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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.

Lincoln, Benjamin (1733-1810) to Robert Morris

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.10185 Author/Creator: Lincoln, Benjamin (1733-1810) Place Written: West Point, New York Type: Manuscript letter Date: 12 November 1783 Pagination: 3 p. ; 35.7 x 23.4 cm. Order a Copy

Three sectioned-document written in the hand of Samuel Shaw. Marked as a copy. First part written by Lincoln to Morris concerning the allowance of pay for Henry Knox. Apparently "it was intended [Knox] should draw one hundred and fifty six dollars per month, to refund the expences of his table, in addition to his subsistence money." Wishes Morris will be able to give the paymaster "a sum sufficient to discharge the balance between what General Knox has monthly received and what has been received by the former commanding officers at the fort of West Point..." Contains Lincoln's copied signature. Second section of the document, on page three, records that a 30 October 1783 resolution of Congress grants $2,490 dollars in pay to Knox for his command at West Point from September 1782 to November 1783. Includes Knox's copied signature. Third section of the document, also on page three, is from Lincoln to John Pierce, paymaster general of the army of the United States. Lincoln instructs Pierce to pay Knox $2,490 based on Congress's resolution. Includes Lincoln's copied signature. Watermarked with three fleur-de-lis inside a crest and a crown.

Lincoln was a brigadier general, major general, and commander of all Massachusetts troops in the Boston area. After the British evacuation of Boston, Lincoln joined General George Washington in New York, commanding the right wing at the Battle of White Plains. Shortly after seeing action at Fort Independence, he was commissioned into the Continental Army as a major general. Morris was Superintendent of Finance of the United States and elected to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Washington appointed Morris Secretary of the Treasury in 1789, but Morris declined (suggesting instead Alexander Hamilton). He served as a United States Senator from 1789 to 1795. Pierce was the Paymaster General of the United States Army.

Lincoln, Benjamin, 1733-1810
Morris, Robert, 1734-1806
Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Pierce, John, ?-1788
Shaw, Samuel, 1754-1794

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