Williams, Jonathan (1750-1814) to the Executors of Dr. Benjamin Franklin's Will
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.04758 Author/Creator: Williams, Jonathan (1750-1814) Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Manuscript letter Date: 27 October 1790 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; 32.4 x 20.1 cm. Order a Copy
In this contemporary copy of a letter from Franklin's grandnephew Williams to executors of Benjamin Franklin's will, Williams is trying to obtain books from Franklin's library as part of his inheritance: "Being still without your answer to my repeated applications for the legacy left me by the late Doctor Benjamin Franklin, consisting of that part of his library particularized in his catalogue under the head of medicine, surgery, &c... I am instructed to give you notice of my intended appeal to the Laws, that you may possess yourselves of the catalogue and the books I claim before it is too late." It is noted on the second page of the letter that the original was been handed to Mrs. Jay, wife of John Jay, Chief Justice of the United States on 3 November 1790. Copied by Constant Freeman, Jr., 3 November 1790 in New York, New York.
Williams, the son of Franklin's niece, was also a scientist, as well as a soldier and a merchant.
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