Who is this lady?

[Steve Whitlock]

(06-28-2021 10:48 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Steve, FYI:

Willie Clark, the Petersen House boarder who was renting the room in which Lincoln died, wrote his sister a few days after the assassination. He wrote, "The same matrass is on my bed, and the same coverlit covers me nightly that covered him while dying." However, I do not see that he mentioned the sheet itself.

In Robert Bain's book it is mentioned that the Petersens decided to "give Mr. Clark some new bedding." However, there is nothing specific about exactly what happened with the sheet that was on Clark's bed. Bain is just going by family lore as he is a descendant of the Petersens. I do not place much trust in his book.

I do not think I can help with provenance...wish I could!

Roger,

There is an article about the Peterson house that claims Petereson's son cut the sheets up, along with other items, and handed them out.

William Petersen, absent during the president’s vigil, returned to find his house overrun by souvenir hunters. Angry at the trespassers, Petersen began charging them admission to be there. His son cut the president’s shirt, towels, and sheets into pieces and handed them out. Soon, hundreds of people were arriving daily to see boarder William Clark’s room. According to Clark, “whoever comes in has to be closely watched for fear they will steal something.” Those not satisfied with mementos from the Petersen House also began tearing pieces away from Ford’s Theatre.

The Petersens continued to live in the house and rent rooms up until their deaths in 1871. In 1878, the building was bought by attorney Louis Schade but the growing number of unwelcome visitors grew tiresome and he leased or sold the house to the Memorial Association of D.C. in 1896.

The memorial group gave permission to Osborn Oldroyd—Civil War veteran and Lincoln collector—to move into the building and run his own Lincoln museum until he died in 1930. Notable artifacts included the Lincoln Family bible, Lincoln’s White House chair, and an alleged log from the Lincoln home. In 1926, Oldroyd’s collection was purchased by the government and many items were moved next door to the Lincoln Museum in Ford’s Theate. From 1932 to 1959, five women’s patriotic organizations and the Department of Interior worked to renovate the Peterson House, restoring it to its 1865 appearance. In 2007 the building was purchased by the Ford’s Theatre Society, incorporating the Peterson House into a larger historical site and tourist attraction.
Cite This Entry

Preece, Daniel, Clio Admin, and Michael Woods. "Abraham Lincoln - Petersen House." Clio: Your Guide to History. December 16, 2019. Accessed June 28, 2021. https://theclio.com/entry/20267
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IF, say again IF that is true I have no idea what became of the cut up pieces. Also, that would mean the Tuckerman pieces might be the only ones with hope for provenance.