Pieces of the Scaffold?

[J. Beckert]

(06-22-2013 09:59 PM)Hess1865 Wrote:  I heard that when people would write Herndon if he had any Lincoln signatures lying around, Billy would grab a pair of scissors, cut Abe's autograph off a letter or document and send it out!
If this is true, I'd like to know what documents Herndon was using.
What a terrible historical loss it would be if he just tossed them after just cutting off Lincoln's signature.....

Robert Todd Lincoln did the same right up to the 1920's. He always cut the signature off a letter or check. One was auctioned a few years back with RTL's response letter to a young boy who had written asking for a signature. RTL said it was one of "the very few" he had left.