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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.

Brown, E. W. (fl. 1854) to John H. Stout

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC08507 Author/Creator: Brown, E. W. (fl. 1854) Place Written: Platte City, Missouri Type: Letter signed Date: 28 June 1854 Pagination: 3 p. : address : docket ; 31.5 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Writes to his brother. Mentions an outbreak of cholera, "Most of it however is found among emigrants some of the poor and dissipated of the towns also are suffering with it." Discusses the settlement of the Kansas and Nebraska territories, "The settlement of the Kansas & Nebraska territorys is taking place very rapidly. Great numbers of people are crossing over and selecting for themselves homes." Talks of the condition of the soil and land from Missouri to the coast in terms of cultivation. Thinks that a town nearby, Fort Leavenworth, will develop into a large city and mentions they might move there. Writes in a postscript that he just bought his wife a negro woman slave, "...we find negro servants much better than white ones. And as we had to have them we determined to buy rather than hire." Writes to Stout in Carrollton, Illinois.

Brown, E.W., fl. 1854
Stout, John H., fl. 1854

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