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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.

Knox, Henry (1750-1806) to Lucy Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.05474 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry (1750-1806) Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 21 May 1792 Pagination: 5 p. ; 32.2 x 20.4 cm. Order a Copy

Writes that he has been in ill health again since he wrote her last, and explains how he has treated his ague. Wishes he had received a letter from her. Asks about the welfare of their children. Sends his love to Mrs. [Sarah Lyons] Flucker, his sister-in-law. Relates messages for each of his children: Lucy, Henry, Julia, and Washington. Asks to be remembered to various friends in the Boston area.

[draft] [partial]

[4] ... To my amiable and diffident daughter say that my love for her is unlimited -
To my son Henry - That his future prospects of life depend entirely upon his application at the present moment
That idleness and habits of dissipation of time contracted at his age prostrates him forever among the vicious and degraded of mankind
- Teach him [&] teach him the importance of candor and truth
- Could you part with him. I think a summers schooling at andover would be of infinite importance - ride and see the school - I have heard [5] much in its favor -

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Knox, Lucy Flucker, 1756-1824
Knox, Henry Jackson, 1780-1832
Knox, Lucy Flucker, 1776-1854
Beaumez, Sarah Lyons Flucker, fl. 1784-1801

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