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.

Wilkinson, James (1757-1825) to Henry Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.05321 Author/Creator: Wilkinson, James (1757-1825) Place Written: Cincinnati, Ohio Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 14 February 1792 Pagination: 3 p. : docket ; 32.3 x 19.6 cm. Order a Copy

Written from Fort Washington, present-day Cincinnati, Ohio. Marked "Private, Personal & Confidential." Tells Knox that "a most lawless outrage was committed by a party of the soldiers on the person of a civil magistrate in the village of Cincinnati on the 12th." Believes that the incident might have been fatal to 40 or 50 people, but for the intercession of Captain Haskill, who happened to be nearby. Explains what is apparently a struggle for jurisdiction between the civil authorities (represented by himself) and the military authorities (represented by a Major Leyton).

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Wilkinson, James, 1757-1825

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