Letter Tied to Fight for Independence Is Found in Museum’s Attic

The New York Times ^ | 01 Jan 2014 | James Barron

[Theoria]

It was lying in a drawer in the attic, a 12-page document that was not just forgotten but misfiled. Somehow it had made its way into a folder with colonial-era doctor’s bills that someone in the 1970s decreed was worthless and should be thrown away.

Luckily, no one did. For when Emilie Gruchow opened the folder last summer and separated it from the doctor’s bills, she recognized it as a one-of-a-kind document.

Ms. Gruchow, an archivist at the Morris-Jumel Mansion, was an intern at the museum in Upper Manhattan when she made her discovery. The mansion served as George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War. She realized the document was the draft of an urgent plea for reconciliation from the Continental Congress. It was addressed to the people of Britain, not King George III and his government, and began by mentioning “the tender ties which bind us to each other” and “the glorious achievements of our common ancestors.”

That was followed by a long list of complaints about the infringement of colonists’ rights, the restrictions on trade and the “rigorous acts of oppression which are daily exercised in the Town of Boston.”

“That once populous, flourishing, commercial Town is now Garrisoned by an army sent not to protect, but to enslave its inhabitants,” the document said.

[Hawthorn]

>> Why throw out ANY 200 year old hand written documents? <<

My thought exactly. You beat me to it!

Among the thousands of collectors of medical antiques/ephemera in the Anglosphere, there are bound to be people who would pay at least a few hundred bucks apiece for 18th century doctors’ bills.

[a fool in paradise]

Sandy Berger tossed even more recent archived documents than that!

[Sherman Logan]

There were only 12 colonies in 1775 because Delaware was still part of Pennsylvania.

Don't think so. PA and DE legislators met separately starting in 1704, although the Penn family still appointed the same governor for both their possessions.

I don't know why this document references 12 colonies, if it does, but I doubt it has anything to with Delaware being part of Pennsylvania in 1775.

[colorado tanker]

The Widow Jumel had terrible taste in men. She remarried Aaron Burr, who lived in the mansion.

[Pharmboy]

Yes indeed...I have studied the history of the place. Another irony: the Brit who built the place married the NYC society woman that Washington was infatuated with when he visited NYC on his way to Boston in 1758--before Martha.

[GeronL]

They were going to throw away documents from what is basically a museum??

[Jane Long]

Will have to check this out, if ever in NYC, again. Thanks for the wiki link ;-)