"Black Sam" Fraunces as Steward of George Washington's Presidential Household

Samuel Fraunces. Manuscript Document Signed, with the text likely penned by presidential secretary Bartholomew Dandridge Jr., March 10, 1794, Philadelphia, PA. 1 p., 6 x 3 1/4 in. "10th March 1794 recd of Bw Dandridge one hundred & forty six dollars and thirty two cents to purchase sundries for the President's Household. 146 32/100 Saml Fraunces"Documents signed by Samuel Fraunces, the famous tavern keeper and steward of George Washington's presidential households in New York and Philadelphia, are exceptionally rare. During the British occupation of New York, Fraunces had been captured and impressed into the service of British officers. While doing so, he was able to help feed American captives, and was credited with providing information to American troops and preventing an assassination plot against Washington. Samuel Fraunces (ca. 1723-1795) arrived in New York City by 1755, possibly from the Caribbean.[1] He registered as a British subject and innkeeper, and received a tavern license in 1756. In 1762, he purchased the Oliver Delancey mansion at Pearl and Dock Streets, which became known as the Queen's Head Tavern, and ultimately Fraunces Tavern. In addition to a regular menu, the entrepreneurial Fraunces offered prix-fixe dinners, delivery of catered meals, and sale of preserves such as bottled soups, ketchup, pickled fruits and vegetables, oysters, jellies and marmalades.[2] In 1765, he rented it out and moved to Philadelphia, keeping a tavern there until 1768, when he returned to New York.In May of 1775, a month after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the British warship HMS Asia sailed into New York Harbor. On August 23, a group of patriots (including Alexander Hamilton and Hercules Mulligan) captured the cannons from the fort on The Battery. Fraunces Tavern was one of the buildings damaged by The Asia's responding bombardment. In 1783, Philip Freneau published a poem, "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."The 18th century use of "black" in a nickname was not uncommon, and doesn't necessarily reflect one's heritage. The question of "Black Sam's" heritage has been studied by W.E.B. Du Bois, biographer Kym S. Rice, and many more. Scholar and collector Charles Blockson found sources describing Fraunces as "Negro," "coloured," "Haitian Negro," "mulatto," and "fastidious old Negro." Cheryl Janifer Laroche, a historian who worked on the 2007 President's House excavation in Philadelphia, noted conflicting stories. Others found opinions, if not evidence, that "Black Sam" was white. The most visual of the evidence has been debunked. A painting of a very white man, acquired in 1913 by the Sons of the American Revolution in the State of New York, had been cataloged in the late 19th or very early 20th century as depicting Samuel Fraunces. However, in 2017, a German historian pointed out a painting in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen museum in Dresden that shows the same man. Only identified as "Cavalier," he is an associate of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia from 1740 to 1786. In any case, when the British captured New York City in September 1776, Fraunces fled to Elizabeth, New Jersey. He was captured in June 1778 and brought back to the City, where he was impressed to cook for General James Robertson and other British officers. Using that position, Fraunces aided American prisoners and fed information to the Continental Army during the British occupation.After the American victory at Yorktown, his tavern was the site of negotiations to evacuate British troops from New York. On December 4, 1783, Washington bid an emotional farewell to his officers at Fraunces' tavern.When Washington returned to New York to become the first President of the United States, Fraunces came out of retirement to serve as steward of the presidential household. He managed a staff of about twenty servants. (See website for full description).…