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.

Doty, Lis (fl. 1880) to Em

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03523.10.192 Author/Creator: Doty, Lis (fl. 1880) Place Written: Holden, Missouri Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 18 May 1880 Pagination: 8 p. ; 20.3 x 12.5 cm. Order a Copy

Letter addressed "Dear Em." Details an overnight train trip from Cincinnati to Holden, Missouri. Reports on all the people she has seen and places she has been. Describes going to church and seeing "...four or five riding skirts hanging on the side of the church on nails..." Comments "...when a fellow asks a girl to go anyplace he expects her to take her own horse and saddle." Asks her to show the letter to the Maitland family.

Joseph Maitland enlisted on 8 August 1862 as a Private. He was mustered into "G" Co. OH 95th Infantry. He was mustered out 31 May 1865 at Memphis, Tennessee.

Doty, Lis, fl. 1880

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