Wednesday 2d. Thermometer at 21 in the morning—30 at Noon and 25 at Night. Clear Morning but variable afterwards—not much wind, but that Southerly & cold—at least raw.
Colo. Humphreys & Myself accompanied Mr. Paradise and his lady to Alexandria. Dined with Mr. Charles Lee and returned in the Evening—leavg. Mr. & Mrs. Paradise there.
On the ride home GW contracted “a very severe cold” and for the next week or more was plagued almost continually by a bad cough and “slow fevers” (GW to John Fitzgerald, 9 Jan. 1788, DLC:GW).