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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.

Middleton, Arthur, 1742-1787 to Lyman Hall

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04821 Author/Creator: Middleton, Arthur, 1742-1787 Place Written: Edgefield, South Carolina Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 1 March 1783 Pagination: 3 p. : docket ; Height: 22.5 cm, Width: 18.4 cm Order a Copy

Asks Hall to resolve a debate over ownership of a slave. Mr. Melvin purchased a slave that had belonged to Middleton but had been captured by the British. When Middleton encountered the slave he claimed it as his own, since it had been wrongfully stolen from him. Melvin appears to want full value in exchange for the slave, while Middleton believes he owes only a fraction of this. Paper border around letter. Written at Cedar Grove Plantation.

Middleton, Arthur, 1742-1787
Hall, Lyman, 1724-1790

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