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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02437.03388 |
| From Archive Folder | The Henry Knox Papers [0078] September-December 1786 |
| Title | Frederick Weissenfels to Henry Knox asking for help |
| Date | 22 December 1786 |
| Author | Weissenfels, Frederick (1738-1806) |
| Recipient | Knox, Henry |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Writes that when he last saw Knox, "at the Door of my present unhappy confinement," he asked for his intercession, and Knox told him that when the time arrived that he needed Knox's help, he should remind him. Believes the time is now, and that Knox can influence "sundry Gentlemen Especially his Excellency the Governor" in his favor. Writes, "I have suffered Eighteen Months imprisonment, under grievous and [necessitous?] Circumstances, reduced to Extream [sic] want in my self and family, nevertheless I Honor the Laws of my Country, neither have I any desingn [sic], to Exculpate my self from the imprudency I might have inadvertently Comitted [sic], at the Same time my Sensibility is in a lively agitation When I behold myself friendless and- Crushed under the Severest Censures, as if nothing Else but Desingn [sic], Extravagancy or Dissipation, were the occasion of my present Embarrassement [sic]." Recommends his eldest son, who bears the letter, to Knox's notice. |
| Subjects | Revolutionary War General Immigration and Migration Debt Law Prisoner Finance Government and Civics Poverty Children and Family Letter of Introduction or Recommendation |
| People | Weisenfels, Frederick, (d. 1806) Knox, Henry (1750-1806) |
| Theme | Law; Children & Family |
| Sub-collection | The Henry Knox Papers |
| Additional Information | Prussian-born Frederick Baron de Weissenfels emigrated to America in the 1760s. During the Revolutionary War, he served as lieutenant-colonel of the 3d New York battalion (1776), and afterward commanded the 2d New York battalion at White Plains, Trenton, the surrender of Burgoyne, and the battle of Monmouth. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859 |