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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.

North, William, 1755-1836 [Record of his family history and short biography]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02541.01 Author/Creator: North, William, 1755-1836 Place Written: New London, Connecticut Type: Autograph manuscript signed Date: 4 July 1817 Pagination: 5 p. : docket ; Height: 32 cm, Width: 20 cm Order a Copy

Written by North for one of his grandchildren. Speaks of his family that came from Ireland in 1720 and settled in eastern Massachusetts at Yarmouth. Mentions that his mother sold the estate they had when he was 10 or 12 years old after his father died. The narration is not chronological and North tells a variety of stories from a variety of generations. The first four pages are connected and deal with family history and there is a separate fifth page that is the start of a biography, which is incomplete.

North, William, 1755-1836

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