The Jefferson Lemen Compact - Was it True

[maharba]

Last week I contacted the Illinois Governor's Mansion to inquire about the couch referred to above and cited the ttp://stephenphfrakes.angelfire.com/iLemenFrakesHouse.html website.
I received a call today from the Manager of the Governor's Mansion and was told the following: The Governor's Mansion could find no record of this couch. They had it researched by the Illinois Department of Historic Preservation and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The result is that there is no record of the couch. They also stated that while Lincoln visited Salem there is no record of any visit to the Lemen House. >

Some much appreciated research, Anita, thanks. But I do remember seeing the sofa pictured somewhere, in a scrapbook of old clippings, an old photo page? It said who bought it and when, who 'verified it' and that it was to be sent on to be displayed in the Illinois governor's mansion. The sofa pictured was more what I'd guess 'empire style' before victorian, and with a fairly nice floral print still covering it.

Maybe it never arrived there,.or maybe like so many museums various relics are sold and records lost? Just because an old article listed all this, still doesn't assure 'Lincoln slept there' or the rest of the Lemen narrative. I'll try and find the old article. In the Lemen family history, there are other various interesting items, and often such and such an item is stated to have been lost in a fire. No indication that the 'Lincoln sofa' was ever burned up, though.

[Rob Wick]

Just to add to the excellent research performed by Anita. There were two couches that I am familiar with when it comes to Lincoln, both of which come much closer to reality in having anything to do with Lincoln.

The first, and likely most famous, is the so-called Lincoln Courting Couch which Abraham and Mary sat on in the Edwards' home while developing their relationship. It was recently restored and rededicated at one of the Abraham Lincoln Association events. Looking at the picture, my guess is this is the couch you saw.

The second is the couch in the Lincoln-Herndon Law office that Lincoln stretched out on while at work. It spent time in either the Jacksonville, Illinois office of former U.S. Congressman Paul Findley or his Washington D.C. office, although i'm unsure where it is now. For all I know, Findley may still have it in his home in Jacksonville. For an interesting article on what Lincoln's purchase of the couch meant from a societal point of view, read this.

Best
Rob

[Anita]

(02-03-2016 12:20 PM)Rob Wick Wrote:  Just to add to the excellent research performed by Anita. There were two couches that I am familiar with when it comes to Lincoln, both of which come much closer to reality in having anything to do with Lincoln.

The first, and likely most famous, is the so-called Lincoln Courting Couch which Abraham and Mary sat on in the Edwards' home while developing their relationship. It was recently restored and rededicated at one of the Abraham Lincoln Association events. Looking at the picture, my guess is this is the couch you saw.

The second is the couch in the Lincoln-Herndon Law office that Lincoln stretched out on while at work. It spent time in either the Jacksonville, Illinois office of former U.S. Congressman Paul Findley or his Washington D.C. office, although i'm unsure where it is now. For all I know, Findley may still have it in his home in Jacksonville. For an interesting article on what Lincoln's purchase of the couch meant from a societal point of view, read this.

Best
Rob

Thanks Rob. Amazing how historians used the purchase of the law office couch "to provide insight into Lincoln's construction of his self identity, both as a middle-class gentleman and a self-made man of the people."

[Eva Elisabeth]

I second Anita - fascinating article, Rob!

[L Verge]

Great article! Thanks for posting it, Rob. Another good example of how social customs can define historical events and people.

[maharba]

Oct 24 1969 Centralia Sentinel
Salem IL-A show window in downtown Salem...an old couch...used by Abe Lincoln himself...dates back to 1840s and belonged to B.F.Lemen...Warren E. McMackin...bought the couch in 1878...in the family ever since...

Its association with young Lincoln's early days has been verified by the Illinois State historian William Alderfer, Springfield. Thus assured, Mrs. Richard B. Ogilvie wife of the Illinois governor has accepted for placing...in the Abraham Lincoln bedroom of the governor's mansion. The state historian is scheduled to pick it up this week..and take it to Springfield...

I doubt this is the same as the either of the other 2 sofa's.

[Rob Wick]

First, let’s clear one thing up. There is a sofa in the Lincoln bedroom of the Illinois Governor’s mansion. Here are pictures of the sofa. It’s hard to judge its length from these photos, but it appears long enough that Lincoln might have been able to sleep on it, although it seems awfully narrow to provide comfortable sleeping, but then again, that’s me. That there is a sofa there is a long way from proving its provenance.

As I was searching the photos, I discovered something of great interest. Look at the third photo. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the upholstery on the couch matches that of the chair and ottoman and even appears to match the rug. Given that no one has suggested there was a chair and ottoman that had a connection to Lincoln, it appears that the sofa was reupholstered at some point to match the other furniture. If this couch was such a valued historical relic, changing the upholstery to match the rest of the furniture would have been a desecration to something of great value.

Edit: There is, of course, a couple of other possibilities. 1)the chair and the ottoman were reupholstered to match the couch or 2)all three were reupholstered at the same time, which I think makes more sense, given that the chance of finding fabric that would match exactly seems pretty remote. Still, the act of reupholstering would have damaged the historical integrity of the couch, if it had any.






As to the rest of your post, first, I would like to see a link to the article from the Centralia paper or post it without your ellipses so I can judge it myself in its entirety.

Second, let’s explore just who William Alderfer was. He served during various years as Illinois State Historian, an appointed post. While from the brief research I conducted, there seems to be no reason to believe that Alderfer was not competent as state historian, that is a far cry from being competent to “verify” the authenticity of your claim. Exactly what methods did he use to verify the Lemen claim? Did he receive affidavits that pointed to the provenance of the couch? Did he look through historical records to show on what occasions Lincoln actually visited Salem, and was there documentary evidence to show that Lincoln stayed with B.F. Lemen, or is that simply family tradition? Did he do his due diligence, or did he fall for the claim that while on a hunt for Lincoln-related memorabilia to go in the home whose restoration he was appointed to oversee, that he was told by someone “hey, there’s a sofa in Salem that Lincoln slept on?" Given that the only claim appears to come from the website of one of the family members, there has to be more evidence than that before the claim can be sustained.

Third, look at various books, articles and recorded tours of the Executive Mansion. If you notice in the tour here (go to 2:04 in the video) the tour guide doesn’t even mention the couch. None of these mentions the sofa in connection with Lincoln. The only items mentioned in the Lincoln bedroom are the large bed frame and some of the knick-knacks scattered throughout the room. It seems telling to me that none of these mention Lincoln’s connection to the couch, which one would think merits something. Also, here is the transcript of an oral history project conducted in 1971 and 1972, at the time the mansion was undergoing restoration. The first interview was with Alderfer who mentions nothing of his connection to the restoration. The second is with Lowell Anderson and James Hickey and concerns the mansion. When asked about the furniture, no mention is made of the couch, although they do mention the bed frame. Here is a more in-depth interview with Lowell Anderson on the renovation, which discusses in detail the furniture. Again, no mention of Lincoln's couch.

So we have a couch, but only one source that claims Lincoln slept there on “several” visits to Salem, although the Lincoln Log shows only one visit in the 1840s. Without further evidence, one cannot say conclusively that Alderfer was taken in when he bought the couch, but if I was a gambling man, I would lay money on that being the case. After all, how many places on the east coast suck in tourists by claiming that George Washington slept there?

Best
Rob

[RJNorton]

(02-04-2016 05:43 PM)Rob Wick Wrote:  As to the rest of your post, first, I would like to see a link to the article from the Centralia paper or post it without your ellipses so I can judge it myself in its entirety.

Maharba, if you cannot do as Rob asks and post a link or post the article, I will do it for you. Please scan the entire article and send me an email with the scanned article as a file attachment. I will then upload the scan to my server and post the article for all members to read.

Another source I have checked re: Lemen is Following in Lincoln's Footsteps: A Complete Annotated Reference to Hundreds of Historical Sites Visited by Abraham Lincoln by Ralph Gary. The Lemen name is not mentioned a single time.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Excellent post, Rob. I, too, would like to see the entire article.

[maharba]

In investigating the Jefferson-Lemen Compact, I do not believe 'it turns upon' any article of furniture Lincoln rested on. I only brought out that particular small item on the sofa, to save folks from expending much energy on the topic. As I said, the existence of a sofa doesn't prove Lincoln visited Lemen several times...and thus and so...the rest of the Compact must be valid, etc. I have no access or ability to a scanner, the article says practically nothing more. I looked at the buyer McMackin
and there is or was something like a bed and breakfast apparently had some family antiques, etc. Maybe the sofa ended up there, who knows. McMackin as I remember was a Federal soldier contemporary with Lemen and Lincoln. To follow out an hypothetical chain of logic: McMackin may have known both and that the sofa was indeed what Rev Lemen said, and so bought and kept and his family donated it. Or...even though McMackin lived in and through that time...he may have been simple minded...and so was easily deceived by the preacher to buy a worthless old sofa and keep it for 50 years. I don't know, and I base no substantive conclusions in my investigation on that side-topic. Roger, you keep coming back to: the Lemens are not listed in such and such, Herndon never bothered to interview them, etc. All I can say would be speculation: the Lemen's were an early influential family, they had chosen (in politics) to only go so far and no more. They were 'exhausted politically' by Lincoln's time, and really of not much future use to him. The old man James Lemen probably could have been the first Illinois senator, if he had pressed just a little. But he was likely infirm and towards the end of his life, and felt it. They also seemed too preachy to me for what I calculate as Lincoln's taste. Herndon was more of a dogmatic, strident atheist. Maybe that helped to cut out the Lemens from any consideration of a Herndon interview too?