Manuscript of a Letter by Founding Father Robert R Livingston

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James Barron, Found in Museum’s Attic: Lost Document Linked to Fight for Independence. New York Times, Jan 2, 2014
www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/nyreg ... -museums-attic.html
(An intern at Morris-Jumel Mansion--which served as George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War and now a museum in Upper Manhattan--Emilie Gruchow found in a drawer in the attic, a 12-page document written by Robert R Livingston. The document was the draft of an urgent plea for reconciliation from the Continental Congress. It was addressed to the people of Britain, not King George III and his government. Until Ms. Gruchow found it, only the final, printed version from July 1775 had been known to exist.)

Quote:

"By the time the document reached London, George III had already issued a proclamation declaring the colonies to be in rebellion and urging official repression. It is not clear whether he knew about it. Ms Gruchow said it is believed he did not read the document in 1775 and may never have read it.

"Ms Gruchow said it was not clear how the document had come to be at the mansion or even how long it had been there. Livingston was at the house while serving as Washington’s liaison to colonial lawmakers.

Note:
(a) Morris-Jumel Mansion
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris-Jumel_Mansion
(located in Washington Heights; is the oldest house in the borough of Manhattan; built by Roger Morris in 1765; Stephen Jumel and his wife Eliza Jumel purchased the house in 1810)

(b) "The following year [1776], Congress tapped Livingston to draft the Declaration of Independence along with Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Roger Sherman. Livingston went on to swear in Washington as the first president. Other historians who have reviewed the document Ms Gruchow found say her discovery explains why he was chosen. It could also change the perception of Livingston’s role in the push for independence because it had always been assumed that the document at the mansion was the work of another prominent colonial figure, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia."
(i) Robert R Livingston (chancellor)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_R._Livingston_(chancellor)
(1746-1813; From 1777 to 1801 [25 years], he was the first Chancellor of New York, then the highest judicial officer in the State)

The Scottish surname Livingston (with Livingstone as variant spelling) is the name of a place in Lothian, originally named in Middle English as Levingston, from an owner called Levin (see Lewin 1)
(ii) Richard Henry Lee
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Henry_Lee
(1732-1794; best known for the motion [on June 7, 1776] calling for the colonies' independence from Great Britain)

(c) "Now the museum’s director and trustees have decided to sell the document at auction. * * * The sale, being handled by Keno Auctions in Manhattan, is scheduled for Jan 26. [Some of the proceeds will be used to renovate the museum:] 'It’s a top-to-bottom face-lift, but the exterior needs to come first. We don’t want to start any interior restoration projects until the outside is squared away.'"
(i) Keno Auctions
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keno_Auctions
(founded in 2009 by celebrity antiques dealer Leigh Keno, is a full-service auction house in New York City)
(ii) square awat (vt): "to put in order or in readiness"
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/square%20away