammering out the core issues and fine points of what would emerge as the Constitution of the United States. The proceedings were marked throughout by much disagreement and even divisiveness, which was largely alleviated by Franklin’s dramatic speech on September 17, the final day of the Convention. Franklin, too weak to address the assembly himself, entrusted his words to fellow Pennsylvanian James Wilson: “I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered.... I doubt ... whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution.... Thus I consent ... to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best.” In very good condition, with previous storage folds, some scattered light toning (heavier at folds) and very faint staining to body of text, and some light wrinkling. The signature is large and clear. Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
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