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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.

Van Valkenburgh, Franklin Butler, 1835-1924 to Dr. W. H. Merritt

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00686.29 Author/Creator: Van Valkenburgh, Franklin Butler, 1835-1924 Place Written: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Type: Typed letter Date: July 3, 1909 Pagination: 2 p. : Height: 27.7 cm, Width: 21.3 cm Order a Copy

Written on stationary of the law office of Frank B. Van Valkenburgh. Written to Dr. Merritt, the Chairman of the Norwalk, Ohio Centennial Committee. He is flattered that he would receive an invitation to be present at the "Norwalk Home Coming Week Celebration." Says he remembers Norwalk as a "lovely village" where he sojourned as a printer 57 years before. Says he is not so much an "OLD SETTLER" as one of "the antiques" of the village. Says he would be proud to go since his grandfather, the Reverend David Higgins, settled there the year he (Frank) was born, but that circumstances will keep him from attending. Provides a short description of his time as a printer in Norwalk, including several humorous stories.

Van Valkenburgh, Franklin Butler, 1835-1924
Van Valkenburgh, Gerrit, fl. 1850-1905
Merritt, W. H., fl. 1909
Higgins, David, fl. 1909

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