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.

Vanderbilt, Cornelius (1794-1877) Dr Cornelius Vanderbilt in account with Steamboat Bellona

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04699 Author/Creator: Vanderbilt, Cornelius (1794-1877) Place Written: [New York] Type: Autograph endorsement signed Date: 1 May 1821 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 31.7 x 40 cm. Order a Copy

A list of the charges incurred running the ship during February and April 1821. Signed by Vanderbilt, who was the ship's captain, and Gibbons, who owned the steamboat.

Cornelius Vanderbilt worked as a captain on one of Gibbons steamboats from 1818 until 1829, and later went on to become one of America's greatest railroad magnates.
Thomas Gibbons owned a number of steamboats that operated between New York and New Jersey. Gibbons challenged the right of another man, Ogden, to have a monopoly on these water lanes, and in 1824 he won his case in the Supreme Court. The case of Gibbons v. Ogden would later prove to be one of the most significant decisions the court ever made.

Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 1794-1877
Gibbons, Thomas, 1757-1826

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