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.

Mayo, Isaac (1791-1861) to John Branch

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04604.18 Author/Creator: Mayo, Isaac (1791-1861) Place Written: Off Cape Hayti, Saint Domingo Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 5 June 1830 Pagination: 4 p. : docket ; 25.3 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Written by Lieutenant Commander Mayo as commander of the U.S.S. Grampus, which was off the coast of Saint Domingo, to Branch as Secretary of the Navy. Better copy of GLC04606.17. Marked "No. 2" in docket.

The U.S.S. Grampus was involved in the Amistad incident in 1840. The ship was ordered by President Martin Van Buren to New Haven, Connecticut's harbor in January 1840 to smuggle the captive Africans back to the Spanish in Cuba. The ship did anchor in the harbor, but the plan was never implemented.

Mayo, Isaac, fl. 1823-1832

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