Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

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1859/11/17

Brown, John, 1800-1859

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas B. Musgrave re: imprisonment

"I do not feel myself the least degraded by my imprisonment, my chain, or the near prospect of the gallows. Men cannot imprison, or chain, or hang the soul." With engraving, photograph, and collateral paperwork. Per Lee Shepard, Asst. Director for Manuscript and Archives at the Virginia Historical Society, the recipient of John Brown's letter is Thomas B. Musgrave rather than "F.B." Musgrave. Shepard writes (May 2001) that Musgrave "is identified as the son of a New England merchant and industrialist with whom Brown had dealings earlier in his life."

GLC07638.01

1859/11/24

Taliaferro, William Booth, 1822-1898

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "My Darling Wife" re: doubting reported plan to rescue Brown

Written while guarding John Brown in prison.

GLC07638.02

1835/02/06

Travis, William B., fl. 1835

Autograph letter signed

Title: to David G. Burnet re: politics in Texas

"Austin has been admitted to Bail. Letters from him & Almonte say he will leave Mexico, intirely liberated, in a short time. The new election for governor, Lt. governor, and members of Congress, will take place here next Monday." Also mentions selling a slave: "I have sold my woman Matilda (the best one) for $700 in Brazoria."

GLC07639

1842 ca.

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885

Painting

Title: Landscape watercolor painted by Grant as cadet at West Point

Signed in right hand corner "U.H. Grant". Includes 4 items collateral paperwork.

GLC07641

1818/08/18

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Letter signed

Title: to Henry Sherburne re: Treaty with the Chickasaw Nation

"Funds have been transmitted you to carry into effect the treaty with the Chickasaw Nation of the 30th of December 1815, and also for the payment of the annuity due them under that treaty for 1817...." Sherburne, a Rhode Island native, was appointed Chicasaw agent in December 1817.

GLC07644

1770/05/02

Botetourt, Norborne B., fl. 1770

Document signed

Title: re: authorizing justices in Charlotte Co. to execute slaves for capital offenses

Authorizes justices in Charlotte County to execute slaves who commit capital offenses. With collateral newspaper article.

GLC07645

1861/09/17

Taylor, Walter Herron, 1838-1916

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sally Tompkins re: battle at Richmond Mountain

"[T]he expedition not wholly baren of good results. We captured all their pickets...the plan was well arranged (and that is all my Genl [Lee] had to do with it) but...the assault was not made."

GLC07646

1871/09/24

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891

Title: Engraving inscribed by Sherman

"If...you would take the trouble to examine the volume throughout, and to minute all the passages where your recollection or your notes would detect an error, it would confer a new and valuable obligation upon me...."

GLC07647

1770/03/23

Warren, Joseph, 1741-1775

Letter signed

Title: to George Grenville re: aftermath of Boston Massacre, troop presence in Boston

"It was so apparently incompatible with the Safety of the town for the troops to continue any longer in it, that His Majesty's Council were unanimous in their Advice to the Lieutenant Governor, that they should be removed to the Barracks at Castle Island." Also signed by James Bowdoin and Samuel Pemberton.

GLC07649

[1880 ca.]

Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908

Autograph manuscript signed

Title: Does a College Education Pay re: supporting college education

"The methods employed in any enterprise and occupation, have so changed within the last fifty years, that a necessity has risen for an advanced grade of intelligence and education."

GLC07650

1771/05/15

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Samuel Adams, et al. re: British policy & the potential loss of the colonies

"History shows that by these Steps great Empires have crumbled heretofore; and the late Transactions we have so much Cause to complain of, show that we are in the same Train, and that without a greater Share of Prudence and Wisdom than we seem on both Sides to be possessed of, we shall probably come to the Same Conclusion" Includes only last page of original letter, along with a collateral transcript of the remainder.

GLC07651

1841/01/26

Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Solomon G. Haven re: blasting Loco Focos, inauguration of W.H. Harrison

GLC07499

1829/12/08

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Document signed

Title: Patent to Oliver Teal for excavating earth underwater (c/s Van Buren)

"New and useful...machine for excavating earth under water, called Teal's invented metallic scraper." Countersigned by Martin Van Buren as Attorney General. With green ribbon and seal.

GLC07506

1808/12/30

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Dinsmore re: building bed at Monticello, with sketches

GLC07509

1810/01/17

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Barnes re: activities at Monticello

Also discusses Kosciuzko and Jefferson's financial situation. Written in Monticello

GLC07510

1865/08/28

Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875

Document signed

Title: Pardon of T.N. Dawkins, a South Carolina Confederate (c/s Seward)

Printed pardon for rebellion.

GLC07513

[1861/03/16]

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Autograph manuscript

Title: Reading manuscript of a presidential speech re: relations with Nicaragua

A manuscript written in large letters, welcoming Luis Molina, Minister of Nicaragua. Basler, Roy P. The Collected Works Of Abraham Lincoln. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), Vol. IV 1860 - 1861, p. 286

GLC07519.01

1919/05/20

Lincoln, Robert T., 1843-1926

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Isaac Markens re: enclosing a piece of Lincoln manuscript

"I am enclosing to you a piece of Lincoln mss which is not exciting but is characteristic. It was no doubt held in President Lincoln's hand when making the address to Mr. Molina..."

GLC07519.02

1862/09/05

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Letter signed

Title: to Ginery Twichell re: accepting hospital supplies for wounded soldiers

The supplies came from the Boston area. Accepted 2 weeks before Antietam. Basler, Roy P. The Collected Works Of Abraham Lincoln. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), Vol. V 1861 - 1862, p. 415 - 416.

GLC07520