Lincoln's Dog Fido

[RJNorton]

The article in Life is not footnoted. But at the beginning she mentions that she traveled with her father (Frederick Hill Meserve) to Lincoln Memorial University. There she met and talked to Isaac Diller, a playmate of the Lincoln children. She spent three days talking to Mr. Diller. Diller suggested she contact John Linden Roll. She did so. And then she writes, "In the end, after corresponding with these two men, delving into little-known documents and records, and visiting Springfield to walk in and out of the Lincoln house and along the streets and across lots to the Roll house, I was able to piece together this story of Fido."

Although, at this point, I still lean to 1861 over 1865, I may be influenced by my own daughter. When we took family vacations in the 1980's our daughter, Sarah, would take along photos of our cat, Muffy. She'd sit in the back seat looking at photos of the cat whenever she got the feeling of missing him. She loved him dearly. She was about Tad's age (in 1861) at that time. So I can relate to a child wanting a photo of a pet he or she is about to be parted from (even for a short time such as a few weeks). Thus, I can relate to Tad and Willie wanting a Fido photo based on what my own daughter did.

Dorothy Kunhardt writes that she first saw the photo of Fido when she was browsing through her father's collection. On the back it read "F.W. Ingmire, Photographer, Springfield, Ill." Thus, if it can be shown there is irrefutable evidence Ingmire was not working in Springfield in late 1860/early1861, then 1865 sure seems like the more logical date. Ingmire took several well-known photos in 1865 including "Old Bob" in a mourning blanket.