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.

Hillegas, Michael (1729-1804) to Joseph Clarke

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01450.008.06 Author/Creator: Hillegas, Michael (1729-1804) Place Written: York Town, [Pennsylvania] Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 24 March 1778 Pagination: 1 p. + addr. + docket 30 x 18.5 cm Order a Copy

States that he is transmitting from the Treasury Board to Clarke Continental Loan Office certificates amounting to $521,000 escorted by Mr. Norton Brailsford and William Dodd. Reports that he sent $21,000 in certificates from Baltimore last summer when the Treasury Board was in Philadelphia, but they were returned so he is sending them again. Asks Clarke to give bearers duplicate receipts to bring back. Details amounts of each certificate and how they should be numbered. Docketed received 7 April 1778. The Continental Loan Offices administered loans to the Continental Treasury to help finance the war effort. Hillegas was the Treasurer of the United States. Clarke was the Commissioner of the Continental Loan Office in Rhode Island.

Hillegas, Michael, 1729-1804
Clarke, Joseph, 1719-1792

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