Books and Manuscripts

Philad(elphia): March 19, 1786. One sheet folded to make four pages, 9 1/4 x 7 1/2 in. (235 x 190 mm). Autograph letter, signed by Clement Biddle as George Washington's business agent in Philadelphia, to Colonel Tench Tilghman, Washington's former aide-de-camp, concerning a delivery of goods sent by Biddle to Washington at Mount Vernon: "By Stage which went yesterday by way of New Castle & Charlestown for your place I sent a barrel for General Washington directed to your Care...I beg you to pay the freight & I will either remit you the amount or you may charge it to the General--Among other things it contains Grass Seed...I fear the General is in great want of it, therefore recommend that it be sent by the Land Stage with their next dispatch...getting it Speedily to hands..."; addressed on integral leaf by Biddle, docketed to same. Creasing from contemporary folds; small loss on integral leaf from when opened; scattered worming along left edge, but not affecting text.

Clement Biddle (1740-1814), of the eminent Philadelphia Biddle family, writes to Colonel Tench Tilghman (1744-1786) about a shipment of goods for their former commander General George Washington, directed to Tilghman's care in Baltimore. Biddle served with Washington during the American Revolution, raised a company of Quaker volunteers, the "Quaker Blues", served as Commissary General of Forage, and fought at Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine and Monmouth. Following the war he made his living as an importer, often serving as Washington's business agent in Philadelphia, and frequently sent goods of all kinds to his plantation at Mount Vernon. During the Revolution Tilghman was Washington's longest serving and most trusted aide-de-camp, and following the war sometimes acted as an intermediary between Biddle and Washington ensuring the safe delivery of various goods. Throughout the 1780s Tilghman suffered from chronic illness stemming from his service, and on April 18, 1786 died at the age of 42, less than a month following this letter. Writing to Tilghman's father after news of his son's death, Washington wrote that "no man enjoyed a greater share of my esteem, affection & confidence than Colo. Tilghman."