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.

Schneck, B. S. (Benjamin Shroder) (1806-1874) to George Besore

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04743 Author/Creator: Schneck, B. S. (Benjamin Shroder) (1806-1874) Place Written: Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 29 January 1855 Pagination: 2 p. : envelope ; 24.5 x 19.6 cm. Order a Copy

Schneck asks for $300 to send a slave's wife and three children to Africa. The husband must also purchase his freedom for $1,500, but the Society is trying to raise money to assist in the transport itself. Written on behalf of the Colonization Society. Schneck describes "a family of Slaves in Jefferson Co. Virginia, whom the owner -- a widow Lady-- is willing to liberate for the purpose" of sending them to Africa. He writes that the lady "is much attached" to the man but "as he has expressed a wish to go to Liberia, she has generously offered him his freedom (without any remuneration) if he can raise the money to go -- besides she will clothe the family for one year hence."

Benjamin S. Schneck was a German Reformed Preacher and newspaper publisher.

Schneck, B. S. (Benjamin Shroder), 1806-1874
Besore, George, 1799-1871

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