To Thomas Jefferson from Lafayette, 16 March 1804
From Lafayette
La Grange 25th Ventose 16th March 1804
My dear friend
Give me leave to present to You M. L’Herbette a french Citizen of a Respectable family, Great personal Merit, and to Whose Worthy Uncle I am Under Obligations the Nearest to the Heart—I know this introduction will insure to Him Your Good Wishes and kind Patronage—With the Highest Regard and Most friendly Affection I am
Yours
Lafayette
RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received “by mr L’Herbette” on 16 July and so recorded in SJL. Dupl (Robert R. Crout, Charleston, South Carolina, 2010); with variations in wording; endorsed by TJ as received 6 Oct. 1808 and so recorded in SJL.
l’herbette: possibly John P. L’Herbette, an associate of John Jacob Astor and the recipient of a 7 Oct. 1808 patent for military knapsacks (Kenneth Wiggins Porter, John Jacob Astor: Business Man, 2 vols. [Cambridge, Mass., 1931], 1:57-9, 309-11; , 68; Baltimore American and Commercial Daily Advertiser, 18 Nov. 1808; New York Mercantile Advertiser, 3 Apr. 1809).