N. York 20th Jany. 1785.
Thanks his nephew for clothing that Shippen's tailor had made for him,1 and complains of some loss in the sale of his horses. "I have not yet got into my House,2 but I have hired a very spacious and elegant one, where I shall be very happy to see you & your worthy father. The people here are very hospitable and kind I assure you. If it is in my power to serve your friend Cutting,3 I will do it with much pleasure upon your knowledge and opinion of him."
Receiver's copy, Shippen Family Papers, Library of Congress. Lee, Letters (Ballagh), 2:324 - 25.
1 In a letter to Shippen of January 17, Lee had observed that "Mr. Barthold has by this time I suppose rigged me out in such a manner as to convert the old President into a young Beau. Very well, if for the good of my Country I must be a Beau, why I will be a Beau." Ibid., pp. 322 - 23.
2 In his January 17 letter Lee had also informed Shippen that he had "hired Mrs. Franklins house. It is a very elegant House, and provided with every accommodation." The house belonged to the widow of New York merchant Walter Franklin, Maria Bowen Franklin, who married Samuel Osgood the following spring. The Osgoods later rented the house to Washington when he became President. DAB.
3 See Lee to William Shippen, February 7, note 1.