In this letter to his nephew, George Dithridge describes how his great-great-grandfather William Dithridge, a Master Workman in flint glass, smuggled his glass recipes out of England. William Dithridge resolved to leave England in 1810 due to high import taxes on glass and the requirement that the import officer be present when opening a new pot of melted glass so that he could weigh the product. Only agricultural laborers could emigrate freely, so Dithridge disguised himself as a gardener and settled in Manhattan, where he worked for a glass house operated by Mr. Fisher. In 1812, he sent for his family, who had remained in England for financial reasons. Dithridge's wife, Elizabeth (Darby) Dithridge, sewed the family's flint glass recipes into a quilted petticoat and succeeded in smuggling them past the English customs agents. The family sailed for New York on the Euphrates, which was badly damaged by a storm at sea but survived to make port in New Bedford. The letter also includes a statement defending the account's authenticity and a note indicating that the information in the letter should be passed on to the Honorable W. J. McCleary, who is preparing a book on the early manufacturers of the United States.