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.

Stoddert, Benjamin (1751-1813) to Henry Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.07292 Author/Creator: Stoddert, Benjamin (1751-1813) Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 5 August 1799 Pagination: 2 p. ; 25.7 x 20.2 cm Order a Copy

Stoddert, Secretary of the Navy, has received Knox's letter of 4 July 1799 by "Captain Nicholson." Stoddert assures Knox that he has no intention of "depriving him of his commission" and that President Adams would never "consent to injure any person to gratify popular clamor." Stoddert says Knox's son, Lieutenant Henry [Jackson] Knox, will be assigned to the "Constellation" under Captain [James] Barron. He thinks it would be most "advantageous...that he serve on board of a southern ship."

Stoddert, Benjamin, 1751-1813
Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Nicholson, James, 1737-1804
Knox, Henry Jackson, 1780-1832
Adams, John, 1735-1826
Barron, James, 1769-1851

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