A letter written by Alexander Hamilton in 1780 and believed stolen a long time in the past from the Massachusetts state archives goes again on show — although not precisely within the room the place it occurred.
The founding father’s letter would be the featured piece on the Commonwealth Museum’s annual July Fourth exhibit, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin’s workplace says. It’s the primary time the general public is getting an opportunity to see it because it was returned to the state after a prolonged courtroom battle.
It will likely be featured alongside Massachusetts’ authentic copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Hamilton, the primary Secretary of the Treasury who’s been getting renewed consideration in recent times due to the hit Broadway musical that bears his title, wrote the letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, the French aristocrat who served as a normal within the Continental Army.
Dated July 21, 1780, it particulars an imminent British menace to French forces in Rhode Island.
“We have just received advice from New York through different channels that the enemy are making an embarkation with which they menace the French fleet and army,” Hamilton wrote. “Fifty transports are said to have gone up the Sound to take in troops and proceed directly to Rhode Island.”
It’s signed “Yr. Most Obedt, A. Hamilton, Aide de Camp.”
The letter was forwarded by Massachusetts Gen. William Heath to state leaders, together with a request for troops to help French allies, Galvin’s workplace stated.
The letter was believed to have been stolen throughout World War II by a state archives employee, then offered privately.
It resurfaced a number of years in the past when an auctioneer in Virginia obtained it from a household that wished to promote it. The public sale home decided it had been stolen and contacted the FBI. A federal appeals courtroom dominated in October that it belonged to the state.
The Commonwealth Museum is open from 9 a.m. till 4 p.m. on Monday.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”