Twenty-four (24) 19th century commerce documents. 1st-6th item: Six (6) printed and handwritten certifications of importation signed by Benjamin Lincoln, Collector, countersigned by Thomas Melvill, Inspector, from the Port of Boston and Charleston, certifying that "there was imported into this Di[s]trict on the twenty fourth of Oct 1805, by Neh Parsons in the Gov Summer Rogers an American Ve[s][s]el, from Malaga one [cask] of Malaga Wine numbered and marked as per margin, containing Twenty Nine Gallons". Serial numbers 38093, 133; 38099, 139; 38149, 189; 38150, 190; 38151, 191; 38152, 192. 5 1/4" H x 10" W. Biography: Benjamin Lincoln (1732/3-1810) was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lincoln is notable for being involved in three major surrenders during the war: his participation in the Battles of Saratoga (sustaining a wound shortly afterward) contributed to John Burgoyne's surrender of a British army, he oversaw the largest American surrender of the war at the 1780 Siege of Charleston, and, as George Washington's second in command, he formally accepted the British surrender at Yorktown. After the war Lincoln was active in politics in his native Massachusetts, running several times for lieutenant governor but only winning one term in that office. He served from 1781 to 1783 as the first United States Secretary of War. In 1787, Lincoln led a militia army (privately funded by Massachusetts merchants) in the suppression of Shays' Rebellion, and was a strong supporter of the new United States Constitution. He was for many of his later years the politically influential customs collector of the Port of Boston. Biography: Thomas Melvill or Thomas Melville (1751-1832) was a merchant, member of the Sons of Liberty, participant in the Boston Tea Party, a major in the American Revolution, a longtime fireman in the Boston Fire Department, state legislator, and paternal grandfather of writer Herman Melville. 7th-24th items: Seventeen (17) printed and handwritten Cumberland Canal shares issued to Robert Boyd, signed by Woodbury Storer, President, and Joseph C. Boyd, Clerk, Portland, ME, July 26, 1804. Serial numbers 1684, 1685, 1686, 1687, 1688, 1689, 1690, 1691, 1692, 1693, 1694, 1794, 1795, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1853. 4" H x 9 1/4" W. Provenance: the estate of Charles Boyd Coleman, Chattanooga. CONDITION: Documents in overall good condition with foxing spots, tears, creases, etc. to be expected from age. 1st-6th items: Lincoln and Melvill signatures in strong, clear condition.