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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.

Crockett, David (1786-1836) to The Truth Teller

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00631 Author/Creator: Crockett, David (1786-1836) Place Written: Tennessee Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 20 July 1835 Pagination: 4 p. : docket ; 33 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

In letter to a Tennessee newspaper, denies that he accused Governor William Carroll of corruption, and defends Judge Heskill. Asks the paper to question Carroll about his relationship with Martin Van Buren. Written eight months before his death at the Alamo.

William Carroll was the Democratic Governor of Tennessee from 1823-1835. He and Andrew Jackson helped engineer Crockett's defeat in the 1835 congressional election, believing he posed an eventual threat to their Presidential hopeful, Martin Van Buren.
Judge Heskill may be the same as a Judge Joshua Haskell, a Tennessee judge from this era who lived near Crockett.

Crockett, Davy, 1786-1836
Carroll, William, 1788-1844
Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862

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