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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.

Livingston, Robert, 1654-1728 Orders re: naming all officers and soldiers of Fort William Henry as freemen

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03107.00675 Author/Creator: Livingston, Robert, 1654-1728 Place Written: New York, New York Type: Manuscript document Date: 1702/05/27 Pagination: 1 p. : docket Height: 31 cm, Width: 19.8 cm Order a Copy

Due to regulations preventing all but free men from carrying on as tradesmen in the colonies, many soldiers and officers of his Majesty's Armies had deserted their posts due to want of food and clothing. In an effort to convey gratitude and maintain the town's protection from "the French of Canada and their Indians," the Council ordered that all soldiers and officers barracked at Fort William Henry be granted the status of free men, and all rights and priveleges which follow.

Livingston, Robert, 1654-1728

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