The letter from Alexander Hamilton, the founding father of the United States, is an ancient work that will be displayed at the annual exhibition at the Commonwealth Museum on Wednesday, July, according to the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, William Galvin.
This is the first time in years that the public has had a chance to see the letter since it was returned to the country after a lengthy court battle. The paper will be displayed alongside the original copy of the Massachusetts Declaration of Independence.
Hamilton, the first finance minister to receive renewed attention in recent years following the Broadway musical bearing his name, wrote the letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, the French aristocrat who served as a general in the Army.
On July 21, 1780, he detailed in his letter the British threat to French forces on Rhode Island. “We have just received advice from New York through various channels, that the enemy board the plane and threaten the French navy and army,” Hamilton wrote. The letter was delivered by General William Heath, along with a request for soldiers to support French allies.
According to the suspicion, the letter was stolen during World War II by one of the employees in the State Archives, and then sold privately. It re-emerged several years ago as a tender in Virginia received it from a family that was interested in selling it. The auction house determined that the item was stolen and contacted the FBI. The Federal Court of Appeals then ruled that the letter belonged to the state and that it would be returned to its place.