ALPLM Cuts Ties With Library Foundation By SEAN CRAWFORD • APR 1, 2021

[David Lockmiller]

(11-16-2022 12:20 PM)Dave Taylor Wrote:  For those interested, I used Dr. Wheeler’s report to write a deep history of the acquisition of the Taper collection and what led to it leaving the ALPLM two weeks ago.

https://lincolnconspirators.com/2022/11/...ollection/

The Provenance

The stovepipe hat in the Taper collection is accompanied by a 1958 affidavit signed by Clara Waller. Mrs. Waller recounted that the hat had belonged to her late husband, Elbert Waller, who had received it from his father William Waller. According to Clara’s affidavit, William Waller traveled to D.C. and met Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Discovering they wore the same hat size, the two men exchanged hats. Waller returned home to Illinois and kept Lincoln’s stovepipe hat as a treasured memento until his death in 1891.

In addition to Clara Waller’s signed affidavit, there was also a letter Clara wrote expanding a bit on the story. She stated that William Waller had worked as an agent of sorts during the Civil War, helping to root out anti-Union activities in Illinois. In was due to that course of work that he traveled to D.C. and met Lincoln. During his 2019 research into the hat, Dr. Wheeler could not confirm that William Waller had been employed as either an official spy or civilian informant, but recommended more research into documents held by the National Archives to explore the possibility.

The hat also came with a 1958 letter from John W. Allen, who had served as the curator for the Southern Illinois University museum. Allen wrote that he had heard the same story told by Ms. Waller from her late husband, Elbert, and that he was, “inclined to give it full credence.” These notes are the entire provenance behind the hat.

Is there any indication in Lincoln Day by Day, that William Waller visited Abraham Lincoln in the White House?

And, why would President Lincoln trade hats?