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.

Stoddert, Benjamin (1751-1813) to Samuel Smith

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00308.05 Author/Creator: Stoddert, Benjamin (1751-1813) Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 16 March 1799 Pagination: 2 p. : address : docket ; 26 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Discusses a treaty between Britain and Haitian general Toussaint Louverture. Mentions a ship bound for India, letting General [George] Washington know that he will be returning to New York. Also talks about spices. Letter seems to have been written in a hurry. Address leaf has a cut hole where the seal used to be on the center left above the address. Directly opposite is a mark and bit of wax from the seal. Also on the right is a column of numbers where someone did some calculations. Above the address in the upper left hand corner is a round stamp with PHI MR around the inside with 16 in the middle, which is perhaps a postal mark. The first page of the letter also has a round stain on the left side from the seal.

Stoddert was the first United States Secretary of the Navy and responsible for purchasing the land that would become Washington D.C.

Stoddert, Benjamin, 1751-1813
Louverture, Toussaint, 1743-1803
Washington, George, 1732-1799

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