Steve, do you happen to know if there is provenance prior to Charles K. Tuckerman? I am curious if it is known how he acquired the sheet. Many thanks for any possible input.

(06-28-2021 03:48 AM)AussieMick Wrote:  This might assist those who are more technical than me...

"Impact of several wearers on the persistence of DNA on clothes-a study with experimental scenarios"

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29151121...s%20crime.

Thanks for the assistance! The article is dealing with touch or sweat dna, a problem when people handle their artifacts and corrupt the desired dna. I have no idea how long that stays with the relic, but the blood on the chair of Mary Todd Lincoln was there for 155 years, and still valid. Mtdna is a better choice because it maintains it's structure the best. I'm not positive off the top of my head, but I believe valid dna may have been taken from the Shroud of Turin, and that's back a ways.

When stories circulated that Jesse James wasn't in his grave, an exhumation was made to check dna. The dna from blood on Booth's clothing, I think, should still be testable. However, we're not talking the test you and I take for our dna, but FBI special testing, and a LOT more money.

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(06-28-2021 06:27 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Steve, do you happen to know if there is provenance prior to Charles K. Tuckerman? I am curious if it is known how he acquired the sheet. Many thanks for any possible input.

Roger,

I was just going by the write-up which accompanied a sheet piece with blood for auction. I'll attempt to find more for the provenance.

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(06-28-2021 06:27 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Steve, do you happen to know if there is provenance prior to Charles K. Tuckerman? I am curious if it is known how he acquired the sheet. Many thanks for any possible input.

Roger,

This link has more information, and a certificate for authenticity. https://www.oakauctions.com/fabric-swatc...t1418.aspx

It doesn't say how he acquired the sheet. I'll look for that information. It does appear that he just cut a piece off, and later made smaller pieces, so he may not have had the whole sheet. I do recall reading somewhere that the sheet stayed on the bed and the usual boarder slept on it. Perhaps, if not a fresh sheet, that boarder may have blood on it, for the unexpected result.

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(06-28-2021 06:27 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Steve, do you happen to know if there is provenance prior to Charles K. Tuckerman? I am curious if it is known how he acquired the sheet. Many thanks for any possible input.

Roger,

There appears to be no provenance beyond taking the word of Charles K. Tuckerman, and the statement of Mary A. Benjamin.

[LINCOLN, ABRAHAM.]
Linen fragment, 5/8 by 1 inch, excised from larger fragment collected by Charles K. Tuckerman from the death chamber of Abraham Lincoln, purportedly stained with Lincoln’s blood, together with color copy of Tuckerman’s original album sheet featuring the larger fragment and the inscription, “Relic from the death bed of Abraham Lincoln, stained with his blood. Taken from his death chamber / C.K.T.” and copy of letter of provenance of noted autograph dealer Mary A. Benjamin.

In Mary Benjamin’s 1961 letter to a representative of Norm Flayderman Antique Firearms, she explains that the original fragment came to her with the papers of Charles K. Tuckerman [1821-1896, the first American Minister to Greece] in an album of his letters, bearing his authentication in a note (a copy of which is present here), and claims that she has “no reason to question or doubt it in any way.”

I'm trying to find out whether anyone checked the sheet for a missing piece the size that Tuckerman took. Also, testing of the sheet swatch against another relic from the original sheet could help verify the provenance. Still looking.

Steve, FYI:

Willie Clark, the Petersen House boarder who was renting the room in which Lincoln died, wrote his sister a few days after the assassination. He wrote, "The same matrass is on my bed, and the same coverlit covers me nightly that covered him while dying." However, I do not see that he mentioned the sheet itself.

In Robert Bain's book it is mentioned that the Petersens decided to "give Mr. Clark some new bedding." However, there is nothing specific about exactly what happened with the sheet that was on Clark's bed. Bain is just going by family lore as he is a descendant of the Petersens. I do not place much trust in his book.

I do not think I can help with provenance...wish I could!

(06-28-2021 09:48 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Steve, FYI:

Willie Clark, the Petersen House boarder who was renting the room in which Lincoln died, wrote his sister a few days after the assassination. He wrote, "The same matrass is on my bed, and the same coverlit covers me nightly that covered him while dying." However, I do not see that he mentioned the sheet itself.

In Robert Bain's book it is mentioned that the Petersens decided to "give Mr. Clark some new bedding." However, there is nothing specific about exactly what happened with the sheet that was on Clark's bed. Bain is just going by family lore as he is a descendant of the Petersens. I do not place much trust in his book.

I do not think I can help with provenance...wish I could!

Roger,

An article in the Smithsonian magazine for the assassination and relics has the attached photo of Lincoln's deathbed the day after Lincoln died. The sheets are supposed to still be there, but aren't visible to look for a missing piece.

Lincoln’s Deathbed

At 7:22 and 10 seconds a.m. on April 15, after an all-night vigil, Abraham Lincoln died in a back room at the Petersen House on a bed that was too small for his frame. The doctors had had to lay him diagonally atop the mattress. Soldiers wrapped his naked body in an American flag and put him into a plain pine box—a rectangular military crate. Lincoln, the former rail-splitter, would not have minded so simple a coffin. After they took him home to the White House, sheets, pillows, towels and a coverlet lay on the boardinghouse bed, still wet with the president’s blood. Two Petersen House boarders, brothers Henry and Julius Ulke, one a photographer and the other an artist, set up a tripod camera and, with the morning sun flooding the hallway from the front door all the way back to the little rear room, photographed the scene.

(06-28-2021 09:48 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Steve, FYI:

Willie Clark, the Petersen House boarder who was renting the room in which Lincoln died, wrote his sister a few days after the assassination. He wrote, "The same matrass is on my bed, and the same coverlit covers me nightly that covered him while dying." However, I do not see that he mentioned the sheet itself.

In Robert Bain's book it is mentioned that the Petersens decided to "give Mr. Clark some new bedding." However, there is nothing specific about exactly what happened with the sheet that was on Clark's bed. Bain is just going by family lore as he is a descendant of the Petersens. I do not place much trust in his book.

I do not think I can help with provenance...wish I could!

Roger,

There is an article about the Peterson house that claims Petereson's son cut the sheets up, along with other items, and handed them out.

William Petersen, absent during the president’s vigil, returned to find his house overrun by souvenir hunters. Angry at the trespassers, Petersen began charging them admission to be there. His son cut the president’s shirt, towels, and sheets into pieces and handed them out. Soon, hundreds of people were arriving daily to see boarder William Clark’s room. According to Clark, “whoever comes in has to be closely watched for fear they will steal something.” Those not satisfied with mementos from the Petersen House also began tearing pieces away from Ford’s Theatre.

The Petersens continued to live in the house and rent rooms up until their deaths in 1871. In 1878, the building was bought by attorney Louis Schade but the growing number of unwelcome visitors grew tiresome and he leased or sold the house to the Memorial Association of D.C. in 1896.

The memorial group gave permission to Osborn Oldroyd—Civil War veteran and Lincoln collector—to move into the building and run his own Lincoln museum until he died in 1930. Notable artifacts included the Lincoln Family bible, Lincoln’s White House chair, and an alleged log from the Lincoln home. In 1926, Oldroyd’s collection was purchased by the government and many items were moved next door to the Lincoln Museum in Ford’s Theate. From 1932 to 1959, five women’s patriotic organizations and the Department of Interior worked to renovate the Peterson House, restoring it to its 1865 appearance. In 2007 the building was purchased by the Ford’s Theatre Society, incorporating the Peterson House into a larger historical site and tourist attraction.
Cite This Entry

Preece, Daniel, Clio Admin, and Michael Woods. "Abraham Lincoln - Petersen House." Clio: Your Guide to History. December 16, 2019. Accessed June 28, 2021. https://theclio.com/entry/20267
*******************************************
IF, say again IF that is true I have no idea what became of the cut up pieces. Also, that would mean the Tuckerman pieces might be the only ones with hope for provenance.

In Lincoln's Final Hours author Kathy Canavan covered some of Fred Petersen's actions. Kathy writes, "The fifteen-year-old went into the relic business. He ran to the writing desk in the front parlor and grabbed some plain white paper. He cut it into squares and signed and dated each one. Then he dipped them in the blood from the front hall, probably Major Rathbone's. The people knotted outside clamored to buy Fred's grim souvenirs. He made $1.12 in fewer than ten minutes."

(06-29-2021 04:37 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  In Lincoln's Final Hours author Kathy Canavan covered some of Fred Petersen's actions. Kathy writes, "The fifteen-year-old went into the relic business. He ran to the writing desk in the front parlor and grabbed some plain white paper. He cut it into squares and signed and dated each one. Then he dipped them in the blood from the front hall, probably Major Rathbone's. The people knotted outside clamored to buy Fred's grim souvenirs. He made $1.12 in fewer than ten minutes."

Roger,

The two pieces of sheet used by Colleen Fitzpatrick and the FBI in their dna studies were both from the Tuckerman collection, so the provenance would be William "Willie" T. Clark, Abraham Lincoln, Charles K. Tuckerman, Mary A. Benjamin and whoever owned it after that, likely a historical society, before it was tested.

Hi Steve and Roger. I've been following this discussion.

The auction houses (a Google search turned up 11 different ones) claim that Charles K. Tuckerman obtained a piece of sheet stained with Lincoln's blood, from Lincoln's deathbed at the Petersen House. All the smaller pieces of it sold by these auctions rely on the same letter written by Mary Benjamin for provenance.

"This rare relic was obtained by Charles K. Tuckerman (1821-1896), an author, politician, and the first American Minister to Greece, who was in Washington at the time of Lincoln's assassination. The original, larger mounted section of cloth, found in Tuckerman's papers, bore on the paper mount his initialed provenance: "Relic from the death bed of Abraham Lincoln, stained with his blood. Taken from his death chamber. C. K. T.". This smaller piece of the sheet measures approximately 5/8" x 1" and is contained within a plastic sleeve. A color copy of the original sheet and Tuckerman's provenance is included in the lot. Also included is a copy of a letter by autograph expert and dealer Mary Benjamin on Walter R. Benjamin letterhead, 1p. 4to., New York, June 2, 1961 to Norm Flayderman Antique Firearms in which Benjamin states: "...It is a piece of the linen sheet taken from Lincoln's deathbed in the Peterson House [across the street from Ford's Theater]... It came to me with the Charles K. Tuckerman papers...[Tuckerman was] in Washington at the time of Lincoln's death...it was included in an album of his letters, bearing his authentication...I had no reason to question or doubt it in any way..." An important relic, with excellent provenance - a must-have for any Lincoln collector.
http://hcaauctions.com/lot-10827.aspx

Questions that need answers.

1. Mary Benjamin never says how the Tuckerman album and letters came to her nor in any of the auctions is there an album or proof that such an album belonged to Charles K. Tuckerman. I have searched for such an album or other proof that the album page with C.K.T. initials belong to Tuckerman. I haven't turned up anything. Steve maybe you can search for it.

2. Mary Benjamin writes Tuckerman was in Washington the day of the assassination. Maybe this can be be verified.

3. Tuckerman was a historian and it just seems odd that if he had been in Washington the night of the assassination, why didn't he mention it in his book, "Personal Recollections of Notable People at Home and Abroad" (published in 1895 in two volumes by Dodd Mead) . Volume I has Chapters on Lincoln and Seward and he doesn't mention being there. He writes he saw Lincoln is his coffin in New York City Hall. Read it here. https://books.google.com/books?id=YaMMAA...ln&f=false

4. It also seems odd that Tuckerman didn't leave any correspondence or interviews about his experience in Washington the day of the assassination or mention how he came to have the relic. He was a very public figure.

Steve you are skilled A+ searcher. Hope this helps.

(06-29-2021 06:14 PM)Anita Wrote:  Hi Steve and Roger. I've been following this discussion.

The auction houses (a Google search turned up 11 different ones) claim that Charles K. Tuckerman obtained a piece of sheet stained with Lincoln's blood, from Lincoln's deathbed at the Petersen House. All the smaller pieces of it sold by these auctions rely on the same letter written by Mary Benjamin for provenance.

"This rare relic was obtained by Charles K. Tuckerman (1821-1896), an author, politician, and the first American Minister to Greece, who was in Washington at the time of Lincoln's assassination. The original, larger mounted section of cloth, found in Tuckerman's papers, bore on the paper mount his initialed provenance: "Relic from the death bed of Abraham Lincoln, stained with his blood. Taken from his death chamber. C. K. T.". This smaller piece of the sheet measures approximately 5/8" x 1" and is contained within a plastic sleeve. A color copy of the original sheet and Tuckerman's provenance is included in the lot. Also included is a copy of a letter by autograph expert and dealer Mary Benjamin on Walter R. Benjamin letterhead, 1p. 4to., New York, June 2, 1961 to Norm Flayderman Antique Firearms in which Benjamin states: "...It is a piece of the linen sheet taken from Lincoln's deathbed in the Peterson House [across the street from Ford's Theater]... It came to me with the Charles K. Tuckerman papers...[Tuckerman was] in Washington at the time of Lincoln's death...it was included in an album of his letters, bearing his authentication...I had no reason to question or doubt it in any way..." An important relic, with excellent provenance - a must-have for any Lincoln collector.
http://hcaauctions.com/lot-10827.aspx

Questions that need answers.

1. Mary Benjamin never says how the Tuckerman album and letters came to her nor in any of the auctions is there an album or proof that such an album belonged to Charles K. Keating. I have searched for such an album or other proof that the album page with C.K.T. initials belong to Tuckerman. I haven't turned up anything. Steve maybe you can search for it.

2. Mary Benjamin writes Tuckerman was in Washington the day of the assassination. Maybe this can be be verified.

3. Tuckerman was a historian and it just seems odd that if he had been in Washington the night of the assassination, why didn't he mention it in his book, "Personal Recollections of Notable People at Home and Abroad" (published in 1895 in two volumes by Dodd Mead) . Volume I has Chapters on Lincoln and Seward and he doesn't mention being there. He writes he saw Lincoln is his coffin in New York City Hall. Read it here. https://books.google.com/books?id=YaMMAA...ln&f=false

4. It also seems odd that Tuckerman didn't leave any correspondence or interviews about his experience in Washington the day of the assassination or mention how he came to have the relic. He was a very public figure.

Steve you are skilled A+ searcher. Hope this helps.

Anita,

Thank you for your input! I was not previously involved at all with this dna testing, so all this sheet relic information is new to me. I might be getting involved going forward, but not sure of that. At any rate it has occurred to me as well to verify that Tuckerman was present at Lincoln's deathbed, or at least in Washington.

Your other points are valid as well! Right now I'm leaning toward either fraud by Charles K. Tuckerman or perhaps Willie Clark had blood on the sheet prior to Lincoln being placed on it. Dr. Charles A. Leale has living mtdna descendants. I know he was present.

I'll try to find out whether William "Willie" T. Clark and Charles K. Tuckerman have living descendants from their mtdna line, meaning from their mothers, or sisters.

(06-29-2021 06:14 PM)Anita Wrote:  Hi Steve and Roger. I've been following this discussion.

The auction houses (a Google search turned up 11 different ones) claim that Charles K. Tuckerman obtained a piece of sheet stained with Lincoln's blood, from Lincoln's deathbed at the Petersen House. All the smaller pieces of it sold by these auctions rely on the same letter written by Mary Benjamin for provenance.

"This rare relic was obtained by Charles K. Tuckerman (1821-1896), an author, politician, and the first American Minister to Greece, who was in Washington at the time of Lincoln's assassination. The original, larger mounted section of cloth, found in Tuckerman's papers, bore on the paper mount his initialed provenance: "Relic from the death bed of Abraham Lincoln, stained with his blood. Taken from his death chamber. C. K. T.". This smaller piece of the sheet measures approximately 5/8" x 1" and is contained within a plastic sleeve. A color copy of the original sheet and Tuckerman's provenance is included in the lot. Also included is a copy of a letter by autograph expert and dealer Mary Benjamin on Walter R. Benjamin letterhead, 1p. 4to., New York, June 2, 1961 to Norm Flayderman Antique Firearms in which Benjamin states: "...It is a piece of the linen sheet taken from Lincoln's deathbed in the Peterson House [across the street from Ford's Theater]... It came to me with the Charles K. Tuckerman papers...[Tuckerman was] in Washington at the time of Lincoln's death...it was included in an album of his letters, bearing his authentication...I had no reason to question or doubt it in any way..." An important relic, with excellent provenance - a must-have for any Lincoln collector.
http://hcaauctions.com/lot-10827.aspx

Questions that need answers.

1. Mary Benjamin never says how the Tuckerman album and letters came to her nor in any of the auctions is there an album or proof that such an album belonged to Charles K. Tuckerman. I have searched for such an album or other proof that the album page with C.K.T. initials belong to Tuckerman. I haven't turned up anything. Steve maybe you can search for it.

2. Mary Benjamin writes Tuckerman was in Washington the day of the assassination. Maybe this can be be verified.

3. Tuckerman was a historian and it just seems odd that if he had been in Washington the night of the assassination, why didn't he mention it in his book, "Personal Recollections of Notable People at Home and Abroad" (published in 1895 in two volumes by Dodd Mead) . Volume I has Chapters on Lincoln and Seward and he doesn't mention being there. He writes he saw Lincoln is his coffin in New York City Hall. Read it here. https://books.google.com/books?id=YaMMAA...ln&f=false

4. It also seems odd that Tuckerman didn't leave any correspondence or interviews about his experience in Washington the day of the assassination or mention how he came to have the relic. He was a very public figure.

Steve you are skilled A+ searcher. Hope this helps.

Houston, and Anita,

We have a problem!

"Personal Recollections of Notable People at Home and Abroad: With ..., Volume 1
By Charles Keating Tuckerman, "Before and Behind the Scenes" pg 197, Mr Tuckerman writes of his friend, Edwin Booth, that on the morning dispatch brought news that Wilkes Booth had murdered President Lincoln, (which I am presuming is likely 15 Apr 1865), Edwin Booth was devastated by what his brother had done. Tuckerman writes:

"The first feeling on the part of Edwin Booth's personal friends was one of intense sympathy for him, and on the morning when the fatal despatch reached him in New York, many of his friends hastened to his house to console and support him. I was among the first to arrive, and I found the young actor in the most pitiable state imaginable."

How is it that Tuckerman was simultaneously at Lincoln's deathbed in DC and in NY?

Many thanks to both Anita and Steve for all the efforts in looking into this matter. Provenance is of vital importance in a situation such as this. From the beginning this situation reminded me of the difficulties the ALPLM had with the provenance of Lincoln's hat in its possession.

We have discussed W. Emerson Reck's book before on this forum. I do not think it's an exaggeration to say it's the gold standard for determining who was at Lincoln's deathbed and who wasn't. There is no mention of Tuckerman in that book.

I once read somewhere (cannot remember where) that Willie Clark was not known to change his sheets very often, so it's likely the sheet was not clean when Lincoln was placed on the bed.

(06-30-2021 04:12 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Many thanks to both Anita and Steve for all the efforts in looking into this matter. Provenance is of vital importance in a situation such as this. From the beginning this situation reminded me of the difficulties the ALPLM had with the provenance of Lincoln's hat in its possession.

We have discussed W. Emerson Reck's book before on this forum. I do not think it's an exaggeration to say it's the gold standard for determining who was at Lincoln's deathbed and who wasn't. There is no mention of Tuckerman in that book.

I once read somewhere (cannot remember where) that Willie Clark was not known to change his sheets very often, so it's likely the sheet was not clean when Lincoln was placed on the bed.

Roger,

While reading some of his book I got the distinct impression Charles Keating Tuckerman was a name-dropper and event-dropper. He did mention seeing Lincoln lying in state, and getting locked in alone with him during a shift change, but no mention of being at Lincoln's death bedside, as Anita said. He would have gone on at length about his interactions at the death watch, had he been there. I'm thinking he got the swatch from someone else, but I need to keep looking. I would have expected him to mention his acquisition in one of his books.

Mr. Tuckerman was a NY based financier, who was involved with Lincoln's attempt to send American Negros to colonize a small island off Haiti, which was a disastrous failure.

(06-29-2021 06:14 PM)Anita Wrote:  Hi Steve and Roger. I've been following this discussion.

The auction houses (a Google search turned up 11 different ones) claim that Charles K. Tuckerman obtained a piece of sheet stained with Lincoln's blood, from Lincoln's deathbed at the Petersen House. All the smaller pieces of it sold by these auctions rely on the same letter written by Mary Benjamin for provenance.

"This rare relic was obtained by Charles K. Tuckerman (1821-1896), an author, politician, and the first American Minister to Greece, who was in Washington at the time of Lincoln's assassination. The original, larger mounted section of cloth, found in Tuckerman's papers, bore on the paper mount his initialed provenance: "Relic from the death bed of Abraham Lincoln, stained with his blood. Taken from his death chamber. C. K. T.". This smaller piece of the sheet measures approximately 5/8" x 1" and is contained within a plastic sleeve. A color copy of the original sheet and Tuckerman's provenance is included in the lot. Also included is a copy of a letter by autograph expert and dealer Mary Benjamin on Walter R. Benjamin letterhead, 1p. 4to., New York, June 2, 1961 to Norm Flayderman Antique Firearms in which Benjamin states: "...It is a piece of the linen sheet taken from Lincoln's deathbed in the Peterson House [across the street from Ford's Theater]... It came to me with the Charles K. Tuckerman papers...[Tuckerman was] in Washington at the time of Lincoln's death...it was included in an album of his letters, bearing his authentication...I had no reason to question or doubt it in any way..." An important relic, with excellent provenance - a must-have for any Lincoln collector.
http://hcaauctions.com/lot-10827.aspx

Questions that need answers.

1. Mary Benjamin never says how the Tuckerman album and letters came to her nor in any of the auctions is there an album or proof that such an album belonged to Charles K. Tuckerman. I have searched for such an album or other proof that the album page with C.K.T. initials belong to Tuckerman. I haven't turned up anything. Steve maybe you can search for it.

2. Mary Benjamin writes Tuckerman was in Washington the day of the assassination. Maybe this can be be verified.

3. Tuckerman was a historian and it just seems odd that if he had been in Washington the night of the assassination, why didn't he mention it in his book, "Personal Recollections of Notable People at Home and Abroad" (published in 1895 in two volumes by Dodd Mead) . Volume I has Chapters on Lincoln and Seward and he doesn't mention being there. He writes he saw Lincoln is his coffin in New York City Hall. Read it here. https://books.google.com/books?id=YaMMAA...ln&f=false

4. It also seems odd that Tuckerman didn't leave any correspondence or interviews about his experience in Washington the day of the assassination or mention how he came to have the relic. He was a very public figure.

Steve you are skilled A+ searcher. Hope this helps.

Anita,

I'm not positive, but this link https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/3626T/lots/1131 should go to a page for albums and letter of Charles K. Tuckerman, which may have included at some point the album of letters that Mary Benjamin acquired. I've see a page with C.K.T. written on it as proof for the Lincoln sheet. It finally dawned on me that Tuckerman only maintains the piece of sheet was from Lincoln's deathbed, not that he personally cut it. He obtained it from someone else, who I haven't seen mentioned thus far. Perhaps he told someone in a letter, but I don't know that to be a fact. The provenance is incomplete, and may not actually be as advertised. Blood has been tested from 2 sources on that same Tuckerman sheet, with the same results, but not Lincoln's blood, which needs testing from a different relic for verification. If that results in an X1c mtdna haplogroup, that's President Lincoln's blood and the Tuckerman sheet is a fake, or the wrong piece was cut.

(06-29-2021 06:14 PM)Anita Wrote:  Hi Steve and Roger. I've been following this discussion.

The auction houses (a Google search turned up 11 different ones) claim that Charles K. Tuckerman obtained a piece of sheet stained with Lincoln's blood, from Lincoln's deathbed at the Petersen House. All the smaller pieces of it sold by these auctions rely on the same letter written by Mary Benjamin for provenance.

"This rare relic was obtained by Charles K. Tuckerman (1821-1896), an author, politician, and the first American Minister to Greece, who was in Washington at the time of Lincoln's assassination. The original, larger mounted section of cloth, found in Tuckerman's papers, bore on the paper mount his initialed provenance: "Relic from the death bed of Abraham Lincoln, stained with his blood. Taken from his death chamber. C. K. T.". This smaller piece of the sheet measures approximately 5/8" x 1" and is contained within a plastic sleeve. A color copy of the original sheet and Tuckerman's provenance is included in the lot. Also included is a copy of a letter by autograph expert and dealer Mary Benjamin on Walter R. Benjamin letterhead, 1p. 4to., New York, June 2, 1961 to Norm Flayderman Antique Firearms in which Benjamin states: "...It is a piece of the linen sheet taken from Lincoln's deathbed in the Peterson House [across the street from Ford's Theater]... It came to me with the Charles K. Tuckerman papers...[Tuckerman was] in Washington at the time of Lincoln's death...it was included in an album of his letters, bearing his authentication...I had no reason to question or doubt it in any way..." An important relic, with excellent provenance - a must-have for any Lincoln collector.
http://hcaauctions.com/lot-10827.aspx

Questions that need answers.

1. Mary Benjamin never says how the Tuckerman album and letters came to her nor in any of the auctions is there an album or proof that such an album belonged to Charles K. Tuckerman. I have searched for such an album or other proof that the album page with C.K.T. initials belong to Tuckerman. I haven't turned up anything. Steve maybe you can search for it.

2. Mary Benjamin writes Tuckerman was in Washington the day of the assassination. Maybe this can be be verified.

3. Tuckerman was a historian and it just seems odd that if he had been in Washington the night of the assassination, why didn't he mention it in his book, "Personal Recollections of Notable People at Home and Abroad" (published in 1895 in two volumes by Dodd Mead) . Volume I has Chapters on Lincoln and Seward and he doesn't mention being there. He writes he saw Lincoln is his coffin in New York City Hall. Read it here. https://books.google.com/books?id=YaMMAA...ln&f=false

4. It also seems odd that Tuckerman didn't leave any correspondence or interviews about his experience in Washington the day of the assassination or mention how he came to have the relic. He was a very public figure.

Steve you are skilled A+ searcher. Hope this helps.

Anita,

I'm unable to post the provenance letter written by Charles Keating Tuckerman, with his C.K.T. initials, plus another sample of his initials and signature to verify that it was, in fact, Charles who wrote the note for provenance. There is a false signature attributed to Mr. Tuckerman in a letter written to Abraham Lincoln, where the person who wrote the letter signed "for C. K. Tuckerman" written by P.S. Forbes. It seems the images are over 500Kb, and the system won't allow that.

At any rate I believe it was Charles K. Tuckerman who wrote the provenance letter, and I've noticed in some of the auction house descriptions they say the relic was "obtained" by Charles K. Tuckerman. That doesn't mean he cut it himself. Had he done so I would have expected he should have written in his book that he raced from Lincoln's deathbed to console Edwin Booth on 15 Apr 1865, which he did not. Both men were in NYC, where C. K. Tuckerman lived.

If you want to see the items I mentioned for yourself please contact me at ctn59880@centurytel.net and I can attach them to an email. I got the initials and autograph from the Tuckerman collection.

Steve,

If you email Roger the image of the Tuckerman letter, he can post a larger size image of it. That's how I'm able to post images of newspaper articles.