To Benjamin Franklin from Sidney Lee, 14 January 1783
From Sidney Lee4
ALS: American Philosophical Society
Newgate Street Chester January 14th. 1783.
Sr
I hope the enclosed will meet with your Excellency’s approbation, and that I am not guilty of an impropriety in requesting of you the favor of transmitting it to his Excellency General Washington. I am Sr with great respect your most obedient humble Servant
Sidney Lee
Addressed: His Excellency Benjamn Franklin
4. Sister and principal heir of Maj.-Gen. Charles Lee (XXII, 292), who had served in the American army, was court-martialed in 1778 and suspended, and died in Philadelphia on Oct. 2, 1782. The letter to Washington she enclosed, dated Jan. 14, asked for a copy of her brother’s will and advice on how she ought to proceed. Washington agreed to assist her: ANB; W. W. Abbot and Dorothy Twohig et al., eds., The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series (6 vols., Charlottesville, Va., and London, 1992–97), I, 115n. For Lee’s will and his sister’s disposition of her inheritance see The Lee Papers, 1754–1782 (4 vols.; New-York Hist. Soc. Collections, IV–VII, New York, 1872–75), IV, 29–33, 346.