1From John Jay to James Jay, 4 January 1776 (Jay Papers)
Sir James Jay may have conducted a political correspondence in invisible ink that has not been found, as reported that Sir James may have first sent him some of his invisible ink as early as 1773 or 1774.
2Silas Deane to Robert Morris and the Committee of Secret Correspondence, 23 June 1776 (Franklin Papers)
at this point was apparently a communication in invisible ink, which is no longer decipherable; see Smith,
3From John Jay to Robert Morris, 15 September 1776 (Jay Papers)
). Addressed: “To Robert Morris Esqr a Member of the General Congress Philadelphia.” Endorsed. Enclosures: unidentified document explaining the use of invisible ink (not found); decipherment, not found, of an original letter in invisible ink from Deane to JJ. Morris was , despite his absence from Congress after May 1776, continued to receive and forward letters from Deane written in invisible ink.
4To John Jay from Robert Morris, 23 September 1776 (Jay Papers)
). Addressed: “To/John Jay Esqr.” Endorsed. Enclosure: portion of Silas Deane to Jay, 11–23 June 1776, incorporated in invisible ink within a letter ostensibly written by one M. Longueville to his brother in Philadelphia, addressed care of Robert Morris. For the background of the enclosure, see above,
5From John Jay to Robert Morris, 6 October 1776 (Jay Papers)
Decipherment of Text in Invisible Ink of Price Current and Continuation of Deane to Jay, for the Committee of Secret Correspondence, 11–23 June 1776.Deciphered from the invisible ink from the enclosure with the heading “From prices current.” Bendikson filled in some missing words from a transcript made by
6To John Jay from Silas Deane, 2 December 1776 (Jay Papers)
written in invisible ink and rendered visible by Bendikson through the use of ultraviolet light. The letter was hidden within , written under the pseudonym Thomas Johnson to an equally fictitious Thomas Smith and made available to Bendikson by Jay biographer Frank Monaghan in 1937. All but the words in brackets were rendered from the passage in invisible ink. The original
7To John Jay from Robert Morris, 4 February 1777 (Jay Papers)
...message was written in ordinary ink at the top of a sheet of paper while the apparently blank remainder of the page contained Deane’s letter to Morris of 17 Sept. 1776 written in invisible ink. In his letter to Morris, Deane advised that a shipment of clothing, powder, cannon, and ammunition would be sent from France in October; recommended that Congress give commissions to seize Portuguese...
8The American Commissioners to John Jay, 2 June 1777 (Franklin Papers)
below, June 8, and Jay’s comment here suggest that another and closely similar communication in invisible ink, now lost, followed six days later.
9To John Jay from the American Commissioners (Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane), 2 June 1777 (Jay Papers)
was no longer attending Congress, he continued to receive and forward correspondence, much of it originally in invisible ink, from Deane and Franklin to the Committee for Foreign Affairs, which had succeeded the Committee of Secret Correspondence.
10To Benjamin Franklin from the Chevalier de la Pleignière, 8 March 1778 (Franklin Papers)
On the 16th Pierre-Joseph-Hyacinthe, chevalier de Monts, writes from Vesoul in Franche-Comté. He encloses his secret method of making invisible ink; try it.
11To George Washington from John Jay, 19 November 1778 (Washington Papers)
...until the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, and was knighted by King George III in 1763 for his efforts in raising funds for King’s (Columbia) College of New York. Jay developed his invisible ink in 1775 and used it throughout the war in correspondence with his brother. He never disclosed the recipe, and although he exported small quantities to America for use in the Culper spy ring,...
12From John Jay to George Washington, 19 November 1778 (Jay Papers)
On the invisible ink developed by Sir James Jay, used previously in correspondence with Silas Deane, see
13To George Washington from Colonel Israel Shreve, 26 May 1779 (Washington Papers)
Shreve enclosed two seemingly innocuous letters from New York City that after “Roasting,” or running over a flame, revealed secret letters written in invisible ink. The first letter, addressed to one “Fred. Kisselman” of Philadelphia, reads: “having an Oppertunity, I thought propper to acquaint you that I am at present in perfect good health, and have no reason to be......in invisible ink from...
14From George Washington to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 13 June 1779 (Washington Papers)
GW is referring to invisible ink, which he sent in late July (see
15Enclosure: Samuel Culper to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 15 July 1779 (Washington Papers)
For Townsend’s first request for invisible ink, see Culper to John Bolton, “June 31” (probably intending 1 July), in n.2 of
16From George Washington to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 25 July 1779 (Washington Papers)
For background on this invisible ink, and its initial use, see
17To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 25 July 1779 (Washington Papers)
For the invisible ink, which GW sent on this date, see his
18Enclosure: Samuel Culper, Jr., to John Bolton, 29 July 1779 (Washington Papers)
, and n.2 to that document. Townsend acknowledged receipt of the invisible ink, which employed a stain, in a letter from Culper, Jr., to Bolton, 6 Aug. (
19II. Samuel Culper to John Bolton, 15 August (Washington Papers)
The “Ink” refers to invisible ink, or “stain” (see Culper, Jr., to Bolton, 29 July, enclosed in
20From George Washington to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 24 September 1779 (Washington Papers)
...Tallmadge, dated 11 Sept., was marked “No. 7,” suggesting that GW’s aide Tench Tilghman, who copied the letter, may have mistakenly transcribed “8” as “3.” The “stain” was a type of invisible ink. Woodhull, as Samuel Culper, probably enclosed this letter with his 19 Sept. letter to Tallmadge.
21Enclosure: Samuel Culper, Jr., to John Bolton, 29 October 1779 (Washington Papers)
Townsend is referring to invisible ink (see
22From George Washington to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 30 October 1779 (Washington Papers)
GW is referring to the chemical reagent for invisible ink (see
23To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 1 November 1779 (Washington Papers)
Tallmadge is referring to invisible ink and components (see
24To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 15 January 1780 (Washington Papers)
Woodhull mentioned a shortage of reagent for invisible ink in his letter to Tallmadge of 12 Dec. 1779. Even though Tallmadge was in winter quarters and the Culper letters meant for GW were not passing through his hands, Townsend and Woodhull continued to address their letters to...
25From George Washington to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 5 February 1780 (Washington Papers)
On the draft, GW wrote “Stain and counter-part of the stain” instead of the last three words. “Stain” and “counterpart” refer to invisible ink and reagent.By 9 April, GW had run out of this invisible ink, necessitating a letter to James Jay, who had developed the formula, to supply him with more of the liquid (see
26From George Washington to James Jay, 9 April 1780 (Washington Papers)
GW sought a new supply of invisible ink for espionage activities (see
27From George Washington to James Jay, 12 May 1780 (Washington Papers)
GW is referring to invisible ink for espionage activities.
28To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 22 July 1780 (Washington Papers)
The enclosed “blank Letter,” or letter written in invisible ink, from Culper, Jr., is filed in
29To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 28 August 1780 (Washington Papers)
Instead of this word on his copy, Tallmadge wrote “put on the Counterpart to read,” referring to the reagent for invisible ink.
30To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 4 October 1780 (Washington Papers)
. The enclosure from Samuel Culper, Jr. (Robert Townsend’s alias) was written in invisible ink and is now illegible (
31To George Washington from Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 23 October 1780 (Washington Papers)
The letter from Samuel Culper (Abraham Woodhull’s alias) requesting “stain” has not been identified. Tallmadge means invisible ink, which James Jay supplied and called medicine. Jay had written GW from Fishkill on 19 Sept.: “I am extremely sorry it has not been in my power to supply you sooner with the Medicine. The disagreeable situation...