Samuel Fraunces

Unknown Artist Sketch owned by descendant of Sam Fraunces

Unknown Artist Oil painting displayed at Fraunces Tavern Museum

Samuel Fraunces (circa 1722 – October 10, 1795, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American restaurateur and owner/operator of Fraunces Tavern in New York City. During the Revolutionary War, he provided for prisoners held during the seven-year British occupation of New York City and passes intelligence to the American side. At the end of the war, it was at Fraunces Tavern that General George Washington said farewell to his officers. Fraunces later served as steward of Washington's presidential household in New York City (1789–1790) and Philadelphia (1791–1794).

Portraits

The first known image of Fraunces is a sketch published by Alice Morse Earle in her 1900 book, Stagecoach and Tavern Days. Mrs. Arthur Livingston Mason, 1855-1906 (the former Edith B. Hartshorn Mason), was the great great grand daughter of Samuel Fraunces, and this was the image the family presented as Samuel Fraunces. Another painted portrait of Samuel Fraunces by an anonymous artist was exhibited at the Ehrich Galleries in Manhattan in June 1909. A painting was purchased at auction by Henry Russell Drowne, and that is noted in the 1913 minutes for the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York. The second image is an oil-on-canvas portrait exhibited at Fraunces Tavern Museum. The portrait was dated between 1770 and 1785 in a publication by Fraunces Tavern Museum. Authentication and lack of a collar on clothing both indicate that the painting "may be" from earlier than 1770. There, is a description of a Samuel Fraunces portrait found at the Fraunces Tavern Museum in 1936. Gilder's written description is as follows: "with his pleasant dark face and his brown eyes, curls, soft mouth and tapering fingers, and the beginnings of a double chin, looking as if he himself appreciated the good food and drink for which he was famous". The description does not match the portrait identified by Fraunces Tavern Museum as that which was purchased by Henry Russell Drowne, 1913.

Taverns & Business Ventures

Fraunces Tavern (formerly the Oliver Delancey Mansion), Pearl & Dock Streets, New York City

The first documentation of his presence in New York City was in February 1755, when he registered as a British subject and "Innholder" and Registered. The following year he was issued a tavern license.

He operated the Freemasons Arms Tavern at Broadway & Queen Street. The sign of Freemasons Arms was hung outside of what today is the Morris–Jumel Mansion, then described as west of Broadway on the great square. The advertisements placed for the Freemasons Arms were signed by Andrew Gautier. The eldest son of Samuel Fraunces was Andrew Gautier Fraunces, born in 1756, and named after Andrew Gautier. Andrew Gautier was the architect for St. Paul's Chapel built in 1766.

On 15 January 1762, Fraunces purchased the Oliver De Lancey mansion at Pearl and Dock Streets, offering five lodging-rooms, the tavern is remembered as a place for private meetings, parties and receptions. The tavern was used for more than entertainment during the Revolutionary War. Fraunces rented out office space, and meetings of the New York Provincial Congress were held there. He opened and advertised at the Sign of Princess/Queen Charlotte, also called the Queen's Head Tavern. In addition to the usual restaurant fare, Fraunces offered fixed-price dinners, catered meals delivered, and sold preserved items such as bottled soups, ketchup, nuts, pickled fruits and vegetables, oysters, jellies and marmalades.

He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, opening a Queen's Head Tavern on Water Street 1766. He returned to New York City in early 1768, operating the Vauxhall Gardens. Longworth's American Almanac, New York Register and City Directory, 1835, give the location of Vauxhall Garden as off Grande St., between Centre and Crosby, fronting on Broome St, and on Bayards Farm, and today about the location of a city bike path between Chrystie and Forsythe. Fraunces advertised an exhibit of ten life-sized wax statues of historical figures, debuting them in a garden setting in July. Life size figures were a specialty of artist Patience Lovel Wright, known for her work depicting Royals. A later exhibition included seventy miniature wax figures from the Bible, and life-size wax statues of King George III and Queen Charlotte. He operated Vaux-Hall for five summers, resuming operation of his tavern in the De Lancey mansion in 1770, and advertising the sale of Vaux-Hall in 1773. The dates and times of business for Fraunces are established with secondary sourced newspaper advertisements. There are rare instances when they are verifiable with a lease, deed or property transfer as primary document.

Revolutionary War

HMS Asia

Richmond Hill, Washington's headquarters in Manhattan, April – August, 1776.

New York in 1776, Fraunces's tavern was at the west end of Queen Street (now Pearl Street)

Washington's Farewell to His Troops by Alonzo Chappel (1866)

A month after the April 19, 1775, Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, the British warship HMS Asia sailed into New York Harbor. Its presence was a constant threat to the city. On August 23, revolutionaries including Alexander Hamilton and John Lamb stole the cannons from the fort on The Battery, which prompted The Asia to bombard the city with cannon fire that night. Philip Freneau wrote a poem about the bombardment, "Hugh Gaines Life," that included the couplet: "At first we supposed it was only a sham. Till she drove a round ball through the roof of Black Sam."

Washington arrived in NY 13 April 1776, making his headquarters on Pearl Street near the tavern at the William Smith house. William Smith was the brother of Joshua Hett Smith whose house became known as Treason House. Years later, Joshua Hett Smith was identified as a co-conspirator of Benedict Arnold. On 16 April 1776, General Washington was present at a court martial conducted at the tavern. The next day, 17 April 1776, Washington's headquarters moved to Richmond Hill. British troops captured lower Manhattan on September 15, 1776, and soon occupied all of what is now New York City. It was during this occupation that Fraunces assisted with aid to the American prisoners. He also passed information about the British. General Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but British forces continued to occupy New York City. Peace negotiations were held at the DeWint House in Tappan, New York in May 1783, and Fraunces provided meals for General Washington, British General Sir Guy Carleton and their staffs. His tavern was the meeting place for negotiations between American and British commissioners to end the 7-year occupation.

On 18 August 1783, George Washington wrote to Samuel Fraunces. His letter was in response to a congratulatory note Fraunces had sent Washington on the Peace. Washington recognized the time spent in NY captivity and signed as "your Humble Servant". The Book of Negroes was compiled at the Queens Head Tavern with hearings held every Wednesday April to September of 1783. On 25 November 1783 a tavern celebration of the British Evacuation from New York hosted by Governor George Clinton, featured 13 toasts.

On 4 December 1783, Samuel Fraunces wrote a very heartfelt message to Washington. He opened, "I cannot but with heartfelt anxiety think of your leaving". That night at a dinner in the tavern's Long Room, Washington gave an emotional farewell to his officers and made his famous toast: "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you: I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as you former ones have been glorious and honorable."

Samuel Fraunces is an accepted patriot for the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution assigned the # A041915. The service recognized is that of rendering aid to the prisoners. Descendants of Catherine Fraunces Smock have provided supporting documents in addition to the older lineages provided by the descendants of Andrew Gautier Fraunces.

Hard Times

In a March 5, 1785 sworn petition to the U.S. Congress, Fraunces stated that the Revolutionary War had left him "on the precipice of Beggary." He sought remuneration for "rendering appreciated services to the prisoners and furnishing helpful and important intelligence by means of which he expended a very considerable part of his property". The State of New York awarded him £200, and Congress paid $1,625 to lease his tavern for two years to house federal government offices. Samuel Fraunces was owed money from several places after the end of the war. Still struggling in his collection efforts he wrote to ask for help in collection from George Washington. There is evidence of action by Washington in a letter he penned to Alexander White, who was then handling the Lee estate. Washington referred to Fraunces as a friend to our cause.

Washington's households

Samuel Osgood House (New York City)

President's House in Philadelphia

George Washington and Samuel Fraunces exchanged correspondence in reference to Washington's household and also with regard to each other's families for over a decade. In 1783, there were three letters regarding the purchase of glassware and china, and the first was 12 September 1783. The letters were written between George Washington and Daniel Parker. Parker was directed to consult with Fraunces on the type of glassware. On 18 September 1783, Fraunces had acquired not only the glassware but the china also, and an inventory was given. On 4 December 1783, Samuel Fraunces wrote to George Washington and in the subscript was a mention of the Hector and Andromache figures. The gift was from Fraunces to Martha Washington, and it is housed at Tudor Place. In 2011, there began a conservation of the pieces. The conservators found a preserved piece of wallpaper that had been used to protect the box. Photo of the work is available at:The Decorative Arts Trust.

George Washington wrote to Samuel Fraunces on 7 September 1785 asking for his help in procuring a housekeeper. In the letter it is expressed that none would know the needs of his household better than Fraunces. Richard Burnet had served in this position. Elizabeth Thompson (not Phebe) had been his housekeeper for many years and was awarded payment in 1785, but she had retired years earlier. Washington was Congress's unanimous choice to serve as the first President of the United States. He arrived in New York City on 23 April 1789, and took up residence at the Samuel Osgood House at Cherry & Franklin Streets. for a time, Fraunces would serve as steward of the presidential household. By September of 1790, Mr. Hyde was the steward of the Washington family. On 12 September 1790, Tobias Lear and Washington began an exchange of letters from NY to Philadelphia in reference to the household expenses. They were making a comparison of the cost of households between Mr. Hyde and Fraunces. Mr. Hyde had succeeded Fraunces in NYC but had problems with the servants. The letters from Lear to Washington are numerous. By March 1791, Mr. Fraunces had been offered terms to return to the family. Fraunces, for personal reasons, did not reply with a positive response to the terms until 17 April 1791. Lear described to Washington that, because of delay, there were complications. Fraunces had not arrived as of 1 May 1791.

Fraunces was steward for the Washington Family in Philadelphia. By 1792, Fraunces purchased property on the south side of Filbert St., #719, Philadelphia, PA, from George Hunter. The location is three blocks away from the home of Robert Morris House where the Washington's lived. On 21 September 1792, Lear referred to Fraunces in the procurement of a carriage to return to Philadelphia. By August of 1793 there was a Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia. It was also at this time that Hamilton and Andrew Gautier Fraunces became embroiled in conflict. Fraunces remained during the Yellow Fever Epidemic and the Hamilton scandal. There was a break in correspondence and Washington was writing from Mt Vernon by 25 September 1793. There is no clear correspondence to indicate when Fraunces left the family of Washington.

Death

Following his 2nd separation from the presidential household, Fraunces once more operated a tavern on 2nd Street in Philadelphia. At the time of his death he was operating the Golden Tun Tavern on Water Street and it is listed in his estate records. In almost all descriptions of Fraunces he is noted as a "Dandy" dresser. At his death the value of his wardrobe exceeded the inventory of liquors as a Tavern owner, the color noted for fabric was green, and they listed 21 ruffled shirts and 14 cravats. Fraunces died in Philadelphia. His obituary appeared in the October 13, 1795, Gazette of the United States: "DIED - On Saturday Evening last, MR. SAMUEL FRAUNCES, aged 73 years. By his death, Society has sustained the loss of an honest man, and the Poor a valuable friend." He was buried in an unmarked grave at St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia.

Students depicting Sam Fraunces, who ran Fraunces Tavern in Manhattan, telling Jane Tuers of the village of Bergen that he overheard British soldiers toasting an American traitor named Arnold who was to deliver West Point. Tuers told her brother, Daniel Van Reypen, who in turn informed Generals Wayne and Washington

Family, Slavery and Racial Identity

Samuel Fraunces married Elizabeth Dally in New York City on November 30, 1757. They had seven children: Andrew Gautier Fraunces, Elizabeth Fraunces Thompson, Catherine Fraunces Smock, Sophia Fraunces Gomez, Sarah Fraunces Campbell, Samuel Fraunces, and Hannah Louisa Fraunces Kelly. Elizabeth Dalley was the sister of Gifford Dalley Doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives. Their son Andrew G. Fraunces became a clerk in the Department of the Treasury and published a pamphlet denouncing Alexander Hamilton for his financial dealings. Samuel Fraunces Jr. and Thomas Armstrong were guardians of Hannah. Samuel Fraunces Jr. was named executor of his father's estate. With regard to race genealogies show us that not all of Samuel's children passed as white all of the time. At marriage Samuel Jr. was Negro. Sophia and her children were enumerated as Negro while in NYC, Mulatto when they left for France and White when they returned to Louisiana. Elizabeth "Phebe" was noted as colored when she was buried.

In church records for the family of Fraunces, race is not noted most of the time. Most secondary sources reference his race as mulatto. One of the first printed references was in 1838, in which he was noted as "The agent mentioned by Lee, to whom Champe was introduced in the city of New York, and whose information was conveyed to him by cypher to the American general, was Sam Francis, a negro man, who kept a tavern in that city for some time prior to the battle of Long Island, and who remained there during the whole period of seven years, while the city was held by the enemy." This narrative is in reference to information passed to Jane Tuers in reference to Benedict Arnold. The moment was re-enacted in schools in Jersey City, NJ in 1910, and a picture survives. The Jane Tuers info is an example of one early secondary source in which Samuel Fraunces was identified and portrayed as a Negro into the 20th Century. In 1897, Katherine Schuyler Baxter referred to Sam Fraunces (who was a mulatto).

Some say since the late-19th century, there has been a dispute about Fraunces's racial identity. The racial identity of Fraunces appears to have changed between the 1909 publication of The Historical Guide to New York where in the Chronology of the Tavevern, Henry Russell Drowne is listed as contributor and Secretary of The Sons of the Revolution states: "15 January 1762 "Purchased by Samuel Fraunces, called "Black Sam" from his swarthy appearance, he being a West India Creole, Fraunces had been made a "freeman" of New York while innkeeper in 1755" and the Drowne booklet from 1913 where Fraunces has become "A man of French extraction from the West Indies". In spite of the new-found narrative assigned to Fraunces, many late 19th and 20th-century sources continued to describe Fraunces as "mulatto" (1916), "Negro" (1916), "coloured" (1930), "fastidious old Negro" (1934), and "Haitian Negro" (1962), these dates and descriptions were consistent from more than a century after his death.

There are two publications that are either co-authored by Kym S. Rice and Fraunces Tavern or written by Kym S. Rice and published by Fraunces Tavern containing these assertions: 1: "Durng the Revolutionary era, Fraunces was commonly referred to as "Black Sam". Some have taken references such as these as an indication that Fraunces was a Black man...What is known of his life indicates he was a white man." 2: "Other than the appearance of the nickname, there are no known refernces where Fraunces was described as a "black man" during his life. 3: Samuel Fraunces has a slave enumerated on the 1790 census at the tavern address. .

The tic mark under slave has always been "supposed" as Samuel Fraunces Jr. who did not marry until 5 October 1794. When he married Elizabeth "Betsy" Stevens at Trinity Church, his race was designated as Negro. Rice also listed his memberships in groups (such as the Masons) then states erroneously, membership was restricted to whites only. Who was Prince Hall?

Today, Jennifer Patton, Director of Education at the Fraunces Tavern Museum in New York City, owned by the SR, writes, 1: "The use of ' black' as a prefix to a nickname was not uncommon in the 18th century and did not necessarily indicate African heritage of an individual. For instance, Admiral Richard Lord Howe (1762- 1799), one of Britain’s best known and respected seamen – and a white man – was commonly called 'Black Dick,' a nickname his brother Sir William Howe gave to him as descriptive of the Admiral’s swarthy complexion." 2: "The issue of Samuel Fraunces’ racial identity is still a passionate topic of discussion to this very day. As debate rallies on for conclusive evidence, the actual truth is that we may never know for sure." 3: The actual name "Phoebe Fraunces" first appeared in print in a retelling of a Lossing story in the January 1876 issue of Scribner's Monthly Magazne, more than 99 years after the supposed incident. 4: Books titled Pheobe and the General and Pheobe and the spy are sweet, "but one needing some comments. Although the cover calls it a true story, Pheobe and the plate of poisoned peas never existed.

This is a reversal of opinion for Fraunces Tavern Museum since the 1919 Drowne booklet and comes more than 30 years after the publication of Pheobe and the General in 1977.

Rosemary Palermo has a more recent biography in 2016. It is her second version of Samuel Fraunces. In this work Palermo re-examines much of what is written about Fraunces in the context of genealogy. After reviewing the primary records available, her conclusion as a genealogist is that Fraunces must have been African in origins to have had children identified as Black and Colored.

Sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois, co-founder of the NAACP and first editor of its magazine The Crisis, wrote 1 October 1954; "Samuel Fraunces was born in 1722 in the West Indies, and came to New York before 1755. He was called Black Sam because of his swarthy skin which probably was a result of his Negro blood, although The Sons of the Revolution, who own the building where his restaurant was, prefer to think that his color was a result of suntan and not his Negro blood." Note that another co-founder of the NAACP was Florence Kelly, who herself was great grand daughter of Samuel Fraunces and friend of W.E.B. DuBois.

In recent years Charles Blockson has called attention to many of sources that described Fraunces as "Negro," "coloured," "Haitian Negro," "mulatto," "fastidious old Negro," and "swarthy. On June 26, 2010, in large part led and facilitated by Blockson, the family of Samuel Fraunces and Generations Unlimited honored Samuel Fraunces. St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, provided the opportunity to inscribe his information from church records on an obelisk in the churchyard. A few years after the obelisk was engraved, in 2013, Blockson published The President's House Revisited Behind the Scenes: the Samuel Fraunces Story, a book outlining the struggles in the dissemination of information for Samuel Fraunces and the opposition faced in his identification as African in origin.

Phoebe Fraunces legend

In 1919, Henry Russell Drowne published a version of the Phebe story for the SR. In his version Pheobe was the daughter of Samuel Fraunces, the lover of Thomas Hickey, the housekeeper of George Washington, and she had made an attempt on George Washington's life. He documents this with family letters signed by Solomon Drowne about the Hickey Hanging. Drowne was not the first to relay this tale of an attempt on Washington's life. In 1832, when George Washington would have been 100 years old, the poisoning story circulated, a surviving copy can be found in the Poughkeepsie Journal, 14 March 1832. It mentions George Washington's taste for peas. Fraunces prepared and did not serve them because two drummer boys sprinkled something on them. George Washington, his physician, and Samuel Fraunces determined the peas had been poisoned. A Mrs. Smith had enlisted the drummer boys. In this first version of the event there was no daughter.

The story grows layer upon layer until we reach the Drowne 1919, version. In 1858, when the Mineral Point Tribune Vol. XI No. 23 published a story of Washington and the peas, Thomas Hickey had been added, and he was the lover of an unnamed daughter of Fraunces. The story was also published in the Hornesville Tribune Vol. 7 No. 85, 22 July 1858, from NY. In 1859, a version of the peas and Hickey and Pheobe appears in the editors notes section of G.W. Parke Custis's memoirs. George Washington Parke Custis was born 20 April 1781 and died 10 October 1857. The editor included the tale but G.W.P. Custis was born after the event and died before publication.

Although in 1919, the Fraunces Tavern Museum clearly says that Phebe is the daughter of Samuel Fraunces. In the 1983 and 1985, publications with Rice they now say, "There is no documentary evidence that Samuel Fraunces had a daughter named "Phoebe." The name does not appear in the birth, baptism, or death records of Christ Church, Philadelphia, or Trinity Church, New York. She was not listed among his seven children in Fraunces's will."

Charles L. Blockson and others have repeatedly over the years stated that Elizabeth Fraunces was Phebe or Pheobe, named so affectionately to avoid confusion with the many Elizabeth's in the Daily/Dalley/D'Ali/Allee and Fraunces/Francis/Frances families. Elizabeth Fraunces is Phebe or Pheobe and at the time of the Hickey's June 1776, hanging, Sam/Samuel Fraunces eldest daughter was a 10-year-old child. she married Atcheson Thomson/Thompson and became another Elizabeth Thompson sharing a name with the former housekeeper of Washington. Pheobe Thomson/Thompson was buried 22 October 1836, at St John's burial ground NYC which is part of the Trinity Church group.

Children's books

Judith Berry Griffin's 1977, children's book, Phoebe the Spy.

Historian Christopher Collier and journalist James Lincoln Collier are the authors of 1984, Who Is Carrie?.

C.R. Cole, Ainsley Battles, and Breanna Dubbs 2016, Phebe and the Peas.

In popular culture

• Dinner for the General, a 1953 teleplay by Reginald Lawrence for Hallmark Hall of Fame, Season 2, Episode 2-26, aired on NBC, February 22, 1953—a teenaged Phoebe Fraunces falls desperately in love with Thomas Hickey and is horrified when she uncovers his plot to poison General Washington.
• Washington's Farewell to His Officers, a 1955 teleplay by Goodman Ace for You Are There, aired on CBS, February 27, 1955—Samuel Fraunces serves a banquet for General Washington and his officers at the end of the Revolutionary War.
• The Ballot and Me, a 1956 play by Langston Hughes, features a free-black Samuel Fraunces as a character.
• Beyond Harlem, History of Black New York Downtown, a 2005 teleplay by Dara Frazier for NYC Media.
• Shades of War, a 2006 off-Broadway play by Dara Frazier-Harper, portrays Samuel Fraunces as a free-black, ultra-rich, Michael Bloomberg-like character.
• Rough Crossings, a 2007 BBC video based on a book by Simon Schama, portrays both Samuel Fraunces and the "fictional" Phoebe Fraunces as free-blacks—it has been criticized for being inaccurate.
• The Book of Negroes, a 2007 novel by Lawrence Hill about the life of slaves during the American Revolution, portrays Samuel Fraunces as a free mulatto from Jamaica who runs his namesake tavern, participates in historical events, and later moves to Mount Vernon to run George Washington's household.
• Fraunces is portrayed by an African-American actor in a 2010 video at the President's House Memorial in Philadelphia.
• Black Entertainment Television presented a 2015 miniseries, The Book of Negroes, based on Hill's 2007 novel. African-American actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. portrayed Fraunces.

Legacy

• Fraunces Tavern, at Pearl & Dock Streets in New York City, is a national historic landmark and museum.
• Miniature wax figures modeled by Fraunces, a gift to Martha Washington, survive at Tudor Place, the Washington, DC home of her granddaughter.
• A Pennsylvania state historical marker at 2nd & Dock Streets in Philadelphia marks the location of the first tavern he operated after leaving Washington's presidential household.
• On June 26, 2010, the family of Samuel Fraunces, Charles Blockson and Generations Unlimited honored Samuel Fraunces when St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia provided the opportunity to inscribe his information from church records on an obelisk in the churchyard.

External links

• Samuel Fraunces, from Fraunces Tavern Museum.
• Early life of Samuel Fraunces, from Fraunces Tavern Museum.
• Samuel Fraunces (c. 1722–1795), from George Washington's Mount Vernon.
• Samuel Fraunces: Black Man or White Man? from ushistory.org.