Two of GW’s visitors were from the postal service. After 1764 British America was divided between a southern postal district, from the Carolinas to the West Indies, and a northern postal district, from Virginia to Canada. John Foxcroft, who shared direction of the northern postal district with Benjamin Franklin, was in direct charge of that district 1764–74 while Franklin was in England. John’s brother Thomas Foxcroft became postmaster of Philadelphia in 1766. This Mr. Foxcroft was probably John, who often traveled to Virginia on postal business. William Ramsay was postmaster at Alexandria at this time (see HARRISON [4] description begins Fairfax Harrison. “The Colonial Post Office in Virginia.” William and Mary Quarterly, 2d ser., 4 (1924): 73–92. description ends ; KONWISER description begins Harry M. Konwiser. Colonial and Revolutionary Posts: A History of the American Postal Systems; Colonial and Revolutionary Periods. Richmond, Va., 1931. description ends ; SMITH [1] description begins William Smith. “The Colonial Post-Office.” American Historical Review 21 (1915–16): 258–75. description ends ; LABAREE [3] description begins William B. Willcox et al., eds. The Papers of Benjamin Franklin. 42 vols. to date. New Haven, 1959–. description ends ).

Mr. Hoops was David Hoops, probably traveling from his home in Philadelphia to Hanover County where a married sister lived (GLAZEBROOK description begins Eugenia G. Glazebrook and Preston G. Glazebrook, comps. Virginia Migrations; Hanover County . . . . 1723–1850. 2 vols. Richmond, 1943–49. description ends , 2:xiii). He was a son of Adam Hoops (1709–1771), of Philadelphia, with whom GW had dealt when he was a commissary for the British troops during the 1758 campaign against Fort Duquesne (GW to John Forbes, 30 Dec. 1758, DLC:GW).