From the FOREWORD. THIS volume presents itself to the public without any apology for intrusion. It has a mission to accomplish, which the careful reader will observe is a worthy one. Attach it to any reliable financial history of the Revolutionary period, and you have a complete biography of the subject. It is unfortunate that the records, from 1775 to 1781, covering the most important part of Mr. Hillegas's incumbency, are lost. No effort has been made at expansion or elaboration; on the contrary we have aimed at contraction and condensation, so as to give in a limited scope the main facts of the subject's life, allowing the "data" to speak for his official career. His private life and letters are to be found in Mrs. Emma St. Clair Whitney's "Michael Hillegas and His Descendants." It is not within the scope of this volume to publish all the data, letters, etc., that we have in our possession; sufficient has been presented, we trust, to secure a public, historical and official recognition of our subject. An effort has been made to avoid as far as possible the repetition of data. -Michael Reed Minnich, Philadelphia, June, 1905.