George Washington to Anne Louise DuBarry franked "President U.S." folded letter

Presidential free frank of US President George Washington (served 1789-1797) is endorsed, "President U.S." in a lower corner of the address panel. While president, Washington is not known to have signed his own name for franking mail.

The "free" rate mark in the address panel's upper corner was likely written by the postmaster in Alexandria, Virginia (on opposite corner: "Alex, Aug.t").

There are no contents within this wrapper, but the folded letter dates to 1796 based on letters between George Washington (1732-1799) and Anne Louise DuBarry (1775-1802) that are in other institution's collections. This folded letter is addressed to “Mrs. A. L. Dubarry, No. 56 Lombard Street, Philadelphia,” and President Washington intended the communication for Anne Louise (Beekman Chodkewitz) DuBarry. In 1794, she married her second husband, Jean Paul Marie Baptiste DuBarry (1764-1830), shortly after her marriage and death of her husband Count Louis Chodkewitz (1773-1793) in 1793. Her correspondence to Washington began after her marriage to DuBarry, and she requested that Washington assist her with obtaining a debt owed her late husband from Howell Lewis, a nephew of Washington. The matter concluded in August 1796 with the Lewis family arranging payment of the principal of one hundred dollars.

In the letter written by Anne Louise DuBarry to George Washington on July 28, she had followed up on her letter from the previous month and asked Washington on this matter “to favour me with a Line you will be pleased to Direct to No. 56 Lombart Street Phila.” The city of Philadelphia led the way in the United States for street numbering. A system devised by Clement Biddle for a 1791 city directory used a numbering system with odd numbers for the north and east sides of the street and even numbers for the south and west.

By Lynn Heidelbaugh, Curator, July 24, 2025

References:

“George Washington to George Lewis, 28 April 1796,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-20-02-0066. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 20, 1 April–21 September 1796, ed. David R. Hoth and William M. Ferraro. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019, pp. 78–81.]

Heath, Andrew. “Street Numbering.” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/street-numbering/. Accessed July 24, 2025.

Piazza, Daniel A., Lynn Heidelbaugh, and Alison R. Bazylinski. 2026. Routes to a Nation: The Post Office in the Colonies and Early United States. Edited by Susan N. Smith. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books.

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