The Bixby Letter

[RJNorton]

As far as what happened to the original letter...

In 2008 the Dallas Historical Society made an announcement:

http://www.columbiatribune.com/915e8ffb-...55d83.html

I do not believe I have ever read a follow up to the society's efforts at verification. Has anyone? I assume the society found out what it has is not authentic, but I do not recall any follow up stories on what was discovered.

[Steve]

(07-18-2017 05:14 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  As far as what happened to the original letter...

In 2008 the Dallas Historical Society made an announcement:

http://www.columbiatribune.com/915e8ffb-...55d83.html

I do not believe I have ever read a follow up to the society's efforts at verification. Has anyone? I assume the society found out what it has is not authentic, but I do not recall any follow up stories on what was discovered.

As far as I know the Dallas Historical Society has never made any public announcement about their copy of the letter, but I did contact them by email and their reply confirmed that the tests proved the letter was not authentic. Unfortunately, their response did not go into detail on what was tested or how they came to that conclusion.

This USA Today article from 2008 has a photograph of the Dallas copy:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nati...tter_N.htm

If you click on the image and examine the letter closely there are a couple of problems that should've alerted the DHS that the letter was not authentic before it went to the media:

1. There's a "(5)" after the word "five"

2. The Dallas copy's text is incorrect; it's missing the word "to" after the word "tendering", so it reads "tendering you the consolation" instead of "tendering to you the consolation"

Since nobody has ever found the original letter, if it still exists, we can only speculate what it may have looked like. However, I think there's a clue that's been overlooked due to widespread proliferation of the famous forged copy of the letter. The words "Executive Mansion" in the heading would indicate the original letter was likely written on preprinted White House stationary. Like-

The condolence letter written to Fanny McCullough:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:...Letter.jpg

The 1863 letter from Lincoln pictured midway through this 2016 article:
http://magazine.wfu.edu/2016/02/23/treasure-hunter/

Compare to the image of the 1861 condolence letter written to the parents of Elmer Ellsworth which was not written on preprinted stationary:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?col...b&recNum=0

[RJNorton]

(07-19-2017 02:58 PM)Steve Wrote:  Since nobody has ever found the original letter, if it still exists, we can only speculate what it may have looked like.

Thanks for all the information you posted, Steve. My personal opinion is that Mrs. Bixby simply tossed the letter (maybe even did the same to it that John Mathews did to Booth's letter). I base that on what her descendants said - it seems that Mrs. Bixby could not stand Abraham Lincoln. I think one of her descendants said she was not the type of person who would have appreciated the value of such a letter and most likely just threw it out.

[Lincoln Wonk]

For some reason, I can't see everything on the site today. I think the problem's on my end. So I apologize if you're already discussing this article, but wanted to send it along in case no one has seen it:
http://time.com/4855857/abraham-lincoln-...by-letter/

[RJNorton]

Thanks for posting this link, Kathy. Looks like n-gram tracing points to John Hay as the author.

[Steve]

Thanks, this is the first I've heard about the new paper. It's the first real paper to examine the authorship issue by examining the language of the letter since Nickell's 1989 article. And that article was written before computer analysis of texts existed. Hopefully, the paper will be available for examination. If it is I'll try and give my thoughts on it when it comes out next week.

To the study authors... Please... Please... Please... make sure you have the text of the letter right! It's often slightly mangled. If there's an error it could skew the analysis.

This is the article that first published the letter in the November 25, 1864 issue of the Boston Evening Traveller:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c...veller.jpg

Quote:

Executive Mansion,
Washington, 21st November, 1864.

Dear Madam,
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
A. Lincoln.

Mrs. Bixby.

The letter was reprinted in the Boston Evening Transcript on the same day. (Although some sources incorrectly list the Transcript as first.)

Google Newspapers has an image of the 3rd edition of Nov. 25th issue of the Transcript in column 5 of page 2, with more information on Bixby and her sons at the end of column 2 of page 3 (5 P.M. Extra!):

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=s...page&hl=en

The text of the letter is the same as the Traveller, except the date is written as "Nov. 21, 1864" instead of "21st November, 1864"

[RJNorton]

I am curious - is there something special or valuable about the copy in the LOC? (There is an image of this in the article Kathy linked to.) To my aging eyes it looks the same as the facsimiles produced in 1891 by New York's Huber Museum and sold to the public for $1.00. I didn't realize these had special value.

[Steve]

(07-20-2017 06:09 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  I am curious - is there something special or valuable about the copy in the LOC? (There is an image of this in the article Kathy linked to.) To my aging eyes it looks the same as the facsimiles produced in 1891 by New York's Huber Museum and sold to the public for $1.00. I didn't realize these had special value.

It is a Huber's museum copy. Someone must have donated a copy to the LOC for it's historical value. The LOC also has a copy by Huber's competitor Michael Tobin, submitted by Tobin himself when he applied for a copyright for his lithograph.

[Eva Elisabeth]

(07-20-2017 10:18 AM)Lincoln Wonk Wrote:  For some reason, I can't see everything on the site today. I think the problem's on my end. So I apologize if you're already discussing this article, but wanted to send it along in case no one has seen it:
http://time.com/4855857/abraham-lincoln-...by-letter/

Thanks, Kathy, very interesting, and brand new!

---

I think and feel like Bill posted once on this thread:

(03-08-2013 01:24 PM)LincolnMan Wrote:  I would like to think Lincoln wrote. My unscientific thought is that he didn't. The words "assuage" and "beguile" found in the writing don't seem like Lincoln terms to me.

Well, according to this article by H. Holzer Roger once posted, Mrs. Bixby didn't appreciate and hence IMO either not deserve the letter being written by Abraham Lincoln:
http://www.americanheritage.com/content/...e%E2%80%9D

Anyway I personally like the "Fanny McCullough letter" better, it sounds more genuine and from the heart to me.

[Gene C]

I have to agree with you on the Fanny McCullough letter, it is more personal since President Lincoln knew her and her father. It is more from the heart.

[JMadonna]

Wasn't Mrs.Bixby a fraud? I read that she didn't have five sons who died in the war but was trying to extract money from the government.

[RJNorton]

(07-21-2017 08:57 AM)JMadonna Wrote:  Wasn't Mrs.Bixby a fraud? I read that she didn't have five sons who died in the war but was trying to extract money from the government.

Jerry, here is what I have on this. Lincoln had been misinformed as to the number of Mrs. Bixby's sons who had been killed. She had actually lost only two sons in the war. Sgt. Charles N. Bixby was killed May 3, 1863. Pvt. Oliver Cromwell Bixby was killed July 30, 1864. However, Corp. Henry Cromwell Bixby was discharged on December 19, 1864. Pvt. George Way Bixby was captured July 30, 1864, and then deserted to the Confederacy. He moved to Cuba after the Civil War. Edward Bixby also deserted from his unit. This information on Mrs. Bixby’s sons comes from p. 277 of Abraham Lincoln: From Skeptic to Prophet by Dr. Wayne C. Temple.

[Steve]

Mrs. Bixby had already been receiving a pension after son Charles's death in 1863 at the time of her meeting Schouler in early September 1864. Schouler didn't explain the purpose of Mrs. Bixby meeting with him in his letter to Gov. Andrew and was only brought her up incidentally to compare her case to that of a father who had 5 sons serving in the war and asking the governor if there was anything that could be done to help her. Schouler did help provide her charitable aid for Thanksgiving but that was about 2 months after her meeting. She couldn't apply for a pension for another son and if she wanted charitable aid, why would she go to Adjutant General for that? I would guess the meeting had something to do with either sons Oliver or George who had both on July 30th been killed and taken prisoner (and thought dead), respectively.

Her son Henry had already been exchanged as a prisoner of war but was a patient at the York military hospital in Pennsylvania recovering until October 1864 when he was sent back to his unit who subsequently sent him to the Readville, Mass. military hospital to recover even further before he was discharged in December. Both the Traveller and Transcript articles describe him as a "sixth son", so Mrs. Bixby obviously wasn't keeping it a secret that Henry was alive. Either Schouler misunderstood her or purposely misled the newspaper reporter to prevent embarrassing the President. It's likely that Henry wasn't able to contact his mother until after he was sent to Massachusetts.

George was captured as a prisoner of war on July 30, 1864 just over a month prior to Mrs. Bixby's meeting with Schouler. About a month following her meeting, George arrived at Salisbury Prison on October 9, 1864; being transferred from Richmond. He did not desert to the Confederates but in fact died at Salisbury sometime between October 1864 and early February 1865. A former Salisbury POW at Camp Parole reported that in March 1865. Unfortunately, no specific death date was provided and those types of records from Salisbury didn't survive the war.

So, Mrs. Bixby had good reason to believe four of her sons had been killed when she met with Schouler. However, it seems that she did lie to Schouler about son, Edward, who deserted from his the 1st Mass. Heavy Artillery in May 1862 while the unit was manning Ft. Richardson, one of the protective forts surrounding Washington D.C. (In fact, based on his unit's history, I doubt Edward was ever in a battle during his year in the Army when he deserted.) She claimed that Edward had died of wounds at Folly Island, South Carolina while serving in the 22nd Mass. Infantry.

       

[ELCore]

(07-20-2017 10:18 AM)Lincoln Wonk Wrote:  For some reason, I can't see everything on the site today. I think the problem's on my end. So I apologize if you're already discussing this article, but wanted to send it along in case no one has seen it:
http://time.com/4855857/abraham-lincoln-...by-letter/

Wow! I have been ambivalent about authorship. To me, the main points were that I didn't believe anybody would have said that Hay had claimed authorship if he hadn't done so, and I found it hard to believe that Hay would have lied about authorship. But all that boils down to my own speculation, which is precious little to go on.

Thanks for calling that article to our attention.

[Eva Elisabeth]

(07-21-2017 06:04 PM)Steve Wrote:  Mrs. Bixby had already been receiving a pension after son Charles's death in 1863 at the time of her meeting Schouler in early September 1864. Schouler didn't explain the purpose of Mrs. Bixby meeting with him in his letter to Gov. Andrew and was only brought her up incidentally to compare her case to that of a father who had 5 sons serving in the war and asking the governor if there was anything that could be done to help her. Schouler did help provide her charitable aid for Thanksgiving but that was about 2 months after her meeting. She couldn't apply for a pension for another son and if she wanted charitable aid, why would she go to Adjutant General for that? I would guess the meeting had something to do with either sons Oliver or George who had both on July 30th been killed and taken prisoner (and thought dead), respectively.

Her son Henry had already been exchanged as a prisoner of war but was a patient at the York military hospital in Pennsylvania recovering until October 1864 when he was sent back to his unit who subsequently sent him to the Readville, Mass. military hospital to recover even further before he was discharged in December. Both the Traveller and Transcript articles describe him as a "sixth son", so Mrs. Bixby obviously wasn't keeping it a secret that Henry was alive. Either Schouler misunderstood her or purposely misled the newspaper reporter to prevent embarrassing the President. It's likely that Henry wasn't able to contact his mother until after he was sent to Massachusetts.

George was captured as a prisoner of war on July 30, 1864 just over a month prior to Mrs. Bixby's meeting with Schouler. About a month following her meeting, George arrived at Salisbury Prison on October 9, 1864; being transferred from Richmond. He did not desert to the Confederates but in fact died at Salisbury sometime between October 1864 and early February 1865. A former Salisbury POW at Camp Parole reported that in March 1865. Unfortunately, no specific death date was provided and those types of records from Salisbury didn't survive the war.

So, Mrs. Bixby had good reason to believe four of her sons had been killed when she met with Schouler. However, it seems that she did lie to Schouler about son, Edward, who deserted from his the 1st Mass. Heavy Artillery in May 1862 while the unit was manning Ft. Richardson, one of the protective forts surrounding Washington D.C. (In fact, based on his unit's history, I doubt Edward was ever in a battle during his year in the Army when he deserted.) She claimed that Edward had died of wounds at Folly Island, South Carolina while serving in the 22nd Mass. Infantry.

That's an interesting explanation!
This is what Harold Holzer wrote in the article I linked to above:

"According to the historian George C. Shattuck, one of Mrs. Bixby’s contemporaries remembered the 'stout . . . motherly-looking' widow as a shifty-eyed schemer, 'perfectly untrustworthy and as bad as she could be.' In the end, few of the stubbornly lingering questions about Lincoln’s letter or its controversial recipient were definitively answered by F. Lauriston Bullard’s charming 1946 book Abraham Lincoln & the Widow Bixby or by scholars trying to unravel the truth in the six decades since.
One thing is certain. If Mrs. Bixby was a fake, she certainly managed to convince a number of high-ranking public officials otherwise. Her documentation proved more than sufficient to persuade the adjutant general of Massachusetts, William Schouler, of her legitimacy. To Schouler, Mrs. Bixby was 'the best specimen of a true-hearted Union woman' he had ever met, and he brought her case to the attention of the state’s governor, John A. Andrew. Equally impressed, the governor sent the War Department a request for a personal acknowledgment from no less than the President of the United States “taking notice of a noble mother of five dead heroes so well deserves.” Andrew was a loyal Lincoln ally. He had been a Lincoln delegate at the 1860 Republican National Convention and later became the first Union governor to respond to the new President’s call for troops after the firing on Fort Sumter. It is no surprise that Lincoln responded immediately to the governor’s request.
Lincoln’s condolence note was carried to “Mother Bixby” a few days later by Schouler himself, who evidently first made a wise detour to a Boston newspaper to make sure the letter would be set in type so it could be shared with the public that evening. Such a perfectly expressed credit to Yankee motherhood and Massachusetts patriotism promised a public relations coup. In the following days the letter was widely republished. But the original letter, and Mrs. Bixby too, promptly vanished from history.
We know now that the Widow Bixby either calculatingly exaggerated her claims of loss—seeking government remuneration to which she was not entitled—or simply did not know the true fate of her boys. In fact, of the five young Bixbys Lincoln was led to believe had been killed in the war, only two, it turned out, had actually died in battle (a grievous enough loss, to be sure). The third had received an honorable discharge (and may have been hiding at home), the fourth had deserted, and the fifth either had been captured and died as a prisoner of war or had deserted.
According to a faded 1949 clipping from the New York Sun now in the files of the Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Lincoln’s masterpiece did little to “assuage” the allegedly grieving widow. Apparently Mrs. Bixby had migrated to Boston from Richmond, bringing with her a stubborn loyalty to the Old South, cherishing anti-Union sentiments she somehow managed to conceal from the pro-Union adjutant general, governor, and President. Her own granddaughter recalled that the widow, who died in 1878, was “secretly in sympathy with the Southern cause” and had 'little good to say' about Lincoln. She apparently so 'resented' the President’s condolence message that she 'destroyed it shortly after receipt without realizing its value.'
If true, here was the final irony in the life of Lydia Bixby. Whether she was a grieving Union mother or a wily Rebel sympathizer, a proper old widow or the owner of a house of ill repute, she failed to preserve and profit from the one item that would have brought her fame and fortune, not to mention a hearty last laugh on the Union: the priceless original copy in Lincoln’s hand of the most famous condolence letter of the nineteenth century. From the thousands of alleged 'facsimiles' sold over the years, the still mysterious Widow Bixby received not a penny."