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.

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868 to Elizabeth N. Kessler

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03523.52.05 Author/Creator: Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868 Place Written: Dearborn, Michigan Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 31 July 1863 Pagination: 4 p. : Height: 20.1 cm, Width: 25 cm Order a Copy

Writes to his sister from camp. Reports they buried a man yesterday who was killed in battle. They marched 30 miles to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Discusses visiting the Michigan Museum, the law department, and the medical department while in Ann Arbor. Notes seeing fleas, elephants, sea shells and animals, birds, a human skeleton, and various kinds of pictures. Request she sends him postage. Writes about a bad storm that brought lots of rain and hail. The letter has a watermark on the top left hand corner.

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868
Kessler, Elizabeth N., fl. 1863

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources