In depth

The Peregrine Fitzhugh Letters

1780–1807

Letters between Colonel Peregrine Fitzhugh, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, thought lost in an 1846 fire and found again in 2015.

Two printed 1792 tickets for 'Peregrine Fitzhugh's Property and Cash Lottery', numbered and signed

Colonel Peregrine Fitzhugh, an aide-de-camp to George Washington in the Revolutionary War, moved to Troupville, now Sodus Point, in 1803. His letters to and from Washington and Thomas Jefferson were thought lost when his widow’s house burned in 1846, until 2015, when a reference found by Rosa Fox led village historian Bruce Farrington to four letters with Washington and ten with Jefferson in their archives. Written between April 1780 and December 1807, they range from his exchange as a prisoner of war and a land-and-cash lottery he devised to pay his debts, to Cumberland corn seed sent to Jefferson and, in 1807, how poorly Troupville was defended.

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Peregrine Fitzhugh Letters (Introduction)

Letters & documents

Village historian Bruce Farrington introduces letters of Peregrine Fitzhugh, Washington's aide-de-camp who settled at Troupville in 1803, long believed lost in an 1846 fire.

Read in order: The Peregrine Fitzhugh letters 14

Washington to Fitzhugh (Letter 1)

Letters & documents

George Washington's April 5, 1780 letter informing Peregrine Fitzhugh, captured at the Baylor Massacre in 1778, that he was being paroled in exchange for British prisoners.

Fitzhugh to Washington (Letter 2)

Letters & documents

Peregrine Fitzhugh's April 24, 1781 letter thanking George Washington for his promotion and an offer to join Washington's headquarters staff, where he became an aide-de-camp.

Fitzhugh to Washington (Letter 4)

Letters & documents

A letter in which Peregrine Fitzhugh, fallen on hard times, asks George Washington to buy into a lottery of land and cash prizes to pay his…

Fitzhugh to Washington (Letter 3)

Letters & documents

Peregrine Fitzhugh's July 10, 1786 letter to George Washington, offering 20 to 30 ewe lambs from his father's Maryland estate for 12 shillings, 6 pence each.

Fitzhugh to Jefferson (Letter 1)

Letters & documents

Peregrine Fitzhugh's February 25, 1793 letter asking his friend Thomas Jefferson to buy into the land and cash lottery he devised to pay off his debts.

Fitzhugh to Jefferson (Letter 2)

Letters & documents

Peregrine Fitzhugh's March 25, 1797 letter to Thomas Jefferson, sending corn seed in hopes of French peas and voicing concern about James Madison's stance on treaty…

Jefferson to Fitzhugh (Letter 3)

Letters & documents

Thomas Jefferson's April 9, 1797 reply to Peregrine Fitzhugh, sending French peas in return for Cumberland corn seed and easing Fitzhugh's concerns about James Madison.

Fitzhugh to Jefferson (Letter 4)

Letters & documents

Peregrine Fitzhugh's May 19, 1797 letter to Thomas Jefferson about French peas and corn seed, James Madison's views on treaty-making and the war between England and…

Jefferson to Fitzhugh (Letter 5)

Letters & documents

Thomas Jefferson's June 4, 1797 reply to Peregrine Fitzhugh, thanking him for corn seed, weighing several newspapers and sharing worries about anti-French feeling in Congress.

Fitzhugh to Jefferson (Letter 6)

Letters & documents

Peregrine Fitzhugh's June 20, 1797 letter to Thomas Jefferson on staying neutral in the war between England and France, federal tax collection and the story of…

Fitzhugh to Jefferson (Letter 7)

Letters & documents

Peregrine Fitzhugh's September 15, 1797 letter to Thomas Jefferson and the public, denying a claim used to defame Jefferson over something he supposedly wrote about Adams.

Fitzhugh to Jefferson (Letter 8)

Letters & documents

Peregrine Fitzhugh's October 15, 1797 letter to Thomas Jefferson on the Yellow Creek Massacre, a misused Jefferson letter, events in France and a damaging drought.

Jefferson to Fitzhugh (Letter 9)

Letters & documents

Thomas Jefferson's February 23, 1798 letter to Peregrine Fitzhugh on politics, the war in Europe and the Constitution, closing with condolences on the death of Fitzhugh's…

Fitzhugh to Jefferson (Letter 10)

Letters & documents

Peregrine Fitzhugh's December 2, 1807 letter warning President Thomas Jefferson that poorly defended Troupville could be burned, and pleading for gunpowder, rifles and troops.

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