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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.

Painter, Heber (1841-1900) to his sister

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02016.081 Author/Creator: Painter, Heber (1841-1900) Place Written: Richmond, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 13 April 1865 Pagination: 3 p. ; 25 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Comments that everyone thinks that the war is coming to a close. Likens main Street in Richmond to Chestnut Street in Philadelphia and observes that the people of the city are beginning to "come out of their holes and reconcile themselves to the new order of things." Is sorry and worried that his sister Kate is ill and waits for news from her. Reports that he went before the military Board of Examinations and passed his exam for promotion to First Lieutenant.

Before joining the service, Painter was a trained printer from Danville, Pennsylvania. He was mustered as a private into F Company of the 58th Pennsylvania infantry on 8 October 1861 and transferred to I Company on 1 March 1862. While in I Company, he was promoted to Sergeant and eventually mustered out on 21 January 1866 as First Lieutenant. Painter also held a post as Quartermaster's clerk, and performed freedman duties shortly after the war ended.

Painter, Heber, 1841-1900

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