Samuel Fraunces

Presumed portrait of Samuel Fraunces, unknown artist, circa 1770-1785, Fraunces Tavern Museum, New York City

Samuel Fraunces (circa 1722, West Indies – October 10, 1795, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American restaurateur and owner/operator of Fraunces Tavern in New York City. During the Revolutionary War, he provided for prisoners held during the seven-year British occupation of New York City, and may have been a spy for the American side. At the end of the war, it was at Fraunces Tavern that General George Washington said farewell to his officers. Fraunces later served as steward of Washington's presidential household in New York City (1789–1790) and Philadelphia (1791–1794).

Since the late-19th century, there has been a dispute about Fraunces's racial identity.[1] According to his 1983 biographer, Kym S. Rice: "During the Revolutionary era, Fraunces was commonly referred to as 'Black Sam.' Some have taken references such as these as an indication that Fraunces was a black man. ...[W]hat is known of his life indicates he was a white man."[2]:147–148 Various late-19th- and early-20th-century sources describe Fraunces as "Negro," "coloured," "Haitian Negro," "mulatto," "fastidious old Negro," and "swarthy," but most of these date from more than a century after his death.[3] As Rice wrote in her Documentary History of Fraunces Tavern: "Other than the appearance of the nickname, there are no known references where Fraunces was described as a black man" during his lifetime.[4]:27

Origins

It is believed that he was born in the West Indies about 1722.[note 1] There are claims that he was born in Jamaica,[5] and Haiti,[3] and a tradition that he lived in Barbados.[4]:25 Although his surname implies that he was of French extraction, there is no evidence that he spoke with a French accent. There is also no record of where he learned his skills as a cook, caterer, and restaurateur.[2]:125

Taverns

Fraunces Tavern (formerly the Oliver Delancey Mansion), Pearl & Dock Streets, New York City
New York in 1776, Fraunces's tavern was at the west end of Queen Street (now Pearl Street)

The first documentation of his presence in New York City was in February 1755, when he registered as a British subject and "Innholder".[6] The following year he was issued a tavern license,[7] but where he worked for the next two years is unidentified. From 1758 to 1762, he operated the Free Mason's Arms Tavern at Broadway & Queen Street.[4]:25[8]

In 1762 he mortgaged and rented out the Free Mason's Arms, and purchased the Oliver Delancey mansion at Pearl and Dock Streets.[9] He opened this as the Sign of Queen Charlotte Tavern, but within a year it was better known as the Queen's Head Tavern (possibly due to a painted sign with the queen's portrait).[10] In addition to the usual restaurant fare, Fraunces offered fixed-price dinners, catered meals delivered, and sold preserved items such as bottled soups, ketchup, nuts, pickled fruits and vegetables, oysters, jellies and marmalades.[11] Although it offered five lodging-rooms, the tavern was better known as a place for private meetings, parties and receptions, and card-playing.[4]:50–51

He rented out the Delancey mansion in 1765, and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, opening a Queen's Head Tavern on Front Street in that city, then moving to Water Street in 1766.[12] He returned to New York City in early 1768, selling the Free Mason's Arms and buying the Vaux-Hall Pleasure Garden, a restaurant and resort along the Hudson River. Built as a private villa, it offered large rooms and extensive grounds, and was the setting for summer concerts and other public entertainments. Fraunces modeled ten life-sized wax statues of historical figures, debuting them in garden setting in July.[13] He later exhibited seventy miniature wax figures from the Bible, and life-size wax statues of King George III and Queen Charlotte.[14] He operated Vaux-Hall for five summers, resuming operation of his tavern in the Delancey mansion in 1770,[15] and selling Vaux-Hall in 1773.[16]

Revolutionary War

Washington's Farewell to His Troops by Alonzo Chappel (1866)

A month after the April 19, 1775, Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, the British warship HMS Asia sailed into New York Harbor. Its presence was a constant threat to the city. On August 23, revolutionaries stole the cannons from the fort on The Battery, which prompted The Asia to bombard the city with cannon fire that night. There were no deaths, but injuries and damage to buildings, including Fraunces's tavern. Philip Freneau wrote a poem about the bombardment, "Hugh Gaines Life," that included the couplet: "At first we supposed it was only a sham. Till she drove a round ball through the roof of Black Sam."[17] The tavern was used for more than entertainment during the Revolutionary War. Fraunces rented out office space, and meetings of the New York Provincial Congress were held there. In April 1776, General Washington was present at a court-martial conducted at the tavern.[18]

Washington's headquarters, April 17 to August 27, 1776, was Richmond Hill, a villa two miles north of the tavern. Fraunces provided meals for the officers and staff, and later claimed to have discovered and foiled an assassination plot against Washington.[19] The supposed plotter, Thomas Hickey, one of Washington's life-guards, was court-martialed, and executed on June 28, although the formal charges against him were for counterfeiting.[20][note 2]

British troops captured lower Manhattan on September 15, 1776, and soon occupied all of what is now New York City. Fraunces and his family fled to New Jersey, but he was captured in June 1778, brought back to New York City, and impressed into working as a cook for a British general.[note 3] Fraunces claimed that he used this as an opportunity to smuggle food to American prisoners, giving them clothing and money, and helping them to escape. He also claimed to have passed information about the British occupation and troop movements to General Washington and others.[21]

General Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but British forces continued to occupy New York City. Peace negotiations were held at the DeWint House in Tappan, New York in May 1783, and Fraunces provided meals for General Washington, British General Sir Guy Carleton and their staffs.[22] His tavern was the meeting place for negotiations between American and British commissioners to end the 7-year occupation. A November 25 dinner at the tavern celebrated the British evacuation from New York City.[4]:78–79 At a December 4, 1783 dinner in the tavern's Long Room, Washington said an emotional farewell to his officers and made his famous toast: "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you: I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as you former ones have been glorious and honorable."[2]:128, 132

Petition to Congress

In a March 5, 1785 sworn petition to the U.S. Congress, Fraunces stated that the Revolutionary War had left him "on the precipice of Beggary." He sought compensation for his service to the country in foiling the assassination plot against Washington, providing intelligence on British troops, and supplying provisions to American prisoners: "That he [Samuel Fraunces] was the Person that first discovered the Conspiracy which was formed in the Year 1776 against the Life of his Excellency General Washington and that the Suspicions Which were Entertained of his agency in that Important Discovery accationed [sic, occasioned] a public Enquiry after he was made a Prisoner on which the want of positive Proof alone preserved his Life."[23]

Congress's response acknowledged his role as "instrumental in discovering and defeating" the assassination plot.[24] For debts incurred during the Revolutionary War, Congress awarded him £2000,[25] and a later payment covered accumulated interest.[26] The State of New York awarded him £200, and Congress paid $1,625 to lease his tavern for two years to house federal government offices.[27] Two weeks after the lease was signed, he sold the tavern and retired to Monmouth County, New Jersey.[4]:78–80

Presidential households

George Washington got to know Fraunces during the Revolutionary War. Their relationship was one of master and servant, but Washington clearly respected his judgment and repeatedly sought his recommendations on sundries such as glassware and china, and his advice on household management and hiring servants.[2]:131

Washington was Congress's unanimous choice to serve as the first President of the United States. He arrived in New York City on April 23, 1789, and took up residence at the Samuel Osgood House at Cherry & Franklin Streets. Fraunces came out of retirement to serve as steward of the presidential household, managing a staff of about 20, including 7 enslaved Africans from Mount Vernon. Washington was not entirely satisfied with Fraunces, dismissing him in February 1790 when the household moved to the Alexander Macomb House at 39-41 Broadway.[28]

Under the July 1790 Residence Act, the national capital moved to Philadelphia for a 10-year period while the permanent capital was under construction in the District of Columbia. Washington grew dissatisfied with the steward in Philadelphia, and persuaded Fraunces to come out of retirement again. The household staff at the Philadelphia President's House was slightly larger, about 24 servants, initially including 8 enslaved Africans from Mount Vernon. Fraunces headed it for three years, from June 1791 to June 1794.

Following his retirement, he operated a tavern on 2nd Street in Philadelphia for a year. In July 1795 he assumed proprietorship of the nearby Tun Tavern on Water Street.

Death

Fraunces died in Philadelphia a year after retiring from the presidential household. His obituary appeared in the October 13, 1795, Gazette of the United States: "DIED - On Saturday Evening last, MR. SAMUEL FRAUNCES, aged 73 years. By his death, Society has sustained the loss of an honest man, and the Poor a valuable friend."

He was buried in an unmarked grave at St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia.[1]

Family and slavery

Fraunces may have had a first wife named Mary Carlile. If so, she presumably died in New York City about 1756.[4]:25 He married Elizabeth Dally in New York City on November 30, 1757. They had seven children: Andrew Gautier Fraunces, Elizabeth Fraunces Thomason, Catherine Fraunces Smock, Sophia Fraunces Gomez, Sarah Fraunces Campbell, Samuel M. Fraunces, and Hannah Louisa Fraunces Kelly. Andrew G. Fraunces became a clerk in the Department of the Treasury, and published a pamphlet denouncing Alexander Hamilton for his financial dealings.[29] Some of the other children ran hotels or boardinghouses. Samuel M. Fraunces (d. 1799)[30] was named executor of his father's estate, and took over operation of the Tun Tavern.[31]

Fraunces employed servants and held slaves. In 1778, he advertised the sale of a 14-year-old male slave.[32] The 1790 United States Census listed him as a free white male, with four free white women and one slave in his household.[33]

Racial identity

Sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois, co-founder of the NAACP and first editor of its magazine The Crisis, tried to resolve the issue of Fraunces's racial identity. He found no conclusive evidence of Fraunces having been of African descent.[34] Mrs. John Fraunces McCurley, a genealogist and the widow of a Fraunces descendant, reached the same conclusion.[35] Biographer Kym S. Rice found no 18th-century references to Fraunces having been black. She noted his history as a slaveholder, and listed his memberships in groups (such as the Masons) that were restricted only to whites.[4]:27 Philadelphia local historian Charles Blockson has found sources that described Fraunces as "Negro," "coloured," "Haitian Negro," "mulatto," "fastidious old Negro," and "swarthy."[1][3][36] Cheryl Janifer Laroche, a historian who worked on the 2007 President's House excavation in Philadelphia, notes conflicting sources depicting his family as both mulatto and white.[36] In 1838, Samuel Cooper, a supposed witness to Washington's 1783 New York farewell to his officers, called Fraunces "a negro man."[37]

Jennifer Patton, Director of Education at the Fraunces Tavern Museum in New York City, writes that "The use of ' black' as a prefix to a nickname was not uncommon in the 18th century and did not necessarily indicate African heritage of an individual. For instance, Admiral Richard Lord Howe (1762- 1799), one of Britain’s best known and respected seamen – and a white man – was commonly called 'Black Dick,' a nickname his brother Sir William Howe gave to him as descriptive of the Admiral’s swarthy complexion."[38]

Patton concludes that, "The issue of Samuel Fraunces’ racial identity is still a passionate topic of discussion to this very day. As debate rallies on for conclusive evidence, the actual truth is that we may never know for sure."[38]

Phoebe Fraunces legend

Richmond Hill, Washington's headquarters in Manhattan, April August, 1776.

There is no documentary evidence that Samuel Fraunces had a daughter named "Phoebe." The name does not appear in the birth, baptism or death records of Christ Church, Philadelphia or Trinity Church, New York,[2]:130 and she is not listed in Fraunces's will among his seven children.[39]

The story that an unnamed daughter of Fraunces saved the life of George Washington was published by Benson J. Lossing in his Life of Washington (1860).[40] The actual name "Phoebe Fraunces" doesn't appeared in print until a retelling of Lossing's story in the January 1876 issue of Scribner's Monthly Magazine,[41] nearly 100 years after the supposed incident:

"A daughter of 'Black Sam,' Phoebe Fraunces, was Washington's housekeeper when he had his headquarters in New York in the spring of 1776, and was the means of defeating a conspiracy against his life. One part of the plan was the poisoning of the American commander. Its immediate agent was to be Thomas Hickey, a deserter from the British army, who had become a member of Washington's body guard. Fortunately the conspirator fell desperately in love with Phoebe Fraunces, and made her his confidant. She revealed the plot to her father, and at an opportune moment the dénouement came. Hickey was arrested and tried by court-martial. A few days afterward he was hanged..."[42]

This poisoning attempt (if it occurred) would have taken place in late June 1776 at Richmond Hill, Washington's headquarters in Manhattan. The housekeeper there was a widow named Mary Smith,[43] although there were other female servants. Samuel Fraunces's tavern was about two miles away, and provided catered meals for the general and his staff.

There are enormous problems with Lossing's story. He states that "Hickey and his associates of the guard, were arrested immediately after dinner, on the twenty-third."[44] But Hickey and Michael Lynch were already in prison, having been arrested eight days earlier on charges of "attempt[ing] to pass counterfeit Bills of Credit."[note 4] Lossing states that "The guardsman was tried by a court-martial, and on the testimony of the housekeeper and one of the corps, whom the culprit had unsuccessfully attempted to corrupt, he was found guilty of 'mutiny and sedition and of holding a treacherous correspondence with the enemies of the colonies' and was sentenced to be hanged."[46] But the minutes of Hickey's June 26 court-martial contain no testimony by the housekeeper.[47] Hickey seems to have blamed the housekeeper for his involvement in the conspiracy. The Army's General Orders on the day of Hickey's hanging contained a warning:

"June 28, 1776. The unhappy fate of Thomas Hickey, executed this day for mutiny, sedition, and treachery, the General hopes will be a warning to every soldier in the Army to avoid those crimes, and all others, so disgraceful to the character of a soldier, and pernicious to his country, whose pay he receives and bread he eats. And in order to avoid those crimes, the most certain method is to keep out of the temptation of them, and particularly to avoid lewd women, who, by the dying confession of this poor criminal, first led him into practices which ended in an untimely and ignominious death."[48]

Washington did order mass arrests of suspected Loyalists for the night of June 23-24.[49] Among these was his housekeeper, Mary Smith.[50] Released for lack of evidence, Smith later fled to England, where she received a £20 Loyalist pension from the British government for the rest of her life.[51] Samuel Fraunces also was arrested, and held until he was released for lack of evidence. In his 1785 petition to Congress, Fraunces swore that he had thwarted an assassination plot against Washington, but there was no mention of poisoning.[52]

On July 9,[53] 70-year-old widow Elizabeth Thompson became Washington's housekeeper at Richmond Hill.[54] Biographer Kym S. Rice suggests that confusion over Mrs. Thompson's name may have led to the story that Fraunces's daughter was Washington's housekeeper.[2]:149 Elizabeth, Fraunces's eldest daughter, was age ten at the time of Hickey's hanging,[55] but thirteen years later she married Atcheson Thompson and became another "Elizabeth Thompson."[56]

The Phoebe Fraunces legend was mostly forgotten until it was re-popularized another 100 years later by Phoebe the Spy, a 1977 children's book by Judith Berry Griffin.[57][note 5] The 13-year-old Phoebe character is Fraunces's daughter, and he tells her that he's overheard something about an assassination plot against Washington. She sees Hickey sprinkle something on the general's food, and throws a plate of poisoned peas out the window, where chickens eat them and fall down dead. Hickey is immediately arrested, and Fraunces and Phoebe receive a commendation from General Washington.[59]

Portraits

Sam Fraunces, circa-1900 engraving, based on a drawing attributed to John Trumbull (1756-1843)

Two images of Fraunces exist that may have been drawn from life. One is an oil on canvas portrait, likely painted between 1770 to 1785. It was donated to the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York in 1913, and has hung in Fraunces Tavern Museum since.[60]

A drawing attributed to the artist John Trumbull was in possession of a descendant in 1900.[4]:33–34 An engraving based on that drawing was published by Alice Morse Earle in her 1900 book Stagecoach and Tavern Days.[61]

A copy of the oil portrait was created in 2002 for the restaurant at Fraunces Tavern, and is viewable on Flickr.[62]

In popular culture

Legacy

Notes

  1. The year of his birth is computed from his October 13, 1795 obituary, which lists his age as 73.[2]:125
  2. Fraunces's 1785 petition to Congress is the primary source documenting an assassination plot against Washington and his generals. At least 4 contemporaneous sources corroborate it: Dr. Solomon Drowne to his sister Sally Drowne, New York, June 24, 1776; Dr. Solomon Drowne to his brother William Drowne, New York, July 13, 1776; both quoted in Henry Russell Drowne, A Sketch of Fraunces Tavern and Those Connected with Its History (New York: Fraunces Tavern, 1919), pp. 8, 10; Peter T. Curtenius to Richard Varick, New York, June 22, 1776, quoted in Robert Hughes, George Washington (New York: 1927), p. 392; and Joseph Hewes to Samuel Johnson, Philadelphia, July 8, 1776, in William Powell, ed., Correspondence of William Tryon 2 (1768-1818) (Raleigh, NC: 1981), p. 862. Significantly, Congress's investigation of Fraunces's petition did not question the existence of the assassination plot. "Report of the Committee on Samuel Fraunces," March 28, 1785, Papers of the Continental Congress, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
  3. There is an undocumented claim that Fraunces served in the Continental Army during this 2 years, but he did not mention military service in his 1785 petition to Congress.
  4. "New York Provincial Congress: Die Sabbati [Saturday], A.M. June 15, 1776. Ordered, That the said Micha Lynch and Thomas Hickey be committed to the Guard in the City-Hall, where Israel Youngs and others are now confined, and that copies of the Affidavits and Examinations related to that matter be delivered to his Excellency General Washington."[45]
  5. Note from Fraunces Tavern Museum: "A sweet book, but one needing some comments. Although the cover calls it a true story, Phoebe and the plate of poisoned peas never existed. Samuel Fraunces had five daughters, but none were named Phoebe. The story of Phoebe Fraunces apparently began in B.J. Lossing's Life of Washington (New York: 1860). Lossing claimed to have heard the story from an unnamed friend of Fraunces."[58]
  6. In an epilogue entitled "How Much of This Book Is True?" the Colliers write: "Samuel Fraunces is a particularly interesting character. He was generally called 'Black Sam' Fraunces during his lifetime, and it has been assumed by some historians that he was a black. However, our research indicates that he was in fact considered white, despite the nickname." (page 157).

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Booker, Bobbi (2009-03-22). "Racial identity of 'Black Sam' debated". Philadelphia Tribune. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Samuel Fraunces" (biographical sketch) in Rice, Kym S. (1983). Early American Taverns: For the Entertainment of Friends and Strangers. Chicago: Regnery Gateway. ISBN 978-0-89526-842-6.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Blockson, Charles L. "Black Samuel Fraunces Patriot, White House Steward and Restaurateur Par Excellence". Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Rice, Kym S. (1985). A Documentary History of Fraunces Tavern: The 18th Century. New York: Fraunces Tavern Museum.
  5. Cole, C. R. (2009). Samuel Fraunces: "Black Sam". Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 978-1-4363-9104-7. Cole argues that he was born in 1734, rather than 1722/23.
  6. February 5, 1755, "Roll/Register of freemen in the City of New York," reprinted in New-York Historical Society Publication Fund Series 18 (New York, 1866), p. 181.
  7. Tavern Keeper's License Book, 1756-66, (manuscript, New York Historical Society).
  8. The British Royal Gazette, July 15, 1780, Mason Arms on Queen St. Now Pearl St.
  9. Fraunces Tavern Historic Structures Report, (New York: Graduate School of Architecture and Planning, Columbia University, 1979), p. 12.
  10. The New York Gazette, April 4, 1763.
  11. Eugene P. McParland, "Colonial Taverns and Tavern Keepers of British New York," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record (July 1974), p. 158.
  12. Walter C. Brenner, A List of Philadelphia Inns and Taverns, (typescript, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1928)
  13. The New York Gazette and the Weekly Mercury, July 25, 1768.
  14. The New York Gazette and the Weekly Mercury, March 19, 1770; July 27, 1772.
  15. The New York Gazette and the Weekly Mercury, May 7, 1770.
  16. Rivington's New York Gazette, October 25, 1773.
  17. Freneau, Philip M. (1786). The Poems of Philip Freneau; Written Chiefly During the Late War. Philadelphia: Francis Bailey, at Yorick's Head, in Market Street. p. 321.
  18. John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington, Volume 4 (Washington, DC, 1931-39), p. 485.
  19. "Memorial of Samuel Fraunces," March 5, 1785, Papers of the Continental Congress, National Archives, Washington, DC.
  20. Henry Russell Drowne, A Sketch of Fraunces Tavern and Those Connected with Its History (New York: Fraunces Tavern, 1919), pp. 8, 10.
  21. "Memorial of Samuel Fraunces" (1785)
  22. "Samuel Fraunces," Dictionary of American Biography, Volume 8 (1937), p. 1.
  23. "Memorials Addressed to Congress, 1775-88," Papers of the Continental Congress, Record Group 360, M.247, Reel 49, National Archives, Washington, DC.
  24. "Report on Samuel Fraunces Memorial," printed in Journals of the Continental Congress, 28 (Washington, DC: 1933).
  25. "Report of the Committee on Samuel Fraunces," March 28, 1785. Papers of the Continental Congress, National Archives, Washington, DC.
  26. "Report of the Board of the Treasury," March 21, 1786. Papers of the Continental Congress, National Archives, Washington, DC.
  27. Indenture between Samuel Fraunces and Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, April 7, 1785. Papers of the Continental Congress, National Archives, Washington, DC.
  28. The incident that prompted Fraunces's dismissal involved his serving wine to the household staff, contrary to Washington's orders. G. Kurt Piehler, "Samuel Fraunces," American National Biography, Volume 8 (1999), p. 414.
  29. An appeal to the legislature of the United States, and to the citizens individually of the several states Against the conduct of the secretary of the Treasury. By Andrew G. Fraunces, citizen of the state of New-York, late in the Treasury of the United States. (1793)
  30. Estate of Samuel M. Fraunces, no. 265 (Book K, Page 12, 1799), Philadelphia City Archives.
  31. "All Persons indebted to the ESTATE of SAMUEL FRAUNCES, late of this City, INNKEEPER, deceased, are requested to make payments to the Subscribers... Samuel M. Fraunces, Acting Executor, South Water Street, No. 59." Gazette of the United States, October 28, 1795.
  32. The Royal Gazette, August 29, 1778.
  33. "Dock Ward, New York City," in Heads of Families at the First United States Census Taken in the Year 1790 - New York (Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1908), p. 117.
  34. W.E.B. Du Bois to F.E. Norman, The Papers of W.E.B. Du Bois, Correspondence (1954), reel 70, frame 937.
  35. Mrs. John Fraunces McCurley, "Samuel Fraunces in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (b. 1722 - d. October 10, 1795)" (1958) Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Copies at Fraunces Tavern Museum and New York Historical Society.
  36. 36.0 36.1 Robin Skeates; Carol McDavid; John Carman, eds. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of Public Archaeology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-161250-3. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  37. "Biographical Sketch of Captain Samuel Cooper". Southern Literary Messenger 4 (8): 522–523. August 1838. Retrieved 2013-12-28. Emphasis in original.
  38. 38.0 38.1 "Fraunces Tavern Museum, Pre-Visit Materials," p. 19.
  39. Philadelphia Register of Wills, Book X (ten), page 348, proven October 22, 1795.
  40. Benson J. Lossing, Life of Washington, (New York: Virtue & Company, 1860), vol, 2, pp. 176-77; vol. 3, p. 112.
  41. "Fraunces Tavern Museum, Pre-Visit Materials," p. 18.
  42. J. F. Mines, Scribner's Monthly Magazine, vol. 11, (New York), p. 311.
  43. George Washington to Col. James Clinton, 28 June 1776, from National Archives.
  44. Lossing, vol. 2, p. 175.
  45. American Archives, Series 4, vol. 6, p. 1406. p. 18.
  46. Lossing, vol. 2, p. 176.
  47. Hickey Court-martial Minutes
  48. American Archives, Series 4, vol. 6, p. 1148.
  49. American Archives, Series 4, vol. 6, p. 1054.
  50. "Yesterday [June 23] the general's housekeeper was taken up; it is said she is concerned." The Pennsylvania Journal, June 26, 1776. quoted in Frank Moore, Diary of the Revolution, Volume 1, (New York: Charles Scribner, 1960), p. 256.
  51. Revolutionary War Receipt Book, 1776 - 1780, Library of Congress.
  52. "Memorial of Samuel Fraunces" (1785).
  53. "New York. 9th July 1776. This day Mrs Thompson came to keep house for his Excellency General Washington " George Washington Papers, Series 5 Financial Papers, Revolutionary War Receipt Book, p. 2.
  54. "Elizabeth Thompson," Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington, from George Washington's Mount Vernon.
  55. Records of Christ Church, Philadelphia list Elizabeth Fraunces's birth as December 26, 1765, and her baptism as January 27, 1766.
  56. Trinity Church New York, Marriage Records, January 14, 1789.
  57. Phoebe the Spy from Amazon.com
  58. "Fraunces Tavern Museum, Pre-Visit Materials," p. 18.
  59. Phoebe the Spy: Plot summary, from Thriving Family.
  60. Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, Reports and Proceedings 1912-1913, page 30.
  61. The caption reads: "Sam Fraunces. From original drawing. Owned by Mrs. A. Livingston Mason, Newport, R.I." Alice Morse Earle, Stagecoach and Tavern Days (New York: MacMillan Company, 1900), p. 184.
  62. 2002 portrait from Flickr.
  63. Dinner for the General from imdb
  64. Washington's Farewell to His Generals
  65. The Collected Works of Langston Hughes: Gospel plays, operas, and later dramatic works. University of Missouri Press. 2004. p. 465. ISBN 978-0-8262-1477-5.
  66. Who Is Carrie? from Amazon.com
  67. Shades of War
  68. "Simon Schama Should Be Ashamed, & So Should the BBC."
  69. Wax miniatures from The Georgetowner, October 17, 2011.
  70. PA Historical Marker from Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.
  71. Dedication of the obelisk on YouTube.

External links