In 1984, Lincoln's handwritten final public address emerged from a secret compartment in an antique table; the forgotten manuscript later sold for $231,000

Rare historical manuscripts can sometimes remain overlooked for decades before an unexpected discovery brings them back into public attention. The material provided here describes several remarkable finds, including a major Revolutionary-era manuscript that had been misfiled among the papers of an 18th-century doctor.

A remarkable manuscript discovery

The discovery happened during the summer of 2013 at the Morris-Jumel Mansion in Washington Heights, Manhattan. At the time, Emilie Gruchow was working as an archives intern at the historic house and had recently begun cataloguing manuscripts kept in its third-floor attic.

The attic was not an easy working environment. During a July heat wave, the temperature in the room averaged about 95 degrees, and there was no air-conditioning.


Gruchow's assignment was to re-catalogue 17th- and 18th-century manuscripts stored in flat file cabinets. She already knew that many of the documents were historically noteworthy and that some required immediate preservation treatment.

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Fragments hidden among a doctor's papers

One folder contained the accounts of Nicholas Roche, an 18th-century doctor who treated slaves in New York and New Jersey. While examining the papers, Gruchow noticed fragments of another document interleaved with them.

She remembered, “I was reading these papers (admittedly straying from my work a little), which were interleaved with fragments of another document. When I was done reading through the Roche papers, I returned to the fragments. They were not in order, so I started reading fragments one by one until I got to the fourth or fifth leaf, which had the opening passage on one side.”

The words on the fragments soon seemed familiar to her.

Recognising a Revolutionary-era text

Gruchow had studied early American history and recognised a line from a text she had encountered years earlier. She described, “I had read the final printed version of the 1775 ‘To the Inhabitants of Great Britain’ in a college class many years earlier and recognized the line ‘by these and by every other appellation.’”

The document was a draft with the title, “The Twelve United Colonies, by their Delegates in Congress, to the Inhabitants of Great Britain.”

The Second Continental Congress approved the text on July 8, 1775, and a broadsheet printing was commissioned for circulation. Many printed copies exist in institutional collections.

The significance of the Livingston manuscript

The discovery was especially significant because the manuscript version was earlier unknown. The draft also contained several edits and strikethroughs, offering a different perspective on the development of the text.

As the auction catalogue cited, “…This document is an important missing piece from the culminating moments in which colonists began to think of themselves not as British subjects but as American citizens.”

The Continental Congress had appointed Robert R. Livingston, Richard Henry Lee and Edmund Pendleton to work on the document. Although the printed version was unsigned, scholars concluded from the freshly discovered manuscript that Livingston was the primary author. The manuscript is in his handwriting, with notes and edits by Lee.

Livingston was also one of the five men assigned a year later to write the Declaration of Independence, along with Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Roger Sherman.

Experts authenticate the find

After discovering the document, Gruchow brought it to the attention of Morris-Jumel Mansion curator Jasmine Helm and director Carol S. Ward.

The paper appeared appropriate for the period, being handmade from fiber pulp. The museum then sought expert opinions and handwriting analysis. The document was ultimately determined to be an authentic and significant Revolutionary-era manuscript.

Its potential value quickly became apparent.

A difficult decision for the museum

The Palladian-style house was built in 1765 by British Colonel Roger Morris and his American wife, Mary Philipse. George Washington used the property as his headquarters during the fall of 1776 and returned in 1790 for a cabinet dinner with Jefferson, Adams and Alexander Hamilton.

The property later belonged to Stephen Jumel and his wife, Eliza. After Stephen Jumel died, Eliza married former vice president Aaron Burr in the house's front parlor.

The house eventually became a museum after New York City bought it in 1904. It is now a National Historic Landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The manuscript offered a potential financial lifeline

Historical house museums can face considerable financial challenges, and the Morris-Jumel Mansion was no exception. As per the New York Times, its annual budget was about $250,000, while it had recorded a $30,000 deficit in fiscal year 2013.

Gruchow stated, “The museum itself has gone through periods of greater and lesser popularity, and greater and lesser historical interest.”

After Michael D. Hattem, a Ph.D. candidate in early American history at Yale University, examined and authenticated the manuscript, experts estimated its value at between $100,000 and $400,000.

The museum's board finally voted to sell it.

The decision was also connected to the mansion's preservation needs. The museum's director said the building needed a $350,000 exterior restoration and added, “We want to have a nest egg.”

Leigh Keno takes the manuscript to auction

The Morris-Jumel board enlisted auctioneer Leigh Keno, president of Keno Auctions in New York City and one-half of the furniture-appraising duo from “Antiques Roadshow.”

He cited, “It is extremely rare in the field of historical American colonial documents for new discoveries of this importance to turn up. When reading the draft, with its many changes in place, one gets a sense of what was going through the minds of our Founding Fathers. It really is a national treasure.”

The manuscript sells for $912,500

On January 26, 2014, Keno Auctions offered the manuscript in a single-object sale.

As per the Keno press release, “After heated competition between several phone bidders in a packed saleroom,” the gavel dropped at $912,500, including the buyer's premium.

The 12-page document had spent at least 100 years overlooked and stored in a drawer in the attic.

A collector allows the public to see it

The winning bidder was Brian Hendelson, a private collector from New Jersey.

After the auction, Hendelson mentioned, “The only thing I can compare this to would be to own the original draft of the Declaration of Independence.”

He subsequently allowed the New-York Historical Society to exhibit the manuscript publicly for three months in 2014. The document was then left there on loan for study and display for two years.

How the manuscript ended up there remains unknown

The history of the manuscript before its discovery remains uncertain. Gruchow, who later became a full-time archivist at the Morris-Jumel, believed it arrived at the mansion sometime between 1903 and 1913.

It may even have been unknown to the person who donated it.

The discovery also reinforced Gruchow's belief that other historically valuable manuscripts may remain hidden in archives, libraries, museums and family collections.

Almost two weeks after she discovered the Livingston manuscript, an archivist in Plainfield, New Jersey, found a John Quincy Adams letter with abolitionist themes in the temperature-controlled basement of the city's main library.

A Forgotten Manuscript That Rewrote Its Own Story

The discovery of the Livingston manuscript shows how important pieces of history can remain hidden in unexpected places for generations. What began as routine archival work by Emilie Gruchow ultimately uncovered a rare Revolutionary-era document, brought valuable attention to the Morris-Jumel Mansion and provided the museum with crucial financial support. The story also highlights how seemingly forgotten papers can offer historians a closer look at the people and ideas that shaped the past.

Source: Smithsonian Magazine

FAQs:

Q1. What is a manuscript?

A manuscript is a handwritten document or text. Historical manuscripts can provide valuable information about the past.

Q2. Why are old manuscripts important?

Old manuscripts can preserve original historical material. They may also reveal information that is absent from later printed versions.