1. Peter probably had intended to go to Mount Vernon while GW stayed there from around 27 Sept. until 25 Oct. (see GW to the Fairfax County, Va., Court Justices, 28 Sept., and n.1; see also GW to William Pearce, 26 Oct., and n.1).

2. A resident of Georgetown, D.C., Peter had set out on 5 Oct. for Hope Park, the home in Fairfax County, Va., of David and Eleanor Calvert Custis Stuart—the stepfather and mother of his wife Martha Parke “Patsy” Custis Peter. Eleanor’s pregnancy-related illness occasioned Thomas’s visit to his in-laws’ estate (see Thomas Law to GW, 6 Oct., and n.3 to that document; see also GW to Bartholomew Dandridge, Jr., 14 Oct., and n.5; and David Stuart to GW, 18 Dec., and n.2).

3. When he stopped in Georgetown on 25 Sept. en route to Mount Vernon, GW left $100 “with Mr T. Peter to be given to the Sufferers by the fire at George Town” (Cash Memoranda, 1797–99 description begins “Cash + Entries & Memorandums,” 1 Sept. 1797–3 Dec. 1799. Manuscript in John Carter Brown Library, Providence. description ends ). GW’s arrival at Mount Vernon by 27 Sept. suggests that he probably left the Federal City soon after depositing the money with Peter. Peter’s refund of the unused portion of GW’s donation was recorded in GW’s cash accounts for 20 Oct., which documented the receipt of “90 out of the 100 dollars, left with Mr Thos Peter for the Sufferers by fire … he having disposed of only ten of them” (Cash Memoranda, 1797–99 description begins “Cash + Entries & Memorandums,” 1 Sept. 1797–3 Dec. 1799. Manuscript in John Carter Brown Library, Providence. description ends ; see also General Ledger C description begins General Ledger C, 1790–1799. Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown, N.J. description ends , 26).

The Washington Spy (Hagerstown, Md.) for 12 Oct. printed an item dated “GEORGE-TOWN, Sept. 27” which reported that a fire had broken out “last Sunday morning [25 Sept.] about sunrise … in High street.” The blaze “continued to rage” until around 10 A.M. and destroyed several houses. The article announced that “subscriptions are making for the relief of the sufferers.” According to some accounts, the fire destroyed ten to twelve stores, and at least one report assigned blame to “Negroes who sat up the night before playing cards” (Minerva, & Mercantile Evening Advertiser [New York], 30 Sept. 1796). Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia) for 1 Oct. 1796 named “Mess. George and Adam King” as “the principal sufferers” of the fire, and speculated as to its cause: “The fire broke out in one of Mr. King’s houses … it is said to be the neglect of a servant of Mr. King, who … left the candle in the stable.” The various newspaper reports suggest that the fire caused little to no bodily injury.

4. The marquis de Lafayette’s son, George Washington Motier Lafayette, and the young man’s tutor Felix Frestel (Frestal), accompanied GW to Mount Vernon during his current stay there (see GW to Pearce, 26 Oct.; Alexander Hamilton to GW, 9 April 1796; and Diaries description begins Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds. The Diaries of George Washington. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1976–79. description ends , 6:236–37).