Founding Father Charles Carroll of Carrollton\u2019s copy of William J. Stone\u2019s printing of the Declaration of Independence\u2014<\/span>which will be offered at Freeman\u2019s on July 1<\/a><\/strong>\u2014was recently found within a pile of historical papers in a Scottish ancestral home by Freeman\u2019s sister auction house, Lyon & Turnbull, headquartered in Edinburgh.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The document is signed, dated, and annotated on the front, lower left corner by John MacTavish (1787-1852)\u2014a Scottish-Canadian diplomat and businessman who served as British Consul to the State of Maryland and married Charles Carroll’s granddaughter and later executrix, Emily Caton (1794\/5-1867). <\/span><\/p>\n The two inscriptions jointly elucidate how each of Charles Carroll\u2019s two copies passed through MacTavish\u2019s hands: One copy was presented to him by Carroll in 1826 and then gifted to the Maryland Historical Society (now the Maryland Center for History and Culture) in 1844; this present copy presumably passed to him and his wife by descent after Carroll\u2019s death in 1832. Though the couple primarily resided and eventually died in Maryland, John\u2019s ancestors in Scotland, Emily\u2019s relations in Britain, and their first son Charles Carroll\u2019s diplomatic career in the United Kingdom all provided ample opportunity for the document\u2019s subsequent transatlantic travel.<\/span><\/p>\n Though undoubtedly a symbol at the very core of American identity, the original Declaration of Independence was, in fact, signed by eight men who were not native-born Americans; James Wilson and John Witherspoon both hailed from Scotland, while many other signers\u2014not to mention important politicians and notable figures instrumental in shaping the young country\u2014were of Scottish descent. The present copy\u2019s links to that country through both its more distant and most recent past reminds us just how interconnected America remained with Great Britain in spite of our newfound freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n Freeman\u2019s is delighted to offer this significant piece of American history fittingly just ahead of Independence Day in Philadelphia, the birthplace of our country. In recognition of the document\u2019s Scottish\/American ties as well as Freeman\u2019s ongoing alliance with<\/span> Lyon & Turnbull<\/a><\/strong>, the auction will be led by Freeman\u2019s Chairman and Scotsman Alasdair Nichol.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/americanscottishfoundation.com\/programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/DOIwood-copy-802x1024.jpg\")
This occasion of a Stone facsimile turning up overseas has precedent in a copy that was found in France, though that copy did not have the added significance of belonging to an original signer. It may seem remarkable, unfitting, and even ironic that such an important and distinctively American document should resurface not only outside of the United States, but also in a country that formed part of the very kingdom that our nascent nation severed connection with in 1776. The location of the present copy\u2019s rediscovery, however, is rendered less surprising by its provenance.<\/span><\/p>\n