Samuel Magaw, James Hutchinson, Jonathan Williams, and John Vaughan to Abigail Adams, 26 February 1791
Samuel Magaw, James Hutchinson, Jonathan Williams, and John Vaughan to Abigail Adams
Philad. 26 Feby 1791—
Madam
Having been honored with the Vice Presidents consent to attend the Eulogium in Memory of Dr Benjamin Franklin. We in the name of the Philosophical Society, presume to hope you will do them the honor of your presence on the Same important occasion1
We have the honor to be / with the greatest respect / Madam / Your obedient Servants
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “Mrs Adams.—”
1. Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia on 17 April 1790. Nearly a year later, on 1 March 1791, JA and AA were in attendance when American Philosophical Society vice president William Smith delivered a eulogy before members of the society at Philadelphia’s German Lutheran Church: “From west to east, by land and on the wide ocean, to the utmost extents of the civilized globe, the tale hath been told—That the venerable Sage of Pennsylvania, the Patriot and Patriarch of America, is no more” ( ; William Smith, Eulogium on Benjamin Franklin, L.L.D., Phila., 1792, title page, p. 1; Philadelphia Freeman’s Journal, 9 March).
2. This word is written alongside the list of names preceded by a large brace. Samuel Magaw (1739–1812) was rector of St. Paul’s Church, Philadelphia, and vice provost of the University of Pennsylvania. James Hutchinson (1752–1793) was a physician and University of Pennsylvania professor of medicine ( ). For Jonathan Williams, see vol. 3:72; for John Vaughan, see , 3:226.