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.

Brown, John (1800-1859) to Mary Ann Brown

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02519 Author/Creator: Brown, John (1800-1859) Place Written: Springfield, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 16 April 1857 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 25 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Has "been more prospered within a very few days than I had before been," thanks to a $7,000 loan from George L. Stearns to be used towards a free Kansas. Hears "that one of 'Uncle Sam's Hounds was at Cleavland on my track;' and I have been hiding a little so as to let my track get cold." However has "no great fear of being caught" and says "I trust that God will send me back with Irons in rather than uppon my hands." Hopes to return home soon. Brown hid for a week in Boston to avoid the rumored United States Marshall.

Mary Ann Brown was John Brown's second wife.

Brown, John, 1800-1859
Brown, Mary Ann Day, 1816-1884

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