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: circa 22 June 1776 - August 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.
Francis Johnston was a colonel in the Fifth Pennsylvania.
Persifor Frazer was a lieutenant colonel in the Fifth Pennsylvania. A prisoner of the British from 11 September 1777 until his escape 17 March, 1778. Later rose to the rank of Brigadier General of the Pennsylvania Militia.
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