Our Collection

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.

Lyman, Cornelius (b. 1758) to John Bryant

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03432.083 Author/Creator: Lyman, Cornelius (b. 1758) Place Written: Erie, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 29-30 July 1798 Pagination: 3 p. : address ; 31.5 x 18.5 cm. Order a Copy

Lyman informs Captain Bryant that "my Dear Wife and your Sister," Sarah Mason, had died. Gives the details of Sarah's illness and death. She was pregnant and died of a fever not long after giving birth to a son that lived only a short time. Provides a long and melancholy account of the period surrounding her death. Describes his feelings over his loss and worries over how "mama in her advanced age" will bear the pain. The relation to Bryant was through his second-wife, Hannah Mason. Written from Presque Isle, which is now Erie, Pennsylvania.

Cornelius Lyman, brother of general and congressman William Lyman, was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
Captain John Bryant was the Deputy Commissary of Military Stores at the Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Lyman, Cornelius, b. 1758
Bryant, John, 1742-1816

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