In 1784, the Corporation of the City of New York elected to honor six military heroes of the Revolutionary War with gold boxes containing the Freedom of the City. This box—one of only two known to survive—was presented to Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben in October 1784. Steuben was born in Prussia and, after meeting Benjamin Franklin in Paris, joined the Continental army in 1777. He introduced sanitation standards and rigorous training techniques that improved the quality of army life, and he eventually became Major General and a confidant of George Washington’s. After the war, he set up home in New York with his former aide-de-camp, William North, and campaigned for the rights of immigrants; he also helped found the Society of the Cincinnati, the oldest patriotic organization in the United States. Each box was made by goldsmith Samuel Johnson and decorated by specialist engraver Peter Rushton Maverick. The boxes are the earliest-dated use of bright-cut engraving in the United States. The top features the seal of the City of New York while the underside bears Steuben’s name and the date of presentation. Steuben adopted North as his son so that he could inherit part of this estate, and in Steuben’s will he stipulated: “To the said William North I bequeath my silver-hilted sword, and the gold box given me by the city of New York.” North added his name below that of the Baron’s. North married and—the same year the Baron died—had a son he named after him. William Augustus Steuben North inherited the box and added his name below theirs. The box remained in the North family until 1929.