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.

Waldo, Samuel (fl. 1793) to Henry Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.06000 Author/Creator: Waldo, Samuel (fl. 1793) Place Written: Portland, Maine Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 21 December 1793 Pagination: 2 p. : address ; 23 x 17 cm. Order a Copy

Wanted to transmit "The Brigadiers plan" in the mail, but it could not be folded small enough to be sent. Says the plan is on a coarse paper and is about 3.5 feet by 3 feet and "I conceive the plan by which a division was first made with the original proprietors - the patent is made to extend to a small point opposite Long Island, then back into the country 30 miles." Will send the plan to Boston, Massachusetts where it will be shipped by water. Postscript asks that Knox send his servant to John Fenno so he can get a subscription to the Gazette of the United States. "Free" handwritten on address leaf with no signature.

Waldo, Samuel, fl. 1793
Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

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