THE STORY OF TONIGHT

Long-Lost Alexander Hamilton Letter to Marquis de Lafayette Discovered

And just in time for the Fourth of July, too.

Written nearly 250 years ago, a wartime letter—long thought stolen and penned by Alexander Hamilton, one of America’s founding fathers—has been found and is finally going on display in Massachusetts, just in time for the 4th of July. Hamilton wrote the letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat and Continental Army general, in 1780, according to a press release from William Galvin, the secretary of the Commonwealth. It was believed to have been stolen from the Massachusetts State Archives by an employee during World War II, and was “returned to the Commonwealth after a lengthy court battle” that concluded last October, according to Galvin. The letter was brought to the FBI’s attention several years ago, when a Virginia auction house came into possession of it. The letter will be the centerpiece of the Commonwealth Museum’s annual July Fourth exhibit, alongside an original copy of the Declaration of Independence.