A Supplementary Act for Rebuilding Queens Bridge, Signed by William Franklin

Manuscript. New Jersey, 1772. A supplementary act of the New Jersey legislature, written in a formal engrossing hand on a single folio sheet, to the act entitled An Act to Impower Certain Persons therein Named to raise a Sum of Money by Subscription or by Taxation, to Rebuild and keep in repair the Bridge over Raritan River near Bound Brook, known by the name of Queens Bridge.

The preamble explains why a second act was needed. The first act had not been obligatory on the Board of Justices and Freeholders and so had not answered its purpose. The enacting clauses direct the assessors of Somerset County to levy three hundred pounds Proclamation money on the inhabitants, in the same manner and proportion as the provincial taxes. The collectors are to pay it over by the first of January to six named managers: Peter Perine, Benjamin Morgan, Jonathan Smith, Jeremiah Field, Philip French Junior and John Gouldtrap. The managers are to build and repair the bridge, and they are made accountable to the Board of Justices and Freeholders for every sum they spend.

The endorsements at the foot record the bill's passage. The House of Assembly resolved on 11 September 1772 that it pass, signed by Cortlandt Skinner as Speaker. The Council did the same on 15 September, signed by David Ogden. On 26 September William Franklin, royal governor of New Jersey and Benjamin Franklin's son, wrote below them, "I assent to this Bill, Enacting the same and order it to be Enrolled," and signed it "Wm. Franklin."

Less than four years later, on 15 June 1776, the Continental Congress declared the same governor a virulent enemy to his country. His printed reply is in this room as BF-2026.006.

The sheet is folded, with a small loss at the left fold and some toning. Ink from another sheet has offset onto the left margin.

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