Possible Lincoln artifact discovered!

[L Verge]

I found some clues to follow in determining the provenance of both the chest of drawers "signed" by "Tad" and the parlor set supposedly purchased from Mary Lincoln by John Alston. I found the information in a January 2015 posting on the Henry Ford Museum webpage by Charles Sable, one of the curators at the Henry Ford. www.thehenryford.org/explore/blog/at-home-with-the-lincolns/

First, there are photos of two pieces of the parlor set we have been discussing - a marble-topped center table and an upholstered side chair. They are listed as having been purchased by Mrs. Lincoln in 1866 for her Chicago home. No mention, however, of why she sold them the next year - and no mention of Alston or how they were purchased by Ford at least forty years later.

As for the Springfield furnishings, this site says that Lincoln sold almost all of the furnishings and equipment from that home when the family left for Washington. It was mainly purchased by a colleague and neighbor, Henry Wilton, an Illinois State Marshall. Ford acquired the pieces (some shown on the Ford Museum website) in 1930 from Wilton's grandsons.

If you really think that the chest of drawers once belonged to the Lincolns, I think its age/style would suggest that it could have gone home with Henry Wilton in 1860. Henry Ford did not usually buy a pig in a poke, so I would think there had to be some good provenance attached to what he acquired from the Wiltons - and was a chest of drawers ever mentioned in their collections file?

[Tadsecrete]

I tend to stay away from the furniture that was sold in Springfield before the move to Washington. Simply because of the etchings. The Tad on the rocker is rather plain and "stick figured". While the gouges in the wood atop my chest of drawers is more rounded and at least a quarter inch deep. He also, has placed x's over the eyes of the animals and the presumed Abraham. The etching just looks more mature.

[RJNorton]

The Springfield furniture seems to have become quite scattered. Beside what Laurie mentioned, some pieces, such as a four-poster bed, are presumed destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, having been taken there by Lucian Tilton, who first rented the home after the Lincolns moved to Washington.

When the Lincolns asked the Roll family to care for Fido they also gave the Rolls their horsehair sofa. (This sofa is now at Hildene I believe.) Other pieces, particularly those that ended up in the hands of Lincoln home tenant/collector/caretaker Osborn H. Oldroyd, took a circuitous route before they were returned to the Springfield home.

[Tadsecrete]

Upon Mary and Tad's return to the states, what kind of personal effects did they return with? Did they rent furnished houses/apartments while overseas?

[Eva Elisabeth]

They lived in hotels. Please see post #80 here:
http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussio...age-6.html
...and posts #3 ff here:
http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussio...-1215.html

[Tadsecrete]

So, we also can assume that there was NO furniture on their return to the states?

[L Verge]

I think we have to take into consideration the dire financial state that Mrs. Lincoln considered herself to be in upon her husband's death. She fought for years to get compensation/pension from Congress. Her inheritance from Lincoln's estate was slow in coming and was a little over $36,000 when it was finalized. One source that I read said that it worked out to about $1500-$1800/year for her. Maybe she sold that nice parlor suite a year after she purchased it because she needed money?

She opened herself up to ridicule in her attempts to get money from the sale of her used clothing. She lived in a succession of boardinghouses in Chicago and during her travels in Europe (Eva and Roger did a series of wonderful postings on her stay in Pau, France a year or so ago) before and after Tad's death in 1871.

She spent four months in treatment at Bellevue Place in 1875 and then four years in Europe. She returns to live with her sister in Springfield, where she dies in 1882. Perhaps we can assume that she had no need for furniture? And, it would be a lot easier to move around Europe without having to ship large items.

[Tadsecrete]

I think we have to take into consideration the dire financial state that Mrs. Lincoln considered herself to be in upon her husband's death. She fought for years to get compensation/pension from Congress. Her inheritance from Lincoln's estate was slow in coming and was a little over $36,000 when it was finalized. One source that I read said that it worked out to about $1500-$1800/year for her. Maybe she sold that nice parlor suite a year after she purchased it because she needed money?

She opened herself up to ridicule in her attempts to get money from the sale of her used clothing. She lived in a succession of boardinghouses in Chicago and during her travels in Europe (Eva and Roger did a series of wonderful postings on her stay in Pau, France a year or so ago) before and after Tad's death in 1871.

She spent four months in treatment at Bellevue Place in 1875 and then four years in Europe. She returns to live with her sister in Springfield, where she dies in 1882. Perhaps we can assume that she had no need for furniture? And, it would be a lot easier to move around Europe without having to ship large items.

Agreed. I don't believe any (substantial) furnishings were shipped back to the states. Thanks for the added info. I am trying my darned ness to pick as many brains here as possible. So far, so good!

[Gene C]

A common concern for people on a fixed income or that are dependent on their life savings, is running out of money.
Mary had enough to live on, but she was insecure. (And had been most of her life) She was insecure in many of her relationships, and that may have increased her anxiety about money.

[Eva Elisabeth]

I also wonder how much furniture would have been reasonable taking on the ships (- and for less than a fortune):
http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln101.html

If you wonder whether your chest came from Germany - I can't help it, the style doesn't look like what was (to my experience/knowledge) common here. If you can Google German results for "anrichte mahagoni 1840" you may get an impression.

[Tadsecrete]

Mr. Norton,

Could you tell me where I stand as far as years go? We've ruled out Mr. Alston's purchase and ruled out (assuming) any return of furniture from Germany or England.
And assuming that the carvings are post assassination. Thanks.

[RJNorton]

Brian, my best guess is that it would have to be during the 1865-1868 Chicago years. I posted some of the movements of the Lincolns here.

[RJNorton]

Brian and Rachel...in all honesty I think finding direct evidence that Tad really did this carving will be extremely difficult.

[Tadsecrete]

Oh, we are well aware of the task at hand. And, who amongst you, would not have gotten chills had you come across a piece of period furniture with TAD carved into the top. Lack of funds keeps us from hiring somebody to do the leg work that is needed. But, we have the Internet and social media. Who knows, maybe somebody's child or grandchild may recognize the piece and also have a story to tell. One in a million shot, but we're having fun trying.

[Tadsecrete]

Came across this photo which is new to me. I apologize if it has been posted here before. Found it on ancestry.com. Was wondering about how tall he might be in this pic. The chest of drawers is 4 feet tall with carvings on the top.