Tobias Lear

Tobias Lear (1762 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire – October 11, 1816 in Washington, D.C.) is best known as the personal secretary to President George Washington. Lear served Washington from 1784 until the former-President's death in 1799. Through Lear's journal, we receive the account of Washington's final moments and his last words: 'Tis well.

Tobias Lear also served as President Thomas Jefferson's envoy to Saint-Domingue, and as peace envoy in the Mediterranean during the First Barbary War and the Second Barbary War. He was responsible for negotiating a peace that ended the first Barbary War.

Lear was born on Hunking Street in the seaport town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on September 19, 1762, a fifth-generation American and the fifth generation of his family named Tobias. His parents were Tobias Lear (born August 1, 1737) (cousin of John Langdon) and Mary Stillson Lear (born May 25, 1739). His parents were married on December 29, 1757. The family home on Hunking Street, which still stands today, had been built in 1742 by the Stillson family. Lear had an older sister named Mary (Polly).

Before going to college, Lear attended Dummer Charity School (now known as The Governor's Academy) where Samuel Moody helped prepare Lear for college. Instead of joining the Continental Army, as many of his contemporaries did, Lear attended Harvard College, beginning in 1779, during the American Revolutionary War. He graduated with 30 classmates in 1783.

He began his career by being an apprentice until his uncle, Benjamin Lincoln, recommended him for the job of tutoring Martha Washington's grandchildren and to the post of George Washington's personal secretary, both to which he was hired in 1784. He was integrated into Washington's house and his post quickly evolved beyond clerk to being Washington's right-hand man, doing whatever Washington needed (i.e. tutoring, filling out expense reports, and writing letters.) He performed all his duties well.

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