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.

Wadsworth, Jeremiah (1743-1804) to Henry Knox

High-resolution images are available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription. Or click here for more information. You may also order a pdf of the image from us here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.04021 Author/Creator: Wadsworth, Jeremiah (1743-1804) Place Written: Hartford, Connecticut Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 2 November 1788 Pagination: 2 p. : address : docket ; 22.8 x 18.9 cm. Order a Copy

Wadsworth comments on an escaped enslaved person or servant: "Mrs. Greene left us last Monday for Charleston Via N York on the night before she went away- her molatto man servant Ham left her & has been heard of on his way to Boston. she wishes to regain him he has been a favorite from his infancy & brot up un the family- as damed a rascal as [ever] was unhanged- & if I could now get him to Georgia she would sell him... I will have some body bring him away privately for I am told to do it publicly is impossible in Boston." Notes that his cousin, James Wadsworth, and other anti-Federalists have lost their influence in the [Connecticut] assembly. Says "The [antis] are making one more effort in ye Election of Assembly Men for the new Congress - but will fail!" Docket notes this letter was received and answered 5 November.

According to the American National Biography, Wadsworth was the executor of Nathanael Greene's estate after Greene's death in 1786.

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Wadsworth, Jeremiah, 1743-1804
Wadsworth, James, 1730-1817
Greene, Catharine Littlefield, 1755-1814

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources