ALS signed “G:o Washin[gton],” one page, 7.5 x 8.75, January 20, 1784. Letter to General Williams in Baltimore. In full: “I have received, & thank you, for your favor of the 8th—the enclosed to Maj’r Davidson, containing an answer to the address from the Yankee Club of Stewartstown, requests him to forward to his Brother, the Chairman thereof.” Double-matted and framed with an engraved portrait to an overall size of 20.5 x 15.5, with a window on the reverse for viewing the address panel. Professionally restored, with intersecting folds (one vertical fold passing through the first letter of the signature and a horizontal fold passing through the bottom), a tear affecting the closing sentiment, and repaired paper loss to the left and right edges affecting his signature, with the last few letters absent and now filled in to create the appearance of a full signature, otherwise very good condition.
The Yankee Club of Stewartstown was an organization formed in County Tyrone, Ireland, to support the cause of the American Revolution. The initial recipient of this letter, Otho Holland Williams, had forwarded Washington the text of an address from the club, in which they congratulated him on the victory and wished him luck in the future. In his letter, Williams pointed out that ‘the County Tyrone has been remarkable for a spirit of patriotism ever since the commencement of the American revolution.’ The enclosed address from the Yankee Club of Stewartstown began with a similar statement, saying that ‘at an early period of the conflict in which you have been so gloriously engaged, our sentiments met those of the Americans, and though we long doubted the event, our warmest wishes were ever on the side of freedom.’ This statement was signed by the chairman of the club, Alexander Davidson, the brother of John Davidson. Washington wanted to thank the Yankee Club for their kind support, and so enclosed a letter with this response to Williams with instructions to forward it to Major Davidson, then stationed as a naval officer at Annapolis, so that he could send it to his brother in Ireland. A wonderful letter from Washington concerning his ideological compatriots overseas, the Irish still laboring under the yoke of the British crown. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA.
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