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.

Wallace, Lewis (1827-1905) to A. E. Allen

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC07740.01 Author/Creator: Wallace, Lewis (1827-1905) Place Written: Indianapolis, Indiana Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 3 March 1895 Pagination: 1 p. ; 31 x 25 cm. Order a Copy

Apologizes for the delay of the photograph. States that assassination trial was "perfect in every respect." Provides the name of the officers that tried the Lincoln conspirators. The list of names accompanies a photograph that has been pasted on a piece of board along with the letter (GLC07740.02). The letter is also accompanied by three newspaper clippings entitled: "Was Mary Surrat guilty?", "He might have hanged", and "Gen. Holt dead." A short biography on Lewis Wallace is pasted adjacent to the photograph.
The extent given is that of the board on which various pieces are pasted on.

At the close of the war he sat on the court-martial which tried the Lincoln conspirators and presided over that which sent Andersonville chief Henry Wirz to the gallows. In later years he was governor of the New Mexico Territory and a diplomat to Turkey. As a prolific writer, who often drew upon his own experiences, he is best remembered for Ben Hur.- A Tale of the Christ, one of the most popular novels of the nineteenth century. (McKee, Irving, "Ben Hur" Wallace, the Life of General Lew Wallace)

Wallace, Lewis, 1827-1905
Allen, A.E., fl. 1895
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Harris, Thomas Maley, 1817-1906
Hunter, David, 1802-1886
Kautz, August Valentine, 1828-1895
Ekin, James A., 1819-1891
Wallace, Lewis, 1827-1905
Bingham, John Armor, 1815-1900
Howe, Albion Parris, 1818-1897
Holt, Joseph, 1807-1894
Robert, Foster, 1834-1903
Tompkins, C.H., fl. 1865
Burnett, Henry L., 1838-1915

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