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.

Van Nuys, John H. to Samuel Watson Van Nuys

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC07687.113 Author/Creator: Van Nuys, John H. Place Written: Franklin, Indiana Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 2 December 1861 Pagination: 4 p. : 2 envelopes ; 20 x 12.7 cm. Order a Copy

Discusses the fine yield of c orn for th year, religious services, and the clergy. He reports more than 100,000 Union troops in Kentucky, and the anticipation of a great battle. Expresses dissappointment to find his son in "a Briggaded whose General has distinguished himself only in catching runaway slaves and returning them to do their Rebbel Masters, a most contemptible little business for any white man to do."

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