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.

Dickinson, John (1732-1808) to George G. Meade re: estate legal opinion

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02471.11 Author/Creator: Dickinson, John (1732-1808) Place Written: s.l. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 1785/09/01 Pagination: 2 p. Order a Copy

Dickinson, a delegate from Pennsylvania and from Delaware, moved with his parents in 1740 to Dover, Del., where he studied under a private teacher; studied law in Philadelphia and at the Middle Temple in London; was admitted to the bar in 1757 and commenced practice in Philadelphia; member of the Assembly of "Lower Counties," as the State of Delaware was then called, in 1760; member of the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1762 and 1764; delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765; Member from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress 1774-1776 and from Delaware in 1779; brigadier general of Pennsylvania Militia; President of the State of Delaware in 1781; returned to Philadelphia and served as President of Pennsylvania 1782-1785; returned to Delaware; was a member of the Federal convention of 1787 which framed the Constitution and was one of the signers from Delaware. (excerpted from bioguide.congress.gov)
Signer of the U.S. Constitution.

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