A 228-year-old document signed by Thomas Jefferson announcing funding to complete construction of the now iconic Portland Head Light is going up for auction this month.
The Aug. 10, 1790, document is a record of an act of Congress authorizing the funding, which then-Secretary of State Jefferson signed. Two copies of the record were signed by Jefferson and sent to each state in existence at the time.
“At this time, Vermont hadn’t yet become a state, so it’s one of 26 original documents. I don’t know how many exist now. There are a couple that we’ve found in institutional collections, but they’re not common,” said Marco Tomaschett, a specialist with Swann Auction Galleries in New York City.
[Town considers fees to park near Portland Head Light]
The Portland Head Light document is one of several early American records owned by collector William Wheeler III that are being put up for sale on June 21 by Swann Auction Galleries. The lighthouse record, which authorizes $1,500 to finish building, is expected to fetch between $10,000 and $15,000.
“This is the earliest one we’re offering. So it’s most interesting not only because of the fabulous lighthouse it’s responsible for erecting, but it’s also the earliest example of a slip law we have showing the workings of government at the time,” Tomaschett told the Bangor Daily News on Friday.
“It’s not at all common that we get a slip law that relates to an early territory … so that’s very cool,” he continued. “Any time we’re dealing with the birth of a state, that’s an interesting period, and this is part of that story. What went into building the state of Maine? This lighthouse is part of that story, and the building of Maine is part of the story of building the United States. So [records like this are] not common, not when they have those aspects.”
[Crews battle high seas, stormy weather to restore iconic Maine lighthouse]
Maine would become a state in 1820, splitting off from Massachusetts. Portland Head Light remains Maine’s oldest lighthouse and is one of the state’s most recognizable attractions.
Tomaschett said that the authenticated autograph of Thomas Jefferson — a Founding Father, principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later the country’s third president — is a particularly valuable aspect of the document.
Follow BDN Portland on Facebook for the latest news from Portland.
