From George Washington to Tobias Lear, 3 June 1796
To Tobias Lear
Philadelphia 3d of June 1796
My dear Sir,
Your letter of the 30th Ulto was received yesterday. As I expect (nothing new & unforeseen happening to prevent it) to commence my journey for Mount Vernon in ten or twelve days, I shall enter into no details respecting any of the matters touched upon in your letter of the above date.
The chief design of my writing to you by this Post, is to inform you that your good Mother, and lovely son, arrived in this City on Tuesday evening;1 and left it yesterday about ten oclock on their way to the Federal City. Mrs Lear is very well, & Lincoln as sprightly as ever; but both disappointed at not meeting you here.
It was with great difficulty a Carriage could be procured to take her on; for it so happened, that Congress closed their Session yesterday—that the members were struggling for, and bidding on each other for conveyances—and your Mothers anxious desire to get to you, would not permit her to wait. At length, after some unavailing attempts, Mr Craik succeeded in getting a Carriage & pair of horses, which I hope will take her safe down.
I will send sugar, and some other things from hence.2 We are all as well as usual, and join in best wishes for you. with sincere esteem & regard I am Your Affectionate
Go: Washington
P.S. A Mr Prescot attends Mrs Lear & Lincoln.3 And it is not unlikely, as the weather is cool, but that they may be with you as soon as this letter as the Post does not travel on Sunday.
I did not know until after the Post had left the City on Wednesday, that Mrs Lear was in it, or expected; or you should have been advised of the circumstance by the Mail of that day.
ALS, CSmH.
Lear replied to GW from Washington, D.C., on 6 June: “Your kind letter of the 3d instant has been duly received. I am happy to inform you that my honored Mother and dear boy reached this place in safety last evening. Words cannot express, my dear Sir, the gratitude which I feel for the repeated instances of your goodness to me. The kind attentions shewn by yourself and your good Mrs Washington to my mother & son have made a deep impression on my mind, and the reiterated marks of parental regard which I have experienced from you both puts it out of my power to make proper acknowledgements for them. May heaven bless you with the choicest of its favours!
“I am happy to find that we may so soon expect the satisfaction of seeing you in this quarter, where I hope you will experience a little repose from the arduous & anxious business in which you have been so long engaged.
“My mother informs me that she receivd one hundred dollars from you to defray her expenses &c. to this place. Expecting to meet me in New York she did not take with her more money than was necessary to carry her on there. This will be duly accounted for by me. My journey & detention up the Country prevented my going to New York to meet her.
“My dear little folks at Mount Vernon are in fine health. I shall get them up this week & Mr Prescott will take charge of them here.
“My mother desires that her best respects & most grateful acknowledgements may be presented to Mrs Washington & yourself—to which I add mine—and my best regards to my good friends with you.
“The wheat looks very fine. Your’s exceeds any in this part of the Country, and unless an accident happens to it now, the Crop will be great. With the most grateful & affectionate heart” (ALS, DLC:GW; see also n.3 below). GW recorded the $100 supplied Mary Stillson Lear as a loan in his cash accounts under 3 June (). He also recorded the sum in his account with Tobias Lear in .
1. The previous Tuesday was 31 May.
2. A payment of $46.64 for loaf sugar from Isaac & Edward Pennington, Philadelphia sugar refiners, was recorded in GW’s household accounts for this date.
3. The chaperone may have been Benjamin Prescott, who later advertised in the Alexandria Advertiser (Va.) for 25 Sept. 1797, and in subsequent issues of that newspaper, that during his absence in the West Indies he had authorized Lear to “transact his business.”