George Washington Papers

To George Washington from Lamar, Hill, Bisset, & Company, 22 June 1785

From Lamar, Hill, Bisset, & Company

Madeira, 22d June 1785

Sir,

We have had an order by us from our Henry Hill of Philadelphia ever since November 1783, to ship you a Pipe of fine old Wine for your own use,1 by any good Vessel bound to Alexandria in Virginia; but none having from that period to the present offered, & being likewise without expectations of any casting up, beg to know if we may send it to Norfolk, where we have a very careful friend, (Doctor James Taylor) who from that place will forward it to you in the most eligible manner.2 We have the honor to be—Sir Your most obedient humble Servants

Lamar Hill Bisset & Co.

LS, DLC:GW.

GW began using the wine export company of Hill, Lamar, & Hill to ship him wine from Madeira in 1760 after his marriage to Martha Custis.

1Henry Hill (1732–1798), a merchant in Philadelphia and a director of the Bank of North America, was a partner in the Madeira firm of Lamar, Hill, Bisset, & Company. Henry Hill first corresponded with GW regarding wine from Madeira on 22 June 1773. At one time during the Revolution, in 1777, GW had his headquarters in Hill’s house.

2For GW’s receipt of the “Pipe of fine old Wine” and reference to further correspondence regarding it, see Lamar, Hill, Bisset, & Co. to GW, 20 Aug. 1785, n.1. James Taylor began practicing medicine in Norfolk in 1766 and had a long and distinguished career in that place.

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