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.

Ewing, Philemon (1820-1896) to William T. Sherman

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03601.01 Author/Creator: Ewing, Philemon (1820-1896) Place Written: Lancaster, Ohio Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 31 July 1850 Pagination: 2 p. : address : docket ; 25.2 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Writes to Sherman in Washington D.C. about family matters. Wants Sherman to tell Ellen (Sherman's wife and Ewing's sister) that she cannot write too often. Mentions a nominee for Congress that he is confident will be elected, Col. Philadelph Van Trump, who was from Lancaster, Ohio. Addressed to "Dear Cump," Sherman's nickname. Docket in pencil, possibly added at a later date.

Sherman was adopted by Thomas Ewing, an Ohio Senator and U. S. Secretary of the Treasury, after Sherman's father died in 1829. Philemon, Charles and Hugh Ewing were Thomas Ewing's sons and grew up as Sherman's adoptive brothers.

Ewing, Philemon, 1820-1896
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891
Van Trump, Philadelph, 1810-1874

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