1. Martha was visiting the home of Thomas and Elizabeth Parke Custis Law. This was probably the home that Law built in 1796, which was located near the Capitol on New Jersey Avenue near its intersection with C Street, SE. Law also had owned a home at the northeast corner of Sixth and N streets, SW. (see Clark, Thomas Law description begins Allen C. Clark, Thomas Law: A Biographical Sketch. Washington, D.C., 1900. description ends , 25; see also Clark, Greenleaf and Law description begins Allen C. Clark. Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City. Washington, D.C., 1901. description ends , 250; and Diaries description begins Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds. The Diaries of George Washington. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1976–79. description ends , 6:238–39).

2. The letter to Martha Peter from Martha Washington has not been identified.

3. Martha’s sister, Elizabeth Parke Custis Law, gave birth to a baby girl on 19 Jan., whom she named Eliza.

In a letter to Elizabeth Bordley, dated 18 March 1797 from Mount Vernon, Eleanor Parke Custis described Eliza: “Sister Law is not well. her child is the prettiest, & sweetest infant I have ever seen—her mouth & nose are finely formed her skin remarkably fair, fine, & soft—her eyes large & dark—I think they will be hazle, her countenance very mild & sweetly interresting, & I think her disposition will be grave & sedate” (ViMtvL; see also Brady, Beautiful Nelly description begins Patricia Brady, ed. George Washington’s Beautiful Nelly: The Letters of Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis to Elizabeth Bordley Gibson, 1794–1851. Columbia, S.C., 1991. description ends , 30–33).

Eliza Law (1797–1822) married Lloyd Nicholas Rogers of Baltimore in 1817. Eliza’s obituary, printed in the Daily National Intelligencer (Washington, D.C.) for 14 Aug. 1822, reads in part: “Youth, beauty, accomplishment, and goodness, have suddenly descended to the grave.”

4. James Barry was Thomas Law’s trading partner and a Baltimore merchant. He had purchased lots in the Federal City, with rights to a wharf on the Eastern Branch at the foot of New Jersey Avenue. By 1797, Barry operated a store near his wharf, engaged in the purchase of flour, and had plans to build a ship (see GW to James Barry, 26 Oct. 1797, in Papers, Retirement Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series. 4 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1998–99. description ends , 1:428–29; see also Clark, “James Barry” description begins Allen C. Clark. “Captain James Barry.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society 42–43 (1940–41): 1–16. description ends ; and Bryan, National Capital description begins Wilhelmus Bogart Bryan. A History of the National Capital: From Its Foundation through the Period of the Adoption of the Organic Act. 2 vols. New York, 1914–16. description ends , 1:292).

5. With the backing of investors such as Law and John Nicholson, James Piercy built an eight-story sugar refinery for the manufacture of sugar loaves from West Indian sugar. Located near Barry’s wharf at the foot of New Jersey Avenue, on the southern half of square 744, which Piercy had mortgaged to Law, the “Sugar House” began operations in spring 1798, when Piercy presented GW with two loaves of sugar. GW bought sugar from Piercy in April 1799, but Piercy’s venture later failed (see Piercy to GW, 23 May 1798, in Papers, Retirement Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series. 4 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1998–99. description ends , 2:294; see also William Thornton to Law, 1 Aug. 1799, in Harris, William Thornton Papers description begins C. M. Harris, ed. Papers of William Thornton: Volume One, 1781-1802. Charlottesville, Va., 1995. description ends , 504–6; Arnebeck, Through a Fiery Trial description begins Bob Arnebeck. Through a Fiery Trial: Building Washington, 1790–1800. Lanham, Md., and London, 1991. description ends , 418; and General Ledger C description begins General Ledger C, 1790–1799. Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown, N.J. description ends , 52).

6. Interested in developing Federal City lots, Law initiated proposals in 1797 to construct a hotel, distillery, and brewery next to the U.S. Capitol. Having met with Englishman Edward Gilbert, Law probably instigated the proposal that Gilbert made in an undated letter to the D.C. commissioners, to erect a tavern near the Capitol in order to accommodate “Travellers” and all people “in the imploy” of the commissioners. In a letter dated 12 Aug. 1797, Gilbert advised the commissioners of Law and James Ray’s intention to “build two Houses, in addition to the Hotel.” Gilbert mentioned a “Friend in Baltimore” prepared to join him in “Erecting a Brewery & distilery,” though Law likely was behind that proposal as well (both letters in DNA, RG 42, Records of the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, Letters Received, 1791–1802; see also Arnebeck, Through a Fiery Trial description begins Bob Arnebeck. Through a Fiery Trial: Building Washington, 1790–1800. Lanham, Md., and London, 1991. description ends , 448). The above scheme for a distillery likely fell through since the Washington Brewery, opened by late 1796 and owned by Cornelius Coningham and James Greenleaf, was likely the only brewery in the Federal City for several years (see Bryan, National Capital description begins Wilhelmus Bogart Bryan. A History of the National Capital: From Its Foundation through the Period of the Adoption of the Organic Act. 2 vols. New York, 1914–16. description ends , 1:291–92, 525). For more on Law’s interest in improving the Federal City, see Law to GW, 4 and 8 February.

7. Martha Peter’s mother, Eleanor Calvert Custis Stuart, had been enduring a long confinement and illness (see David Stuart to GW, 18 Dec. 1796, and n.2 to that document).

8. The letter to Martha Peter from Martha Washington has not been identified.