The Bloody Pillow Case

[Rsmyth]

Concerning the "death pillow" there are two versions of the provenance:
The first was supplied to me by Gloria Swift, former curator of Ford's: This pillow was owned by the Petersen family and passed down to a great niece until her death. The relic then went to her husband who gave it to a women's college. When the women's college closed, it was given to Ford’s. That was in 1941.
The husband was D.S. Fraser who was married to the daughter (Frances Rector Fraser) of Louise Petersen Rector (William Petersen’s daughter. At the time Fraser was living in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Chicago History Museum has a notarized letter from him in their "Deathbed" file which states:
“After Lincoln had been removed from the house, some of the accessories in the room at the time of his death were divided up among members of the family, among them being the death-bed pillow now in the possession of my wife.”
The other provenance related is as follows:
The pillow belonged to the Petersen family and was on exhibition at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair and at the Chicago Historical Society from September 19th 1934 to May 1945. It was a gift to the NPS at Fords Theater on 2/17/55 from Marjorie Webster of 7775 17th Street N.W., Washington, D.C.
This info was uncovered when Art Loux and Joan Chaconas were transcribing the acquisition books at "the vault" in Union Station.
Hope this helps.