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.

Kennard, Joel S. (b. 1819) to William McBlair

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00722.20 Author/Creator: Kennard, Joel S. (b. 1819) Place Written: s.l. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 11 November 1857 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 25 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Sending a gift of liquor in hopes of good fortune. Kennard is setting off for the United States in command of the "W.G. Servis." For his own "better preservation" on the trip he sends McBlair a gift of several "cases of liquor." Written on board the barque "W.G. Servis," at the mouth of the "Kongo River."

Joel S. Kennard was a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, later served in the Confederate Navy.
William McBlair was a United States naval officer in command of the ship "Dale," responsible for catching illegal slave trading ships off the coast of Africa. Later served in the Confederate Navy.

Kennard, Joel S., 1819-?
McBlair, William, ?-1863

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