Letter from George Washington, stored away for 110 years, returned to Middletown

Historic artifacts, together with a letter from George Washington to a Middletown man, that had been hidden away for greater than 100 years on the Wadsworth Atheneum had been returned to their rightful place Monday. Quickly they’ll be on view for the general public.

The letter dates to September 1782, when George Washington took a number of moments from his duties as Commander in Chief of the Continental Military to jot down to William H. Van Deursen of Middletown. Within the letter, Washington thanked Van Deursen for loaning him a guide.

On Monday, the Middlesex County Historic Society took possession of that letter. The society has owned it since 1913, however it’s been saved on the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Artwork in Hartford for 110 years.

“Van Deursen was a outstanding service provider and Revolutionary Battle captain from Middletown. Any gadgets related to him have historic worth, and naturally something related to George Washington, much more so,” mentioned Jesse Nasta, govt director of the historic society.

“We’ve different Van Deursen gadgets, his portrait, a sea chest, different letters and paperwork. We’re glad that we now have these so as to add to the gathering,” he mentioned.

Van Deursen (1752-1824) treasured that letter, written by Washington in his personal hand from Verplanck’s Level, New York. Verplanck’s Level was used steadily as an encampment for the Continental Military. Through the interval when Washington wrote the letter, he had assembled his troops at that spot in honor of the Comte de Rochambeau.

Van Deursen’s youngsters and grandchildren treasured it, too. His granddaughter, Margaret Van Deursen, bequeathed it, and two gold pocket watches owned by Van Deursen, to the historic society. She died in 1913.

Thriller

Historic society employees say it’s a little bit of a thriller why the letter and the watches had been on the Atheneum for greater than a century and never within the place that owned them.

Margaret’s will stipulated that the gadgets ought to belong to a historic society in Middletown, as quickly as one was based. Till that occurred, a well-established Connecticut establishment ought to maintain onto the gadgets for safekeeping.

Middlesex County Historic Society was based in 1901, 12 years earlier than Margaret died. The gadgets went to the Atheneum anyway.

Historian Jack Bolles, a society board member, mentioned his finest guess is that Margaret wrote her will earlier than the society existed and didn’t replace it. Nonetheless, he mentioned, it didn’t make sense that in 1913, with the society established, the gadgets went to the Atheneum.

Greater than 100 years handed. The gadgets sat in storage, secure however unseen. Yearly that glided by, they turned a extra distant reminiscence to everybody, besides Atheneum Registrar Edd Russo.

Russo, a Middletown native, contacted Bolles in 2019. The lads began working to deliver the gadgets to Middletown.

“It was a three-year odyssey. We had been working with the curator on the Atheneum, Brandy Culp, we scheduled appointments, they had been delayed, then Edd died, then the pandemic occurred, then Brandy left and so they bought a brand new curator, and all of it bought drawn out,” Bolles mentioned. “Lastly all of it got here into place.”

Atheneum Director Matthew Hargraves presided over the handover on Monday.

“It’s definitely uncommon that we’ve had them for greater than 100 years,” Hargraves mentioned. “We’ve many gadgets on long-term mortgage on the museum, however it’s a uncommon circumstance for gadgets to be briefly stewarded by us.”

The letter and watches will likely be on exhibit on the 151 Primary St. museum beginning in mid-Might, Nasta mentioned. The museum is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to three p.m. and by appointment.

They may complement different artifacts linked to the lifetime of Van Deursen, who’s the topic of the exhibit “A Vanished Port: Middletown and the Caribbean 1750-1824.”

That exhibit tells of how Middletown turned a significant port till the rise of steamships, at which period the city shifted from a maritime financial system to an industrial financial system.

Slave commerce

Van Deursen was on the heart of the exercise. He and different merchants despatched meals and horses to Caribbean islands and in return bought sugar, rum, molasses and salt.

Nasta mentioned that till Connecticut ended the importation of enslaved individuals in 1774, when Van Deursen was 22, he additionally introduced enslaved individuals to the American colonies. After that, Van Deursen traded enslaved individuals from one Caribbean island to a different.

“We’ve a letter from 1798. Ship homeowners from Middletown inform Van Deursen to sail to Martinique to purchase enslaved individuals after which sail to Cuba to promote them,” mentioned Nasta, who is also an assistant professor within the Heart for African American Research at Wesleyan College in Middletown. “Retailers from New England like Van Deursen had been shopping for and promoting enslaved individuals within the Caribbean properly into the 1800s.”

Discover the Middlesex Historic Society at mchsctorg.wordpress.com.

Susan Dunne could be reached at sdunne@courant.com.