Contents of Lincoln's pocket

[AussieMick]

Pocket contents on night of assassination

Questions that come to mind, which probably we will never know ...

Why carry a watch fob ... but no watch?
I assume that this site has discussed the hidden message in Lincoln's watch
https://mashable.com/2014/10/23/abraham-...te9izHDuqM
but was he wearing a watch on the night he was shot?

Maybe not ... I think the presidential group missed the start of the play.


That wallet ... it seems very new (my wallets soon became worn and ancient looking) ... and its empty? Most wallets have something inside them?

The Confederate $5 ... was Lincoln breaking the law by carrying it? What if he had $5000?

When were the contents first itemized?

sorry if some of these issues have been dealt with before.

[RJNorton]

I checked my files and found he was carrying 9 newspaper articles, not 8. Here are some details:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The first and the fourth describe Emancipation of the Slaves in the new State Constitution of Missouri which called for giving slaves their Freedom on July 4, 1870. They are critical of the Radical Republicans in Congress who argued for more immediate release.

... the radicals are not satisfied with the death of slavery. Like the boy who pounded the dead snake, they want to "make it deader." and we have no objections to any blows inflicted upon the institution. But because the President did not yield to demands of the radicals that seemed intolerant and obtrusive, he is charged by hundreds of furious journalists with deserting "the cause of freedom.." The charge is unfounded and absurd. doubtless he would rejoice as heartily as any radical, at the speedy abolition of slavery in Missouri, but he is not disposed to encourage excess that might damage the good cause itself.

The second and third clippings relate the two platforms of the contending political parties in the election of 1864 without comment.

The fifth and sixth purport to be actual letters from disaffected Southern soldiers found on the battlefield. "The Conscript's Epistle to Jeff Davis" is especially colorful in its language, calling the chief executive of the rebelling states a "bastard President of a political abortion."

The seventh clipping contains the famous marching orders of General William Tecumseh Sherman issued on November 9, 1864, which dispatched his troops to fight their way across the South to the Atlantic Ocean. There were to be no supply trains. The soldiers were to live off the land, but were specifically ordered to discriminate "between the rich, who are usually hostile, and the poor or industrious" who were "usually neutral or friendly."

The eighth and ninth clippings are articles favorable to President Lincoln, One recounts a speech by Reverend Henry Ward Beecher in Philadelphia at the Academy of Music. The other reports a letter from the English Reformer John Bright to the American newspaper editor Horace Greely which is full of praise for Lincoln's leadership and his re-election as President in the fall of 1864. We see his presidency, Bright wrote, as "an honest endeavor faithfully to do the work of his great office, and in the doing of it, a brightness of personal honor on which no adversary has yet been able to fix a stain."

Source: Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse, retired Maryland State Archivist

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Additionally the President was carrying more papers than the Library of Congress states. These papers fell out into the street as the men were carrying Lincoln across the street to the Petersen House. The papers were turned over to Edwin Stanton; nobody knows their location today.

[Anita]

"Additionally the President was carrying more papers than the Library of Congress states. These papers fell out into the street as the men were carrying Lincoln across the street to the Petersen House. The papers were turned over to Edwin Stanton; nobody knows their location today." Roger, can you please post the source for this. Thanks.

[Donna McCreary]

He was carrying a watch. When the contents of Lincoln's pockets were removed, the watch was given to Robert. Robert kept it for many years. He then gave it to his cousin, Benjamin Helm. Helm was the son of Mary's half-sister, Emilie and General Benjamin Hardin Helm.
Ben gifted the watch to his friend and attorney, William Townsend. Upon William's death, the watch became the property of his daughter, Mary G. Townsend Murphy. Before her death, Mary gave the watch, along with all of the provenance, to the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort. I do not have a link to a website, but I am sure a quick google search will take you to an article about the history of the watch.

Mrs. Mary Murphy was a friend to me. I was blessed to have known her, and I am grateful to her for allowing me to study the Todd family documents which she inherited when she moved into Helm Place, the last home of Emilie T. Helm and her adult children.

[AussieMick]

Thanks very much for that detailed information, Donna. Nice to think that something was handed down the line to the Helm family. Its always sad when there's ill feeling amongst relatives after a death.

[RJNorton]

(03-18-2018 08:29 PM)Anita Wrote:  "Additionally the President was carrying more papers than the Library of Congress states. These papers fell out into the street as the men were carrying Lincoln across the street to the Petersen House. The papers were turned over to Edwin Stanton; nobody knows their location today." Roger, can you please post the source for this. Thanks.

Yes. Please see pp. 166-167 of W. Emerson Reck's A. Lincoln: His Last 24 Hours. Start at the very bottom of p. 166.

[Anita]

Thanks Roger. Just ordered Reck's book.

---

After reading Donna's post #4 I found this article on the Lincoln watch owned by the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort. The ticking sound of the watch was used in the movie Lincoln. In the article, Trevor Jones, the society's director of museum collections and exhibitions is quoted. Seems there's no direct provenance this watch watch was the one he carried that night.

" The timepiece — described by the society in its record as a "yellow gold key-wind hunting-case pocket watch" with a porcelain dial — was bought at Tiffany and Co. about 1860 and would have been a high-end, expensive piece.

"This fact makes it probable that Lincoln either purchased it or it was a gift after he became president," Jones wrote. "We do not know how often he used it, but he definitely owned it during the Civil War."

The watch carries the inscription of its maker, "J. Jacqueson, Copenhagen." It has a chain, and an attached fob has the gold initials "AL" in onyx.

There has been some speculation that the watch was carried by Lincoln on the night of his assassination.

"We have not been able to find any evidence to support this assertion," Jones wrote, "but the contents of Lincoln's pockets from that night do not include a watch, so it is at least possible."

After Lincoln's death in 1865, his son Robert inherited the watch. Robert gave it to his cousin Benjamin Hardin Helm Jr. In 1943, Helm presented the watch as a birthday gift to a leading Lincoln authority, William H. Townsend, who passed it to his daughter Mary Townsend Murphy. The Murphy family gave it to the society in 2002, Jones said.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/entertainment/mo...89515.html

[STS Lincolnite]

(03-18-2018 04:05 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  I checked my files and found he was carrying 9 newspaper articles, not 8. Here are some details:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The first and the fourth describe Emancipation of the Slaves in the new State Constitution of Missouri which called for giving slaves their Freedom on July 4, 1870. They are critical of the Radical Republicans in Congress who argued for more immediate release.

... the radicals are not satisfied with the death of slavery. Like the boy who pounded the dead snake, they want to "make it deader." and we have no objections to any blows inflicted upon the institution. But because the President did not yield to demands of the radicals that seemed intolerant and obtrusive, he is charged by hundreds of furious journalists with deserting "the cause of freedom.." The charge is unfounded and absurd. doubtless he would rejoice as heartily as any radical, at the speedy abolition of slavery in Missouri, but he is not disposed to encourage excess that might damage the good cause itself.

The second and third clippings relate the two platforms of the contending political parties in the election of 1864 without comment.

The fifth and sixth purport to be actual letters from disaffected Southern soldiers found on the battlefield. "The Conscript's Epistle to Jeff Davis" is especially colorful in its language, calling the chief executive of the rebelling states a "bastard President of a political abortion."

The seventh clipping contains the famous marching orders of General William Tecumseh Sherman issued on November 9, 1864, which dispatched his troops to fight their way across the South to the Atlantic Ocean. There were to be no supply trains. The soldiers were to live off the land, but were specifically ordered to discriminate "between the rich, who are usually hostile, and the poor or industrious" who were "usually neutral or friendly."

The eighth and ninth clippings are articles favorable to President Lincoln, One recounts a speech by Reverend Henry Ward Beecher in Philadelphia at the Academy of Music. The other reports a letter from the English Reformer John Bright to the American newspaper editor Horace Greely which is full of praise for Lincoln's leadership and his re-election as President in the fall of 1864. We see his presidency, Bright wrote, as "an honest endeavor faithfully to do the work of his great office, and in the doing of it, a brightness of personal honor on which no adversary has yet been able to fix a stain."

Source: Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse, retired Maryland State Archivist

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Additionally the President was carrying more papers than the Library of Congress states. These papers fell out into the street as the men were carrying Lincoln across the street to the Petersen House. The papers were turned over to Edwin Stanton; nobody knows their location today.

Roger, do you, or does anyone else for that matter, know if anyone has identified the dates and publications of the clippings that were found in Lincoln's pockets?

[RJNorton]

Scott, please check this page, and see if it gives an idea on whom (not sure...maybe "who" is grammatically correct) to contact regarding your question.

https://www.loc.gov/item/myloc16/#:~:tex...%20several