The Bixby Letter

[Steve]

(07-25-2017 09:50 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  I (meanwhile) tend to agree with Cliff on his last passage and points. Plus as for Robert - he was so proud of his father's legacy I could imagine Hay as his friend didn't want to interfere with that. As for Mr. Burlingame's suggestion - Abraham Lincoln certainly wouldn't have needed "idea input" help to write a private letter of condolence to a "common citizen" of no or minor public/political influence or importance (my QUESTION - was it to expect for the White House the letter would be published?) and not even personally known to him. But since the days of his first election and without a war to deal with he had needed the help of secretaries to help with the mass of correspondency obligations.

Burlingame's suggestion was about the letter to Col. Ellsworth's parents to account for similarities in style to the Bixby while definitely being known to have been penned by Lincoln since it still survives:

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?col...b&recNum=0