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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.

Swain, Julius Marshall (1835-1911) to Horace

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00653.10.06 Author/Creator: Swain, Julius Marshall (1835-1911) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 5 June 1863 Pagination: 4 p. ; 20.7 x 12.9 cm. Order a Copy

Written to his son Horace, from Georgetown, in Washington, D.C. Encourages him to study well and be good. Lists several maxims to live by, and encourages him not to smoke.

Swain was a telegrapher with the Massachusetts Signal Corps, 38th Regiment. He enlisted in 1862 as a second lieutenant, and was commissioned into the US Army Signal Corps in 1863, resigning in 1865. He was breveted first lieutenant and captain 13 March 1865. Swain considered joining the 54th Mass. (Colored) Regiment.

Swain, Julius Marshall, 1835-1911

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