Thomas Jefferson Papers

Receipt from Vincent Ducomb, 13 November 1802

Receipt from Vincent Ducomb

philadelphia Novbre 13th 1802

Mrs Dallas

   Bougt of Vincent DuComb

2 Dressed wigs   $19—   $38—

 Recd the above in full

Vincent Ducomb

MS (DLC); in an unidentified hand, receipted and signed by Ducomb; endorsed by TJ: “Ducomb.”

mrs dallas: Arabella Maria Smith Dallas, the wife of prominent Philadelphia lawyer Alexander James Dallas and a close friend of the Gallatins and Madisons, was known for her lavish entertaining (Raymond Walters, Jr., Alexander James Dallas, Lawyer, Politician, Financier, 1759–1817 [Philadelphia, 1943], 111–13; James Robinson, The Philadelphia Directory, City and County Register, for 1803 [Philadelphia, 1802], 66; Mattern and Shulman, Dolley Madison description begins David B. Mattern and Holly C. Shulman, eds., The Selected Letters of Dolley Payne Madison, Charlottesville, 2003 description ends , 398).

vincent ducomb, a Philadelphia perfumer residing at 58 Walnut Street, was treasurer of the Mutual Assistance Society of Hair Dressers and Surgeon Barbers. In addition to Paris perfumes, he sold hair powder, braids, curls and ringlets, shoe polish, and cigars (Robinson, Philadelphia Directory for 1803, 76; Philadelphia General Advertiser, 18 Oct. 1791; Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser, 27 Sep. 1799; Philadelphia Gazette, 18 June 1801, 2 Feb. 1802; MB description begins James A. Bear, Jr., and Lucia C. Stanton, eds., Jefferson’s Memorandum Books: Accounts, with Legal Records and Miscellany, 1767-1826, Princeton, 1997, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Second Series description ends , 2:1145).

For the wigs TJ ordered for his daughters’ visit to Washington, see Martha Jefferson Randolph to TJ, 29 Oct.

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