Lincoln Discussion Symposium

Those are two excellent guesses, gentlemen, but neither one is correct. Steve answered what was going to be my next question. Vinnie did ask but she was second to do so.

Laura Keene?

Alphonso Dunn

Those are two more excellent guesses, gentlemen, but neither one is correct. Donn (Dunn) is the White House doorkeeper to whom Mary Lincoln gave the clothes.

Robert Lincoln?

Nope, it was not Robert Lincoln.

Edwin Stanton, or some underling in the War Department, borrowing the clothes temporarily to be used as evidence if needed for the trial?

I am sorry, Steve, but it wasn't Stanton or any War Department employee who asked to borrow the clothes from Mary.

Matthew Wilson (artist) ?

I second AussieMick's guess of Matthew Wilson.

Kudos, Michael and Steve. Yes, it was Matthew Wilson, a portrait painter. He was first to ask Mary Lincoln if he could borrow the clothes, but it's unclear if he actually made use of them in his work. Later Vinnie Ream also asked to borrow the clothes.

Source: p. 62 of Reignette's new book entitled Lincoln's Greatcoat: The Unlikely Odyssey of a Presidential Relic.

Here's a link to a preview of Reignette's book:

https://books.google.com/books?id=IBKSDw...&q&f=false

In a letter to his wife, Jeannie, Matthew Wilson wrote that Mrs. Lincoln had sent "clothing for the full length." Yet according to one of Wilson's descendants, who wrote a very interesting article about the artist in the October 1972 edition of the Connecticut Historical Society, "there is no full-length portrait of Lincoln in existence by Matthew Wilson."

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Thanks for featuring a part of my book in your trivia quiz.

(06-28-2019 10:05 AM)Steve Wrote: [ -> ]Here's a link to a preview of Reignette's book:

https://books.google.com/books?id=IBKSDw...&q&f=false

Reignette - I love the quote from Maya Angelou that you began your preface with: There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. I passed it on to my fellow museum directors at work because I consider it a mission of those who deal with public history to find these stories and pass them on (citing facts or defining as legend).

Many times, these side stories are much more interesting than the dry history of textbooks and professional historians. In fact, the theme of the Surratt Conference in April 2020 is Lincoln Assassination Stories: Bits & Pieces That Add to the Full Story. We will be featuring talks on Gen. Lew Wallace of the military tribunal, Fort Jefferson and Dr. Mudd's "visit," Dr. Luke Blackburn's nasty plot, fighting the exhumation cases in the 1990s, post-assassination Ford's Theatre, and the real Lucy Hale.

Who is this man?