My sanity might have been lost somewhere between the first and second page if not for my family. To my husband, Michael, if not for your inauguration as mayor of Yonkers. New York, this story may never have been discovered. Thank you for believing in me, encouraging me, and motivating me. It’s meant the world to me. To my writing and research assistants, otherwise known as my children, Michael, Alexandra, and Christopher, you are our everything. To the great bunch of relatives who read and read and offered suggestions and propped me up, and even found the title for this novel over Sunday dinner, my gratitude to the Calvi family, the Spano family, the Ragone family, and the Circosta family—thank you for your suggestions, your research, and your patience. I adored our readings by the bay and our laughs over wine and cheese.
To my dear friends Alexandrea Denis and Andrea Smyth, your joy is infectious—thank you for joining with me on this adventure and helping to bring this story to life. To the many, many others, including Josyane Colwell, Danielle Parker, Dana Tyler, Nancy Montag, and Michael Downs, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
To all of you in my hometown of Yonkers, New York, I am forever in your debt.
Resources
Custis, George Washington Parke, 1781–1857. Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1860.
Flick, Alexander Clarence, 1869–1942. Loyalism in New York During the American Revolution. New York: Columbia University Press, 1901.
Glasse, Hannah, 1708–1770. The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. London: Prospect Books, 1983.
Grose, Francis, 1731?–1791. A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. London: S. Hooper, 1785.
Hall, Edward Hagaman, 1858–1936. Philipse Manor Hall at Yonkers, N.Y.: The Site, the Building and Its Occupants. New York: American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, 1912.
Irving, Washington, 1783–1859. The Life of Washington. New York: John W. Lovell, 1855.
Jefferys, Charles W. (Charles William), 1869–1951, Gerhard Richard Lomer, and Allen Johnson. The Chronicles of America Series. Roosevelt, ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1919.
L. & V., “The Virginia-Centinel. No. X.” The Maryland Gazette, November, 25, 1756: 1. Print.
Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. “George Washington notebook as a Virginia colonel,” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1757. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/18d75990-8319-0132-56d7-58d385a7bbd0.
________. “Lawrence Washington letter to unknown person,” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1749. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/f13a2b90-e23d-0133-0b0f-00505686a51c.
Morris, Rogers. Letters to Mary Philipse Morris, 1775–1777, Morris Jumel Archives, New York.
Pargellis, Stanley McCrory, 1898–1968. Lord Loudoun in North America. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1933.
Parkman, Francis, 1788–1852. Montcalm and Wolfe. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1884.
Sargent, Winthrop, 1825–1870. The History of an Expedition Against Fort Du Quesne, In 1755: Under Major-General Edward Braddock. Philadelphia: For the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1856.
Sparks, Jared, 1789–1866. The Life of George Washington. New York: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1856.
Timothy Scandal Adjutant, “A Return of the State of Capt. Polly Philips’s Dependant Compny, with the Kill’d, Wounded, Deserted, and Discharg’d &c, during the Campaigns 1756 & 1756 (sic),” December 25, 1756, LO 6475, Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Washington, George, 1732–1799. The Journal of Major George Washington: Sent by the Hon. Robert Dinwiddie to the Commandant of the French Forces in Ohio. New York: Reprinted for J. Sabin, 1865.
________. The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 193144.
________. The Writings of George Washington: Being His Correspondence, Addresses, Messages, and Other Papers, Official and Private. Boston: Little, Brown, 1858.
________. Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation: A Paper Found Among the Early Writings of George Washington. Copied from the Original with Literal Exactness. Washington, D.C.: W. H. Morrison, 1888.
________. George Washington Papers, Series 1, Exercise Books, Diaries, and Surveys -99, Subseries 1A, Exercise Books -1747: School Copy Book, Volume 1. 1745. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/mgw1a.002/.
________. A.L.s.to [Sally Cary Fairfax]; Camp at Fort Cumberland, 12 Sep 1758., 1758. Susan Dwight Bliss autograph collection, MS Fr 167 (57). Houghton Library, Harvard College Library.
Washington, George, and William W. Abbot. The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, vol. 1–10. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1993.
Watson, John F., 1779–1860. Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the Olden Time: Being a Collection of Memoirs, Anecdotes, and Incidents of the City and Its Inhabitants, and of the … Inland Part of Pennsylvania from the Days of the Founders, 2d ed. Philadelphia: Penington, 1844–1843.
Whipple, Wayne, 1856–1942. The Story of Young George Washington. Philadelphia: H. Altemus, Co., 1918.
Wilson, Woodrow. “Colonel Washington.” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, no. 550, March 1896.
Further Reading
Aulnoy, Madame d’, 1650 or 1651–1705. The Fairy Tales of Madame D’Aulnoy. New ed., with additional illustrations. London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1898.
Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400. The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Clarendon Press, 1894–1900.
Dryden, John, 1631–1700. The Poems of John Dryden. London: Oxford University Press, 1935.
Hemstreet, Charles, b. 1866. The Story of Manhattan. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1901.
Hoyle, Edmond, 1672–1769. A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist: Containing the Laws of the Game, and Also Some Rules … Bath. For W. Webster, 1743.
Johnson, Samuel, 1709–1784. A Dictionary of the English Language: In Which the Words Are Deduced from Their Originals, and Illustrated in Their Different Significations by Examples from the Best Writers, to Which Are Prefixed, a History of the Language, and an English Grammar. London: Printed by W. Strahan, 1755.
Jones, Thomas, 1731–1792. History of New York During the Revolutionary War: And of the Leading Events in the Other Colonies at That Period. New York: Printed for the New-York Historical Society, 1879.
Kirkwood, Agnes E. Church and Sunday-school Work in Yonkers: Its Origin and Progress. New York: G. L. Shearer, 1889.
La Chapelle, Vincent. Le Cuisinier Moderne: Qui Apprend à Donner Toutes Sortes De Repas, en Gras & En Maigre, D’une Manière Plus Délicate Que Ce Qui en a été écrit Jusqu’à Présent: Divisé en Cinq Volumes, avec de Nouveaux Modéles de Vaiselle, & des Desseins de Table dans Le Grand Goût D’aujourd’hui, Gravez en Taille-douce, 2d ed., rev., corr. & augm. La Haye: V. La Chapelle, 1742.
Markham, Gervase, 1568?–1637. Markham’s Master-piece Revived: Containing All Knowledge Belonging to the Smith, Farrier, or Horse-leach, Touching the Curing All Diseases in Horses. London: Printed for John Wright and Thomas Passinger (12th printing), 1681.
Morris, Richard. Flora Conspicua. London: Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, 1826.
Tomlinson, Kellom, 1690–1753. The Art of Dancing explained by reading and figures whereby the manner of performing the steps is made easy by a new and familiar method. London: Printed for the author, 1735.
Thomson, James, 1700–1748. The Seasons: A Poem. Boston: Crosby and Nichols, 1862.
Winchilsea, Anne (Kingsmill) Finch, countess of, 1661–1720. [from old catalog]. The Poems of Anne, Countess of Winchilsea. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1903.
About the Author
MARY CALVI is a nine-time New York Emmy Award–winning journalist and television news anchor. She always wondered about the heiress who lived in the grand historic
manor in her hometown of Yonkers, New York. Curiosity propelled her to do her own research. Dear George, Dear Mary is based on what she uncovered. Calvi is also First Lady of the City of Yonkers, where she lives with her husband and three children.
Visit her online at www.marycalvi.com, or sign up for email updates here.
Twitter: @MaryCalviTV
Facebook: @MaryCalviTV
Instagram: @marycalvitv
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Note to the Reader
Epigraph
Part I: The Encounter
Chapter One: Guardian’s Wall
Chapter Two: George’s Journal
Chapter Three: Charming Miss Polly
Chapter Four: Miracle at Monongahela
Chapter Five: Gooch’s Kitchen
Chapter Six: The Hero Washington
Chapter Seven: The Pleasure Ball
Part II: The Courtship
Chapter Eight: An Heiress’s Prayer
Chapter Nine: The Interview
Chapter Ten: A Morning’s Light
Chapter Eleven: Poetry’s Intimacy
Chapter Twelve: The Winner’s Cup
Chapter Thirteen: A Hundred Eyes
Chapter Fourteen: World in Miniature
Chapter Fifteen: The Defiant One
Chapter Sixteen: He Cannot Tell a Lie
Chapter Seventeen: Bread and Butter Ball
Chapter Eighteen: Cromwell’s Head
Chapter Nineteen: A Soldier and a Lover
Part III: The Deception
Chapter Twenty: Friend or Fiend?
Chapter Twenty-One: Andromeda
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Invisible Enemy
Chapter Twenty-Three: Lord Loudoun’s Banquet
Chapter Twenty-Four: Doubtful Spring
Chapter Twenty-Five: Genu
Chapter Twenty-Six: State of Denial
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Games They Play
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Melancholy Things
Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Weakened State
Chapter Thirty: A Night’s Ride
Chapter Thirty-One: His Visit
Chapter Thirty-Two: The Prophecy
Chapter Thirty-Three: Awakening
Part IV: The Reprisal
Chapter Thirty-Four: Note to Self
Chapter Thirty-Six: A Traitor Among Us
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Cheval-de-frise
Chapter Thirty-Eight: By Order of George Washington
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Mary’s Mansion
Chapter Forty: Burn It Down
Chapter Forty-One: The Heart of Neutral Ground
Chapter Forty-Two: Let Freedom Ring
Acknowledgments
Resources
Further Reading
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
DEAR GEORGE, DEAR MARY. Copyright © 2019 by Mary Calvi. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Illustration on epigraph page: Philipse Manor Hall, unknown artist “D.R.” Probably New York, post-1783, ink wash on paper. Gift of La Duchesse de Talleyrand. Historic Hudson Valley, Pocantico Hills, New York (PM.65.866).
Cover design by Kerri Resnick
Cover photographs: couple © Rekha Arcangel/Arcangel; flowers © uduhunt/Shutterstock.com; soldiers © Stephen Mulcahey/Arcangel; letter © Theeradech Sanin/ Shutterstock.com; river © Andrei Medvedev/Alamy Stock Photo; letter © Scisetti Alfio/Shutterstock.com
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Calvi, Mary – author.
Title: Dear George, Dear Mary / Mary Calvi.
Description: First edition. | New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2019.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018037733 | ISBN 9781250162946 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250162939 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Washington, George, 1732–1799—Fiction. | Philipse, Mary, 1730–1825—Fiction. | GSAFD: Biographical fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3603.A44639 D43 2019 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018037733
eISBN 978120162939
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First Edition: February 2019