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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.

Dresser, Amos, 1812-1904 to Hiram Wilson

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00867 Author/Creator: Dresser, Amos, 1812-1904 Place Written: Oberlin, Ohio Type: Autograph letter signed Date: July 24, 1839 Pagination: 1 p. : docket Height: 25 cm, Width: 20 cm Order a Copy

Dresser writes to Reverend Wilson who is expecting two enslaved people seeking emancipation in Canada through the underground railroad. He writes, "I rejoice in the privilege of handing over to you two more Daughters of affliction who can tell you their own tale of suffering. They are in pursuit of a home which I trust they will find in Queen Victoria's Dominions. The young girl is very quick... in almost any kind of business & with the right kind of training I hope may be brot to Christ & made useful in the world Perhaps you will want her in your family." He asks for the names of Underground Railroad contacts in Buffalo, New York, "to whom we can direct the wanderers as they may from time to time come along."

Dresser, Amos, 1812-1904
Wilson, Hiram, 1803-1864

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