The Bixby Letter

[L Verge]

I believe that the opinion that the letter never existed was offered at a Lincoln Group meeting that I attended back when Burlingame was attributing the letter to Hay. I don't recall ever seeing that opinion in print. Nor had I ever read about the true facts of Mrs. Bixby's sons' military service.

Frankly, I can see where a disgruntled woman would dislike Lincoln and others who had "taken" her sons from her to fight the war. Elmer Ellsworth and Fanny McCullough's father were also personal friends of Mr. Lincoln, so I can understand that the tone of those letters would be different also.

Thanks for edumacating me once again. If I stay on this forum long enough, I may become an expert on Mr. Lincoln.