Circa 1790 Social Letter from the Miss Bullitts to Mr. Stone, Port Tobacco — Entertainment Aboard the Potomack

Apparently January 25, 1790. 

An engaging early American manuscript social note from “the Miss Bullitts,” addressed on the reverse to “Mr. Stone, Portobacco,” Maryland.

Writing in the courteous third-person style of the period, the correspondents thank Stone for his “polite invitation” and express their intention to accept if convenient. They then describe an “elegant entertainment” held the previous Friday “on board the Potomack,” apparently a vessel. The concluding passage refers to completing the company’s festivities and appears to regret Stone’s absence, although paper loss obscures part of the wording.

The dateline appears to read “Viewmount, 25th Jan., 1790.” The precise location of Viewmount and the full identities of the correspondents remain unconfirmed.

An evocative glimpse of invitation etiquette, women’s correspondence, and social entertainment in the Potomac region during the early republic.

Condition: Significant paper losses, including a hole affecting the concluding text, additional small holes, edge losses, fold splits, creasing, and scattered staining. Much of the principal text and the address remain legible. Written in the third person, without a separate signature.