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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.

Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) [Presidential pardon of Peter Columbus who, in August 1864 in the Northern District of New York, had been convicted of perjury].

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00044.05 Author/Creator: Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Document signed Date: 25 November 1864 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; 43 x 27 cm Order a Copy

Peter Columbus was pardoned by Abraham Lincoln because he had been sufficiently punished while incarcerated at the Monroe County, New York, Penitentiary and at the petition of citizens. Countersigned by William H. Seward.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Seward, William H. (William Henry), 1801-1872

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