{"value"=>"<p>Webster presented himself in his correspondence as a prophetic civil servant speaking for his nation's highest ideals: God and the American people. Through his correspondence one gains a sense of his involvement with political and religious concerns. Much of the correspondence from his later years is addressed to members of his family, especially to his brother Abraham, son William, and members of his daughter Julia Webster Goodrich's family. Letters to and from Webster's wife, Rebecca Greenleaf Webster, are arranged separately in subseries C.</p> <p>Notable correspondents listed in chronological order include: Nathaniel Appleton, Jeremiah Atwater, Moses Atwood, Simeon Baldwin, Jeremy Belknap, Frederich J. Bradley, Charles Chauncey, Henry Clay, Harriet W. Cobb, Thomas Dawes, Thomas Dawes, Jr., C.D. Ebeling, Edward Everett, William Fowler, Benjamin Franklin, James Greenleaf, Eunice W. Hubbard, Henry Hudson, John Jay, William Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Kent, Rufus King, John Lathrop, Joseph Lyman., Jared Mansfield, Josiah Meigs, William Montgomery, Jedidiah Morse, George Ord, Seth P. Staples, Timothy Pickering, Edward Pope, Joseph Priestley, Josiah Quincy, David Ramsay, Benjamin Rush, Richard Rush, Benjamin Silliman, Samuel Smith, Horatio Southgate, Ezra Stiles, Caleb Strong, Jonathan Trumbull, Benjamin West, John Wheelock, and Oliver Wolcott.</p> <p>Some of the important letters from Webster's distinguished correspondents have been removed from the collection. A letter from George Washington, from Mount Vernon, July 31, 1788, on the subject of military operations, is held in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. Other letters from the Webster manuscripts have been filed with separate collections in Manuscripts and Archives Division of The New York Public Library, such as the Thomas Jefferson papers and the Benjamin Franklin papers. These letters appear on the last reel of the microfilm. As the collection was heavily used by the Fords, their notations and transcriptions can be found on documents within the correspondence series.</p>"}