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This collection of historic manuscripts dates from 1607-1933, with the bulk of materials dating from 1738-1868. The correspondence, journals and diaries, legal and financial records, estate documents, and printed ephemera in the collection primarily relate to the Washington and Custis families, the Revolutionary War, and society life in antebellum Washington D.C. and Virginia.

Materials relating to the career of Lester Jesse Cappon (September 18, 1900-August 24, 1981), historian and formerly the Archivist for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia, Director of the Institute of Early American History and Culture, and Senior Research Fellow at the Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois.

Contains photograph copies of land plat signed by George Washington for 400 acres of land in Frederick County, Virginia; Photostat copy of a letter written by Benjamin Franklin from France; Photostat copies of map of northern neck of West Virginians; newspaper clippings on West Virginia University and state politics. Contains copies of maps and photographs relating to land in the Northern Neck of Virginia, Joist Hite, Jesse Hughes, Henry G. Davis, Alexander L. Wade, and Lord Fairfax.

The collection contains 41 manuscripts dating 1770-1831. Many of the manuscripts date from the era of the American Revolution, and several are directly relevant to the course of the war. Among the documents are single letters by John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette, James Madison, John Marshall, James Monroe, Paul Revere, and George Washington, as well as letters and other documents that include the signatures of signers of the Declaration of Independence.