Seed Pearl Necklace and Bracelets

[James]

Roger... Dr. John Sotos studied the contemporaneous accounts supplied by others, he didn't spend one minute studying the actual subject of his investigation. He obviously didn't study the photographic record that has been passed down through history. Most if not all of these accounts were supplied by Lincoln admirers who, if not reluctant to cast Abe in a somewhat compromised manner, simply didn't think it was relevant. The preponderance of the photographic evidence is convincing. The cockamamie excuses supplied by biographers only bolster and lend credence to this.
Before Dave went running out of here with his hair on fire, I was trying to explain to him (when I said Bingo) that no, when first looking at the photo on page 24, I didn't see anything either. Just another Lincoln photo. It wasn't until I read the caption that my radar went up just a bit and stored away for future reference. "Swollen and nearly paralyzed" from shaking hands. That's unusual. Then again with Leonard Volk. The piece of whittled broomstick. What the broomstick wasn't long enough to cut and whittle a piece for his LEFT hand? Once again, "swollen from shaking hands" the previous evening. Then the photos on page 110 and 216. You have to admit that as stand alone images, those poses are unusual at best. The manner in which Abe is clutching just looks off. When I say "subtle", I mean subtle. But there is something there just isn't right.
There are other photos throughout the photographic record of Lincoln seated with his right hand lying curled up in his lap that, when taken in totality with all of the other instances and strange excuses and descriptions, point to a somewhat compromised right shoulder, arm and hand. I have no idea what that might be or the extent of it.
How do you square what is reported in the link you provided on an earlier post, about Lincoln "shaking hands with thousands of soldiers" and then immediately walking over to pick up a 7 pound ax and extend it horizontally at arm's length in a show of strength for a period of time, with the other reports? By the way, it doesn't actually say which hand he did that with. This was one week prior to his assassination. Yet a few years earlier after shaking hands, his right hand was "swollen and nearly paralyzed". Two and two don't equal five. Both of these stories can't be true. I choose to believe the one supported by visual evidence.
So tell me Roger, do you think all those politicians and celebrities and sports stars at autograph signings and the like, rush back to their hotel rooms to immediately plunge their hands into a bucket of ice because of the swelling. Did Hillary do that? If you look up either "frail' or "feeble" in the dictionary, there's a picture of Bernie Sanders right there alongside the definition (there should be). I wonder if Bernie had to resort to the ice bucket. Was Lincoln the "railsplitter!" or a hand model for Proctor and Gamble? C'mon. Think about it. Instead of making Lincoln look like a wuss with those idiotic excuses they used, his biographers should have just told the truth and not attempted to conceal it. It was just one more in a long line of obstacles that Lincoln overcame on his extraordinary journey to impact american history as no other - before or since. That's just the way I see it. We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

Laurie - I'm willing to talk about anything relative to the daguerreotype, the sitters, authenticity, etc. The questions you pose relative to Donna have nothing to do with that.
In some of the earliest posts on this thread, there are some of those newspaper accounts that were posted by others. Donna posted one by the New York Times? that was published March 6th that states explicitly that her "adornment was the simple diamond". This was authored by a reporter was witnessed the events of March 4th and submitted his article the following day. Is the Point D'Alencon lace collar still up for debate? I thought that was settled.
So when I say they reported she didn't wear the seed pearl jewelry, I don't mean the literal translation of that statement. That headline ... MARY TODD LINCOLN DID NOT WEAR THE SEED PEARL JEWELRY TO THE 1861 INAUGURAL BALL ... is down the road a ways.
So at what point do you folks, with all of the resources at your disposal that I don't have access to, do your due diligence and research some of this stuff yourself? Or is the objective to hold all of those materials close to the vest so the photograph cannot be authenticated? Seems like you're more of an obstacle that an asset in the search for the truth.
Put up or shut up? You betcha!

Hey Gene ... got an idea. At the next one of those shindigs the Lincoln community puts together over there in Springfield, how about you bring your karaoke machine and I'll set up a Kool-Aid stand. It'll be a real hootananny! Plus we'll be raking it in hand over fist.