From Benjamin Franklin to John Dickinson, 3 September 1784
To John Dickinson
ALS: Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Passy, Sept. 3. 1784
Sir,
Mr Charles Helsted, whom his Majesty the King of Sueden has appointed Consul of that Nation, will have the Honour of presenting this Line to your Excellency.6 He is recommended to me by the Suedish Ambassador at this Court,7 as a Gentleman of great Merit: As such I beg leave to recommend him to your Civilities and Countenance. With sincere Esteem, I have the honour to be, Sir, Your Excellency’s most obedient & most humble Servant
B Franklin
Governor Dickinson
Addressed: To His Excelly. / Governor Dickinson.8 / Philadelphia
6. Charles Hellstedt, a principal in the London firm of Hellstedt and Minor, was one of two Swedish consuls appointed to the United States in September, 1783. Hellstedt was to serve in Philadelphia; Richard Söderström, a merchant who had been living in Boston since 1780, was made consul in that city. Why Hellstedt delayed his voyage by a year is not known. He was in Philadelphia by Dec. 3, 1784, when his commission was registered by Congress. Hellstedt returned to Sweden in 1793, greatly in debt: Leos Müller, Consuls, Corsairs, and Commerce: the Swedish Consular Service and Long-distance Shipping, 1720—1815 (Uppsala, 2004), pp. 182, 187, 188–9; JCC, XXVII, 659; Smith, Letters, XXII, 53, 54n, 122, 239.
7. Staël von Holstein.
8. The address, up to this point, is in L’Air de Lamotte’s hand. BF added “Philadelphia”.