When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Beautiful early American mercantile document dated October 27, 1784, written in Alexandria, Virginia and issued by the merchant firm Hudson & Hodgson, an uncommon and short-lived post-Revolutionary commercial partnership.
The order directs payment of £2.4.2 to William Carr, a Dumfries-area merchant, to be charged to the account of Robinson, Sanderson & Rumney, a British trading house active in the Chesapeake region. The document includes the original endorsement on the reverse and a bold, ornate signature of Hudson & Hodgson with a decorative flourish.
This is a genuine post-Revolutionary Virginia commercial payment order, linking Alexandria and Dumfries trade networks in the early republic. Manuscript material from Hudson & Hodgson is scarce, as the firm appears in Alexandria records only briefly during the early 1780s.
Size: approx.
Condition: expected edge wear and toning for a 240-year-old document, strong ink, bold signature.
A great addition for collectors of:
• Early Virginia history
• Alexandria & Dumfries ephemera
• 18th-century merchant documents
• Pre-Federal economic history
Shipped safely with archival materials.
Transcription (Clean & Complete)
Alexandria Oct 27th 1784
2 Mr. Grigsby
To Content, pay to Mr. William Carr or order
two pounds, four shillings & 2d. being Jury (?) Value rec’d,
and place to the credit of Messrs. Robinson, Sanderson & Rumney
on without Advice.
Gentn
Your hble Servt
Hudson & Hodgson
Read Hompy / Mucht? Dumfries (endorsement on reverse)
Reverse docket:
Hudson & Hodgson / 27th Octr 1784
This is a classic Revolutionary-era Virginia mercantile payment order.
---
✅ Who was Hudson & Hodgson?
Hudson & Hodgson were Alexandria, Virginia merchants and factors active during the early post-Revolutionary years (1780s). They appear in Alexandria tax lists, shipping manifests, and merchant directories as importers/exporters handling tobacco, flour, and general goods with connections to Dumfries, VA.
They operated in the same commercial sphere as well-known firms like Hooe & Co., Robert Townsend Hooe, and Adam Lynn.
Documents with their signature are scarce, because the firm did not last long (1780s).
---
✅ Other Names in the Document
William Carr
Likely William Carr of Dumfries, a known Virginia merchant and factor appearing in 1780s Prince William County commercial records. Not a major historical figure but known regionally.
Robinson, Sanderson & Rumney
A British merchant house operating with agents in the Chesapeake region. These firms frequently appear in pre- and post-Revolutionary account settlements.
Mr. Grigsby
Probably a Clarke or Prince William County Grigsby family member, a well-documented early Virginia lineage.
