To George Washington from Tobias Lear, 2 December 1796
From Tobias Lear
Washington [D.C.], December 2d 1796
My dear Sir,
Nothing but my absence from home (to which place I returned last Evening)1 could have prevented an immediate acknowledgement of your respected & kind favor of the 25th ultimo.
I am pleased to find, by Mr Van Vleck’s letter (of which you had the goodness to enclose me a copy) that my Maria can be admitted into the School at Bethleham;2 and the time which he mentions for her acception is more agreeable to me than the
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Fig. 1. Sketch of GW’s lands along the Ohio and Little Miami rivers. (Library of Congress) |
As Mr Van Vleck says he will endeavour to accommodate Maria in two or three months I presume if she is there by the first of April it will meet the arrangement of the School, and I can then take her there without her suffering the inconvenience of travelling in cold or bad weather; but it should be more agreeable to Mr Van Vleck to have her come on sooner I will take care she shall be there at any time he will fix.4 In the mean time I shall be glad to know the terms of her admission & continuance, as also in what manner she is to be provided with Clothing &c.
I should feel a greater reluctance than I do, my Dear Sir, in giving you all this trouble, did I not know that you will feel as much satisfaction in doing good for this poor little Orphan as I do in having it done. Her situation this winter will not, I trust, be unprofitable to her. I am much prepossessed in favor of Mrs Ball’s domestic arrangements respecting her Children, and a tutor in the family will be of great advantage to her. I am sure she will experience every kind & proper attention, and if a place can be procured for Colo. Ball’s daughter (who is a very fine girl about a year older than Maria) at Bethleham in the Spring, they are anxious she should go there also.5
I shall certainly attend to the circumstance which you mention respecting Mr S.’s security and give you due advice if there should appear any reasons for altering it. At present I should not require better.6
I left Maria & Colo. Ball’s family well on tuesday7—My mother and the little boys are in good health and unite in respectful & best wishes for yourself, Mrs Washington & the family with, My dear Sir, Your grateful & affectionate friend & servant
Tobias Lear.
ALS, DLC:GW. GW enclosed a copy of the present document with his letter to Jacob Van Vleck of 7 Dec. (see GW to Lear, 14 Dec., and n.1 to that document).
1. Lear had been visiting his Walnut Tree Farm, a tract on Clifton’s Neck (see Lear to GW, 20 Nov., and n.1).
2. GW had sent Lear a copy of Van Vleck’s 15 Nov. letter to him (see GW to Lear, 25 Nov., and n.1 to that document). Lear had been attempting to enroll his stepdaughter Anna Maria Washington in Van Vleck’s girls’ boarding school in Bethlehem, Pa. (see GW to Lear, 16 Nov., and n.2).
3. For Anna Maria’s illness, see Lear to GW, 20 Nov., and n.4 to that document.
4. Van Vleck eventually proposed that Anna Maria begin her studies at his school in late May (see Lear to GW, 17 Jan. 1797).
5. GW wrote Van Vleck on 7 Dec. about admitting Burgess Ball’s daughter Mildred Thornton Ball into his boarding school (see GW to Lear, 14 Dec., and n.1 to that document).
6. For Lear’s earlier advice respecting Alexander Smith’s debt, see Lear to GW, 20 November.
7. The previous Tuesday was 29 November.
8. The previous Sunday was 27 November.
Ice had rendered the Potomac River and other waterways on the eastern seaboard unnavigable. In January, ice continued to force the closure of the Eastern Branch and Georgetown’s harbor, which left ships stranded in the D.C. region (see Thomas Law to GW, 4 Feb. 1797; see also GW to James Anderson, 8 Jan. 1797, and Anderson to GW, 11 Jan. 1797).
9. See Lear to GW, 20 November. No letter enclosing the power of attorney has been found. The power pertained to stock in the Bank of Columbia. The shares were transferred to GW’s name on 18 July 1797 (see GW to Lear, 16 Nov., and n.1 to that document; see also GW to Samuel Hanson, 23 July 1797, in 1:267–68).