1To Benjamin Franklin from F. Franklin Laboureau, 25 April 1778 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society This woman’s identity is tantalizing. She gives no substantial clues to whom she is. She mentions one man, and another two years later mentions her; but they are only names to us. After this letter she wrote Franklin two others that survive; each adds a bit of detail but leaves her story in shadow. One of January 22, 1781, repeats her request for an...