Browsing: Papers of John Adams, Volume 12

3. Peter Allaire, a New York merchant of Huguenot descent, was committed to the Bastille on 15 Feb. 1780. He was accused of attempting to poison Benjamin Franklin and of being a British spy. While the first allegation remains unproven, the second is certain. On 24 May 1780, Allaire was released and expelled from France (Claude-Anne Lopez, “The Man Who Frightened Franklin,” PMHB , 106:515–526 [Oct. 1982]).