Mr. Lincoln On eBay

It's time once more to stroll through the land of eBay, looking for items associated with Abraham Lincoln. It's one of my favorite pastimes (and vices) for one never knows what one will find. At any given time, there are at least 700-800 items found by searching for "Abraham Lincoln." Items ranging from priceless letters signed by Lincoln to photos to just plain weird things can be found. Without further adieu, here is a sampling of the current Lincoln items.

• An Abe Lincoln electric guitar? Hand carved body with Abe's face, American and Rebel flags, text, etc. Unusual. I'd be tempted if I played.

• An old Harper's Weekly issue describing Lincoln's death and funeral. It's here. Has lovely sketches of the funeral in Springfield, Illinois. Front cover shows one of the conspirators, Lewis Powell (Payne).

• Abe and his family paper dolls. Would be interesting for children, I guess.

• A rare complete set of the classic 10-volume biography of Lincoln written by John Hay and John Nicolay, Lincoln's private secretaries in 1890. This is a first edition set and is therefore quite expensive. These books are leather, making the set even more valuable.

• A rare 1860 Lincoln campaign "Rail Splitter" medal. I don't know much about such medals, but they are interesting and quite desired by collectors.

• A cool piece of sheet music from the 1860 campaign. Titled "Honest Old Abe's Quick Step" and written for piano. Quite nice.

• Abe on a watch. A bit on the tacky side, but kind of interesting. Contains the famous "head on" photo which in my opinion is the best Lincoln photo.

• A reprint of the supposed "last" photo of Lincoln. No, no, and NO! This is a common misconception. I'll have to address this in a detailed posting. Folks, this photo was not taken on April 10, 1865 as long believed. It was taken in February 1865 and another photo session was held in March 1865 in the White House.

• Finally, the most expensive Lincoln item being offered at this point on eBay. This document is a signed endorsement by Lincoln, asking someone for help in finding a gentleman a job. Estimated to sell at live auction for $4000-$6000. Heritage Auction Galleries has wonderful items, but it can be frustrating to deal with the business. I bought once from there and it was a hassle with conflicting emails, etc. Still, you'd not find too many other galleries in the U.S. with nicer (and more expensive!) Lincoln items.

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Teaming To Bring Lincoln Artifacts To Washington

I've posted several items in recent months about the impending closure of the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The museum has unfortunately suffered from years of declining attendance and Lincoln Financial, the owner and operator of the museum, has said enough. The closure date is in a few days.

Several groups and institutions across the country hope to be the ultimate winner of the "contest" to see who will house this remarkable trove of Lincoln items. Announced today in The Washington Post is a teaming arrangement between The Library of Congress, Ford's Theater, The National Museum of American History (Smithsonian), and The Lincoln Cottage, the former Soldiers' Home in Washington. This arrangement will no doubt provide formidable competition to the other major institutions, such as The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

Representatives of this teaming arrangement make the claim that Washington, D.C. is the most logical city to house this priceless collection. After all, Lincoln lived in Washington while president and was of course assassinated and died there as well. Indeed the leader of the group states that no other institution in America can match the visitorship and financial backing of the team in Washington.

The final decision by Lincoln Financial is by January 2009. I'll keep my readers posted.

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Visit The Lincoln Museum In Harrogate, Tennessee

I've posted previously about the Abraham Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois and the unfortunate closing of the Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. But did you know that a Lincoln Museum exists in the state of Tennessee? It's true.

The Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum is located on the grounds of Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, located about 55 miles northeast of Knoxville. The present building was open in 1977 but the university has held important Lincoln artifacts since the 1920's. Included in the museum's collection are photos, books, rare diaries pertaining to Lincoln, scrap books, letters, and so forth. This link provides a nice list of the items in the museum's collection, each item fully described.

I've been to the museum, but it was many years ago, perhaps only after it had recently opened. The museum can't compare to the "glitz" of the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, but it is still a valuable source of information for the Lincoln enthusiast. If you visit, you will not be disappointed!

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Mary Todd Lincoln And Her Madness

One of the more important books associated with Abraham Lincoln to be published recently is The Madness Of Mary Lincoln, written by Jason Emerson, a young independent historian currently based in Virginia. As you might guess, the book deals with the mental problems Mrs. Lincoln exhibited during her lifetime, especially after the death of her husband. Eventually, these problems led to her commitment to a mental institution by her sole surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln.

On June 14, 2008 I had the great pleasure of attending a lecture and book signing given by its author at the National First Ladies' Library in my hometown of Canton, Ohio. Since I live only 5 miles from the library, I would have been remiss to not attend. I'm glad I did!

During the lecture, Mr. Emerson told the fascinating story behind his discovery of 20 letters pertaining to Mary Todd Lincoln's mental problems, of which many were written by Mary herself. These letters were long thought to have been destroyed by the Lincoln family, either by Robert himself or by descendants. Instead, the letters were tucked away in a trunk owned by the son of Robert Lincoln's personal lawyer, where they lay unknown to historians for many decades. The lawyer's families are to be commended for donating these documents to the Library of Congress, where they are available to anyone who wishes to read them. Mr. Emerson thoughtfully has included the text of each of these letters in his book.

Mr. Emerson also told the lecture audience how debate still goes on today over Robert Lincoln's actions in committing his mother to the mental hospital. Some believe he did so in order to keep his mother from spending his inheritance and that he was cold-hearted with her. But Mr. Emerson strongly believes that Robert did so in order to save his mother from herself. While she was in the asylum, Mary had privileges to come and go as she pleased for shopping and other excursions. She was apparently treated very well in the hospital. However, it's also true that for at least five years, Mary refused to have any relationship at all with her only surviving child.

He has come to the conclusion, along with the professional opinion of a psychiatrist, that Mrs. Lincoln suffered from bipolar disorder, formerly called "manic depression." He pointed out to the audience that almost anyone would be derailed by the deaths of 3 children plus being present when your spouse is murdered in cold blood. Emerson also told how his research indicated that at least 11 of Mrs. Lincoln's relatives suffered from some form of mental illness. And it seems that Abraham was the only person who could keep Mary relatively calm and "sane" throughout her life.

The lecture was very enjoyable and quite informative. I found Mr. Emerson to be engaging, witty, and open to questions and discussion about the topic at hand. The lecture was well worth the admission price of only $5.00. His next books are about Abraham Lincoln's invention for flatboats (for which Lincoln held a patent, the only president to do so), and a biography of Robert Todd Lincoln.

The Madness Of Mary Lincoln has won the 2007 Book Of The Year award from the Illinois State Historical Society. It has also been named to the Abraham Lincoln Bookshop's (Chicago) list of essential Lincoln books. You may find more information about Jason Emerson at his website. An excerpt of the Madness may be found here, courtesy of the Cleveland (Ohio) Civil War Roundtable.

I've not yet had the chance to read this book thanks to my recent vacation, but I look forward to doing so soon.

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The Abraham Lincoln Blog Returns!

After a much-needed vacation, The Abraham Lincoln Blog is resuming posting. I've included this photo of the nation's greatest president because it shows him with a rare smile and I have such a smile after my week in South Carolina and Georgia. I'll be posting about my visit to Charleston, Fort Sumter, and Savannah (Georgia) later in the week.

It should be noted that many people still believe that this photo is the last photo ever taken of Lincoln. It was traditionally thought that this photo by Alexander Gardner was taken on April 10, 1865, only four days prior to Lincoln's assassination. That's not the case.

The above photo was actually taken in February 1865, as clearly stated in John Hay and John Nicolay's Complete Works Of Abraham Lincoln, a 10-volume biography. The final photo of Lincoln taken in life was shot in March 1865 on the White House south portico and is shown below.



For more information about these two photos, please click here at the wonderful Abraham Lincoln Research Site.

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The Abraham Lincoln Blog Takes A Vacation

Abe looks a bit frazzled and in need of a vacation in the above photo. I can relate and I'm heading on vacation beginning Sunday 6/15.

My destination is the hotbed of the former Confederacy, South Carolina. I'm going to visit an old high school friend of mine. She lives just outside of Charleston, which I've not visited, and my itinerary is to include a visit to Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began. We're also going to visit Charleston itself as well as Savannah, Georgia. I will definitely need to keep my pro-Lincoln views to myself while in Rebel territory. I'll post some photos and impressions of my trip.

Upon my return, I'm going to post a review of an outstanding lecture I attended today presented by the author of "The Madness Of Mary Lincoln." The author describes Mary's outbursts, symptoms, institutionalization, and suggests that she suffered from bipolar disorder. The lecture was presented at the National First Ladies' Library, right here in my home town of Canton, Ohio. I of course could not miss it!

The blog will take a one week hiatus, but I'll be posting again next weekend.

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Hartford Connecticut Dedicating Lincoln Sculpture Garden

Hartford, Connecticut is in the process of installing a series of 15 sculptures and statues dedicated to Abraham Lincoln along its riverfront. The above statue of Abe greeting Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (and a native of Hartford) is one of those statues which represent various events in Lincoln's life.

The sculptures are meant to attract visitors to the riverfront in Hartford. Just a few years ago, the riverfront was run down and ridden with crime. But the area has seen a rebirth and is today visited by more than 900,000 people annually.

Just two of the pieces of art actually depict Lincoln. The others are abstract sculptures representing Lincoln's support of the Transcontinental Railroad, his openness in meeting with people, and so on. The link I provided in the first paragraph contains a link to photos of the various works.

The sculpture walk would not have been possible without the generous financial support of the Lincoln Financial Group, the same company closing the famous Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Lincoln Financial donated $500,000 to the walk, to be not-so coincidentally called the Lincoln Financial Sculpture Walk at Riverfront. Why the company has chosen to support this project in Hartford while closing the museum in Indiana is anyone's guess.

The walk is to be dedicated on June 18, 2008. Eventually, the city hopes to install another 30-40 sculptures along the waterfront.

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