Who is this lady?

[Steve Whitlock]

(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?