To Benjamin Franklin from Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, 5 September 1781
From Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
ALS: American Philosophical Society
Phila. Sepr. 5th. 1781
Dear Sir
This Letter will be delivered to you by Coll. Dubuysson, an Officer of distinguished Merit and who has bled freely in the cause of America and wishes to return to it.2 I shall be obliged to you for your friendship and Attention to him.
Enclosed you have a Letter from me to your old friend & acquaintance Governer Sharpe,3 which I beg you will Seal and forward to him as soon as possible: His Interest is much concerned by the information it contains.
I have the honor to be with the highest Sentiments of esteem & respect. Dear Sir Your most Obedient Servant,
Dan. OF S Thos Jenifer
Addressed: His Excellency / Docr. Benjamin Franklin / Minister Plenipoteny at the Court of Verseilles / from the United States of America
2. Charles-François, chevalier (later vicomte) Dubuysson des Aix (1752–1786), badly wounded at the Battle of Camden, became a correspondent of BF’s upon his return to France. He was unable to rejoin the American army and eventually died in France of his wounds: Bodinier, Dictionnaire, p. 154.
3. BF appears to have first met Horatio Sharpe on April 22, 1755, at Ft. Frederick, Md., where they both were assisting Gen. Braddock: VI, 13–15; Lady Edgar, A Colonial Governor in Maryland: Horatio Sharpe and His Times 1753–1773 (London, New York, Bombay, 1912), p. 45. BF’s relationship with the governor seems to have been frequently rather cool: VIII, 162–8; IX, 391n; XI, 108n. Sharpe presently was in London: DAB.