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Johnston, Francis, 1749-1815 to Persifor Frazer

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01450.457.01 Author/Creator: Johnston, Francis, 1749-1815 Place Written: s.l. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 1776 Pagination: 1 p. : address ; 17 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Says he should have waited for Frazer in the morning, but was indisposed. Did not sleep well last night because David Matthews "a Capital Tory (no less than the present Lord Mayor of N York" was quite loud next door. He was accompanying Matthews as a prisoner to meet General Washington. Asks Frazer for a "duplicate of the general abstract for my use," and says he will meet him at Mr. Airey's. David Matthews was the Tory Mayor of New York from 1776 to 1783. He was implicated in a plot to murder or kidnap George Washington, and arrested by the Colonial Army on 22 June 1776. He quickly escaped, however, and when the British retook New York in August 1776, he returned to his post as mayor. This document must have been written sometime between his capture June and his return to office in August. Dated circa June 22, 1776 - August 1776.

Johnston, Francis, 1749-1815
Frazer, Persifor, 1736-1792
Matthews, David, fl. 1776-1783
Washington, George, 1732-1799

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