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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.

McSherry, Anna (b. 1833) to Henry F. McSherry

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03523.21.59 Author/Creator: McSherry, Anna (b. 1833) Place Written: Martinsburg, West Virginia Type: Autograph letter Date: 8 July 1866 Pagination: 4 p. ; 18.7 x 12.4 cm. Order a Copy

Written by Anna to her brother Henry. Says there has been hot weather lately and that their father is in good health. Says he has not answered whether he would like to take advantage of an investment opportunity in a house in Baltimore for 200 dollars. Their father has rented a nice house until 1 October. Says she is putting off all enjoyments until he gets home. Mentions that there are several cases of cholera in Baltimore. Continues the letter on 17 July 1866 -- Says she read in the Sun that the "Wyoming" (Henry's ship) was involved in a collision in Nagasaki, Japan and she hopes it is not serious. Says their father is taken with "the new inventions of gas and petroleum oil stoves, washing machines, clothes wringers and irons." Says they might all be in use in their home when he arrives home. Says today is just the kind of hot day she does not want to cook next to a fire. Says she is starting to believe in the power of these inventions after seeing what a sewing machine can do. Updates him on friends and family and a few marriages.

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