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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.

McKean, Thomas, 1734-1817 [Privateer's license for William Van Duerson]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02542.18 Author/Creator: McKean, Thomas, 1734-1817 Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Printed document signed Date: 21 October 1781 Pagination: 2 p. : Height: 33.8 cm, Width: 41.8 cm Order a Copy

Partially printed document signed by McKean as President of Congress and countersigned by Charles Thomson as Secretary of the Continental Congress. Identifies Van Duerson as the commander of the brigantine Middletown owned by Chauncey Whittlesey. The verso has a signed statement by Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull providing a physical descriptions of Duerson and his lieutenant, William Spencer, given at Hartford, Connecticut. Includes a paper seal.

McKean, Thomas, 1734-1817
Thomson, Charles, 1729-1824
Trumbull, Jonathan, Sr., 1710-1785

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