Pierre Provenchere de Villiers, a former tutor of King Louis XVI’s nephew, Charles Ferdinand Bourbon, Duc de Berry, immigrated to Delaware with his widowed daughter shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolution. Early in 1808 he moved to Philadelphia. Berry urged him to return to France after the fall of Napoleon, but Provenchere apparently decided to remain with his American relations (Dorothy Garesché Holland, The Garesché, De Bauduy, and Des Chapelles Families: History and Genealogy [1963], 33, 61, 78–9, 124–5, 140; James Robinson, The Philadelphia Directory for 1809 [Philadelphia, 1809]; John A. Paxton, The Philadelphia Directory and Register for 1813 [Philadelphia, 1813]; James Wilkinson to TJ, 3 Apr. 1807 [DLC: Aaron Burr Papers]).

Augustin François Silvestre sent the inclosed letter for Provenchere, not found, with his letter to TJ of 20 Oct. 1809. Provenchere sent TJ a brief letter of thanks (signed “Provenchere pere” to distinguish himself from his son, Antoine Nicolas Pierre Provenchere) from Philadelphia on 17 Jan. 1810 (RC in MHi; at foot of first page: “Monsieur jefferson”; endorsed by TJ as received 24 Jan. 1810 and so recorded in SJL).