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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.

Maslin, Thomas, 1808-1878 To the People of Hardy County.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00724 Author/Creator: Maslin, Thomas, 1808-1878 Place Written: Moorefield, West Virginia Type: Broadside Date: May 1861 Pagination: 2 p. : Height: 25.5 cm, Width: 21.2 cm Order a Copy

Created by Hardy County, Virginia, citizens and officials including S. H. Alexander, J. W. F. Allen, George Fisher, A. A. Inskeep, Samuel McMechen, George McNeill, John C. B. Mullin, A. H. Scott, Alfred Taylor, Joseph Vanmeter, William C. Vanmeter, F. B. Welton, and Edward Williams. Preceding the 23 May 1861 Virginia County state vote for secession, creators of this broadside inform residents: "You may not sympathize with the secession movement, yet we are in the midst of a Revolution, and the only true position of a Virginia patriot, is to cast his vote in such a mode as will secure the freedom of his State and her sons, and to avoid giving aid to Lincoln." Pencil notes are written in the margins and on the back of this broadside by Christian Cosner, a Union supporter. One such note reads: "The union must and shall be preserved."

Alexander, S.H., fl. 1845-1861
Allen, J.W.F., fl. 1860-1862
Cosner, Christian, 1819-1891
Fisher, George, fl. 1861
Inskeep, A. A., fl. 1861
Maslin, Thomas, 1808-1878
McMechen, Samuel, fl. 1861
McNeill, George W., fl. 1861
Mullin, John C.B., 1809 -1881
Scott, A. H., fl. 1861
Taylor, Alfred, fl. 1861
Vanmeter, Joseph, fl. 1861
Vanmeter, William C., fl. 1836-1861
Welton, F. B., fl. 1861
Williams, Edward, fl. 1861
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

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