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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.

Knowlton, Henry C., 1828-1926 to [Harlow Higinbotham]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05244 Author/Creator: Knowlton, Henry C., 1828-1926 Place Written: Joliet, Illinois Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 26 September 1862 Pagination: 3 p. : Height: 24.7 cm, Width: 20 cm Order a Copy

Addressed only to "Dear Friend." Discusses mutual acquaintances and personal matters. His friend is in Clarksburg, West Virginia and he asks him "What sort of a place is Clarksburg?...Have you seen any guerillas yet!" Discusses the Emancipation Proclamation, "What do you think of Lincoln's 'emancipation proclamation?' To use Artemas Ward's elegant phraseology I think that it is 'hunky' every way." Mentions Stephen Douglas and states "I wish Douglas had lived, but he would rather be dead, than living, to see the degeneracy of some of his professed disciples." On letterhead of the Michigan Central Rail Road Company. Recipient's name is from an earlier description.

Knowlton, Henry C., 1838-1926
Higinbotham, Harlow, fl. 1862

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