Memoirs Of A life, Chiefly Passed In Pennsylvania within the last Sixty Years; With Occasional Remarks Upon General Occurences, Character and Spirit of That Eventful Period

Harrisburgh PA: John Wyeth, 1811. 1st. Hardcover. Good/None. Hardcover, brown full leather boards, 378 pages. plus errata left at rear. Well worn, front board hanging on by a few threads and lacking any front endpapers or blanks. On the first page of text along the top is a bold ownership signature (Gideon H. Wells) and date of 1811. Alexander Graydon (1752-1818) was born in Bristol, Pennsylvania on the shores of the Delaware River, the son of a Philadelphia merchant and lawyer. Upon his father's death, the family removed to Philadelphia. His memoirs included stories of this time as well as his years at the Academy of Philadelphia, where he read law. He was a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, taking part in Washington's retreat from Long Island in 1776 as well as in the battle of Harlem Heights when he was taken prisoner by the British. Upon his parole, he went to Reading, Pennsylvania to resume his legal career. He was a staunch Federalist, supporting ratification of the Constitution and later was a delegate to the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention. He lived in Harrisburg, where this book was printed, for some 30 years. Record # 382687