Seed Pearl Necklace and Bracelets

[Donna]

I know I said that last post was my last post, but I miss you all. Plus I’m bored.
Donna McCreary.....you wrote.....”Since some would consider me an expert on 19th century fashion, and definitely the clothing of Mary Lincoln, I have some comments about the daguerreotype previously mentioned”.
Yes. Some would, as I’ve discerned from prior posts. I guess I’ll just have to take your word for it, since I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about 19th century fashion. And I got no plans to study up on it anytime soon. You could tell me she’s dressed like a pilgrim fresh off the Mayflower and I couldn’t argue with you. More importantly to me is the identity of the lady underneath all that very descriptive material, and I KNOW exactly who that is, as do a few others from your neck of the woods.
But I truly, sincerely.....implore you to tap the brakes on the seed pearl parure ‘theory’. Otherwise you’re going to end up with as much egg on your face as Donald Ackerman, who is still waiting for the white inaugural gown to surface so he can purchase it. My only observation about the white point d’Alencon lace collar and the seed pearl necklace is that they wouldn’t go together from a fashion point of view. I may very well be dead wrong on this particular point but I look at that lace collar and I just can’t picture a seed pearl necklace on top of it. That’s just my two cents. Fortunately I don’t need to argue that point because it never happened. There is no contemporaneous witness account backing up your claim, or that of John Loring. You may very well be correct in reference to a book he wrote, but this is simply more misinformation being put out for public consumption until eventually it becomes ‘fact’. Mr. Loring has authored over 20 books on Tiffany & Co. and the book you referred to was published in 1987. He first started working at Tiffany’s in 1979 and is still employed there today. He should know better. Their own records indicate April 28th, 1862 as the date of purchase. Had he simply walked down the hall from his office and taken the first left to the records department, 3rd gun-metal grey filing cabinet on the right, second drawer down (again - I’m like totally guessing here), some of this confusion could have been avoided. To be fair to Mr. Loring though, there is the 18,000 plus Lincoln biographies out there, many of which echo the same thing, so let’s not judge John too harshly. It’s not like he started the whole thing. (Hmmm.....I wonder what the odds are they find some brand new ‘long-lost’ records up there at Tiffany’s in the next few day or weeks that just coincidentally confirm February 20th, 1861 as the date of purchase?)
The following is an entry in the Lincoln Log, a website that attempts to chronicle the whereabouts and activities of every day of Abraham Lincoln’s life. Literally! No joke. It really is a valuable resource for the public. This particular entry describes the activities of Lincoln on February 20th, 1861. It is simply illogical to assume that a man as recognizable as Abraham Lincoln, while the center of attention in the middle of New York City and in high demand on his way to Washington to be inaugurated as our nation’s 16th President, could somehow sneak away with Mary to go shopping for seed pearls at Tiffany’s in Manhattan and NO ONE NOTICED! He was a great man. He did great things. He wasn’t invisible.
One more thing. There was an article in Forbes in 2015 that goes as follows.....”In 1862, in commemoration of his election the previous year, American President Abraham Lincoln commissioned Tiffany & Co. to create a seed pearl parure for his wife, Mary Lincoln”. The operative words of course being the date, commissioned, and create. IF, and that may very well be a big IF, but IF the author knows what she is talking about, then that puts her and John at loggerheads. I’m betting on the girl.


New York, NY.

Accompanied by Thurlow Weed, N. B. Judd, James W. Webb, editor, "Morning Courier and New York Enquirer," and Gov. William Sprague (R.I.), Lincoln leaves Astor House at 8:30 A.M. to breakfast with selected group of merchants at home of former Cong. Moses H. Grinnell (N.Y.), New York merchant. N.Y. World, 21 February 1861; N.Y. Times, 21 February 1861; N.Y. Herald, 21 February 1861.

Returns to hotel at 10:30 A.M. and meets Joshua Dewey, aged 94, who has voted at every presidential election since George Washington's. N.Y. Times, 21 February 1861.

Committee from common council headed by Alderman Cornell escorts Lincoln to City Hall at 11 A.M. to meet Mayor Fernando Wood and council. Replying to Wood's speech, Lincoln says: "There is nothing that can ever bring me willingly to consent to the destruction of this Union, under which . . . the whole country has acquired its greatness, unless it were to be that thing for which the Union itself was made." N.Y. Times, 21 February 1861; Reply to Mayor Fernando Wood at New York City, 20 February 1861, CW, 4:232-33.

Remains for public reception; "motley crowd poured in"; shakes hands with 30 veterans of War of 1812; makes brief remarks from balcony of City Hall; and returns to hotel shortly after 1 P.M. N.Y. Times, 21 February 1861; Cleveland Plain Dealer, 20 February 1861; N.Y. Herald, 21 February 1861.

In afternoon receives number of friends privately. N.Y. Times, 21 February 1861.

Showman P. T. Barnum invites him to museum, but he does not go; Mrs. Lincoln and children accept. Meets former Gov. Hamilton Fish (N.Y.). Receives hats from both Knox and Leary, New York hatters; when asked their relative value, comments, "They mutually surpassed each other." N.Y. World, 21 February 1861.

Vice President-elect Hamlin arrives in New York and dines with Lincoln family in its hotel rooms. Baltimore Sun, 22 February 1861.

Lincoln, Judge Davis, and Alderman Cornell arrive late at Academy of Music for performance of Verdi's new opera "Un Ballo in Maschera." N.Y. World, 21 February 1861; N.Y. Times, 21 February 1861.

Lincoln wears black gloves and shocks city's é lite. Monaghan, Diplomat, 31.

After first act takes two bows in response to applause. Audience and cast sing "The Star Spangled Banner." Lincoln returns to hotel after second act. N.Y. World, 21 February 1861.

Hamlin speaks from window of ladies' parlor. Presidential party serenaded by German quartette from Hoboken and by National Guard band. N.Y. Times, 21 February 1861.

[Irwin withdraws $7 from Springfield Marine Bank. Pratt, Personal Finances, 176.]

Mrs. Lincoln holds reception at Astor House 8:30 to 10 P.M. N.Y. Times, 21 February 1861.

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