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.

Knox, Henry (1750-1806) to Alexander McDougall

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.02897 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry (1750-1806) Place Written: West Point, New York Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 1 January 1784 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 32.8 x 20.8 cm. Order a Copy

Knox informs General McDougall of the death of Doctor [Hagan], who worked at the West Point hospital. Hagan was entitled to join the Society of the Cincinnati, and left behind a wife and young son, who are unable to afford "subsistence or protection." Reports that the boy is at Albany, New York. Writes "I shall make no apology for this communication being convinced that you will think it a case in point in which the society ought to interest itself." Knox was alerted of the situation by Doctor David Townsend, a friend of the family of the deceased.

McDougall served as the first president of the New York Society of the Cincinnati. Knox was one of the Society's founders.

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
McDougall, Alexander, 1732-1786
Townsend, David, 1753-1829

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