Benjamin Franklin and the American Philosophical Society Confer Membership on Mathew Clarkson, Who Was the Mayor of Philadelphia When It Was the U.S. Capital

The American Philosophical Society was founded in 1743 by future Declaration of Independence signers Benjamin Franklin and Francis Hopkinson, silversmith Philip Syng (who created the inkstand used to sign that document), botanist John Bertram, and others, for the purpose of promoting useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities. In the late 1760s, Franklin served the organization as president. Prominent members were a virtual who’s who of the Enlightenment in America, and included George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Paine, David Rittenhouse, Nicholas Biddle, Benjamin Rush, James Madison, John Marshall, the Marquis de Lafayette, Baron von Steuben, and Tadeusz Kosciusko.

In 1776, after the Declaration of Independence, Franklin was sent by Congress to France to serve there as Commissioner. When he arrived in Paris on December 21, 1776, he found much sympathy both for himself and his cause. He himself was the “celebrated Dr. Franklin” from the beginning. The people gathered in crowds to see and acclaim him and shopkeepers rushed to their doors to catch a glimpse of him as he passed along the sidewalk. Perhaps no person in history has come to symbolize America as Franklin did in Paris. Franklin’s mission was to conclude a treaty of alliance with France, secure French military assistance, and obtain needed funds to carry on the war. His road was full of obstacles, but in the end Franklin was successful, and that success was instrumental in winning the Revolutionary War.

Franklin returned to Philadelphia from his mission to France in 1785. Though in his 80th year, he resumed active roles in the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the University of Pennsylvania (which he had co-founded), and again became president of the American Philosophical Society. In addition, on October 18, 1785, he was unanimously elected the sixth President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, replacing John Dickinson. The office of President of Pennsylvania was analogous to the modern position of governor. Franklin held that office for over three years, serving the Constitutional limit of three full terms. In mid-term, he attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and although he was too weak to stand, his good humor and gift for compromise helped to craft and pass the Constitution of The United States.

Matthew Clarkson was the mayor of Philadelphia from 1792 to 1796, during which period Washington was U.S. president and Philadelphia was the capital of the United States. Prior to that, Clarkson was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1785 and was a member of the board of aldermen. He was also a friend and business associate of Franklin.

When a candidate was elected to the American Philosophical Society, he received an elaborate membership certificate. This is Clarkson’s. Document signed, Philadelphia, January 20, 1786, saying that the society confers membership on “Mr. Mathew Clarkson…hereby granting unto him all the rights of fellowship, with all the liberties and privileges thereunto belonging.” It is signed by Franklin as president, and is countersigned by Vice Presidents John Ewing, William White and Samuel Vaughan, and Secretaries James Hutchinson, Robert T. Patterson, Rev. Samuel Magaw, and John Foulke. The seal and ribbon are still present. Most of the signatories had a connection to the University of Pennsylvania, one of the nation’s first colleges. Ewing was a trustee and provost of the University, White was president of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church and would soon became president of Penn’s Board of Trustees, Hutchinson was professor of medicine and chemistry at Penn, Patterson a professor of science and mathematics, and Magaw a professor of philosophy; Foulke was a physician and Vaughan a British radical reformer then residing in the U.S.

These certificates have become quite scarce, this being only the second we have had in the last two decades. And its provenance is fascinating. In 1752, Franklin founded the famous mutual insurance concept with the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Losses by Fire. A group of former Contributionship policyholders founded the Green Tree as the Mutual Assurance Co. in 1784, and it existed as an insurer in that form until 1997. The firm had a collection of art, documents, and memorabilia relating to Franklin and his cohorts of the Revolution. This document has just been deaccessioned to us, and we offer it for sale to the public for the first time.