The Bixby Letter

[L Verge]

I'm sure that most of you are familiar with the supposed letter that President Lincoln sent to Mrs. Lydia Baxter in November of 1864, offering his sympathies on the terrible loss of her five sons on the battlefield. I say "supposed letter" because some historians have doubted that it ever existed.

Today, I was working on the November issue of the Surratt Courier, and members of the Surratt Society know that I have maintained a 150 Years Ago segment throughout these anniversary years relating what occurred day-by-day throughout the war. Today, I came upon something that I never remember reading before:

November 21 – President Lincoln wrote the famous letter to Mrs. Lydia Bixby expressing his regrets and sorrow at the loss of her five sons on the field of battle. According to our source for these timelines (The Civil War Day By Day by E.G. Long – 1971), “The President’s eloquence was misplaced, for only two sons had been killed, two were said to have deserted, and the fifth was honorably discharged.”

Thoughts, opinions, or factual information on this subject? Did Lincoln actually write to Lydia Bixby? What happened to the letter if it once existed? Is this author correct that only two sons died during the Civil War?

[RJNorton]

Laurie, Lincoln had been misinformed as to the number of Mrs. Bixby's sons who had been killed. She had actually lost only two sons in the war. Sgt. Charles N. Bixby was killed May 3, 1863. Pvt. Oliver Cromwell Bixby was killed July 30, 1864. However, Corp. Henry Cromwell Bixby was discharged on December 19, 1864. Pvt. George Way Bixby was captured July 30, 1864, and then deserted to the enemy. He moved to Cuba after the Civil War. Edward Bixby also deserted from his unit. This information on Mrs. Bixby’s sons comes from p. 277 of Abraham Lincoln: From Skeptic to Prophet by Dr. Wayne C. Temple (Mahomet, Illinois, Mayhaven Publishing, 1995).

Regarding the letter, IMO the letter existed but was probably destroyed by Mrs. Bixby. Although the truth is unknown, her grandson was interviewed in 1925. He admitted his grandmother was not the type of person who would have appreciated the value of such a letter and most likely just threw it out. I have also read that Mrs. Bixby disliked Lincoln.

IMO the big difference among historians is not the letter's existence so much as its author - did John Hay or Abraham Lincoln write it? (Ed Steers, for example, argues that Lincoln was the author in Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes, and Confabulations Associated with Our Greatest President.) We once had a long debate on this in an older thread. There was no consensus among forum members as I recall. I was unaware some historians doubt its very existence - do you recall whom these folks are? I am curious as to their reasoning.

Michael Burlingame feels John Hay wrote the Bixby letter. He writes:

"Hay told half a dozen people that he wrote it. He pasted a copy of it into a scrapbook of his own writing. He used words like "beguile" and "assuage" regularly in it, which never showed up in Lincoln's writings. When you put all that together it seems virtually irrefutable that Hay was the author and Lincoln signed it. It's a beautiful letter, but it just doesn't sound like Lincoln; it's not Lincoln's "voice."

It was written at an extremely busy time at the White House. A fellow in New York who was the head of the Lincoln-Johnson committee in the 1864 campaign writes in mid-November to say they were having a banquet and wanted Lincoln to write a toast. Hay writes back and says that Lincoln really wanted to write the toast instead of having me do it but the crush of business around here is so great he just didn't have a chance. This was right at the time the Bixby letter was written.

On the same day the Bixby letter was written, a letter is written to John Phillips, a centenarian in Massachuetts who voted for Lincoln. A copy of that, too, is pasted into John Hay's scrapbook. It was the sort of thing you would expect a secretary to write. Lincoln did write very moving letters of condolence -- to the parents of Elmer Ellsworth and to Fanny McCullough, but those letters have a very different feeling, stylistic pattern, and tone from the Bixby letter."

SOURCE: http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/linc...ingame.htm

Jason Emerson argues that Lincoln was the true author in an American Heritage article: http://www.americanheritage.com/content/...ous-letter

[L Verge]

I believe that the opinion that the letter never existed was offered at a Lincoln Group meeting that I attended back when Burlingame was attributing the letter to Hay. I don't recall ever seeing that opinion in print. Nor had I ever read about the true facts of Mrs. Bixby's sons' military service.

Frankly, I can see where a disgruntled woman would dislike Lincoln and others who had "taken" her sons from her to fight the war. Elmer Ellsworth and Fanny McCullough's father were also personal friends of Mr. Lincoln, so I can understand that the tone of those letters would be different also.

Thanks for edumacating me once again. If I stay on this forum long enough, I may become an expert on Mr. Lincoln.

[HerbS]

My grandfather was from Germany and spoke German in the house.During WW-2 his only son[my uncle]was killed over Germany in a B-24.My grandfather was so grief-stricken,that he never spoke German in the house again.Grief can eat you up! The Grace Bedell letter to Lincoln can be proved.She actually wrote another letter to Lincoln requesting employment and never got an answer!

[STS Lincolnite]

Thanks Roger for posting the two different views on the authorship of the letter to Mrs. Bixby.

Though both arguments are thought provoking, I find Emerson's article the more compelling and thereby tend to come down on the side of the fence that Lincoln did in fact pen the letter.

Does anyone know if Burlingame has ever published or otherwise provided a response to Emerson's different (and newer) take on the subject and his supporting, newly discovered evidence?

[RJNorton]

Scott, I have not seen one if he did, but I did come across a fascinating article written by Harold Holzer. It's about Mrs. Bixby and is titled "“as Bad As She Could Be."

http://www.americanheritage.com/content/...e%E2%80%9D

[brtmchl]

I heard a claim once, that Ms. Bixby was a Confederate sympathizer who hated Lincoln and was fraudulently trying to get money from the Government. Claiming the loss of sons' in battle that she never had.

[RJNorton]

Mike, I have heard that, too. I also heard that she ran a house of ill repute, but I don't know if that is fact or folklore.

[brtmchl]

Thanks for posting the picture Roger. I don't think I have ever seen what Mrs Bixby looked like. I also remember hearing that she ran a Brothel. I want to say that i heard this after the renewed attention the Bixby letter received after Saving Private Ryan came out.

[RJNorton]

Thanks, Mike. Back in 2008 I read that the Dallas Historical Society may have discovered an official government copy of the Bixby Letter.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nati...tter_N.htm

I believe the society intended on finding an expert opinion on its provenance and authenticity. But I have never read what the results were of this analysis. Has anyone read anything about this?

[Gene C]

Yes, her warmth and vivacious personality just radiate from that photo.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Her hair looks like cut as a bob - quite progressive if it really was!

[HerbS]

She looks like a very"tough"lady!To say the least.

[RJNorton]

Since it was back in 2008 when the Dallas Historical Society first announced its discovery, and apparently no news since then on the analysis that was supposed to be done, I think I shall conclude for now that the letter that was discovered was not authentic.

[HerbS]

I agree 100%!