Number 3 - The Papers of Abraham Lincoln

July - September 2006
Volume 6 Number 3
NEW DOCUMENTS NOW AVAILABLE ON PROJECT WEBSITE
S
ince 2002, the Papers of Abraham Lincoln has been Lincoln documents on its website at
actively obtaining high-resolution color images of www.papersofabrahamlincoln.org. These documents, all
documents written by or to Lincoln. In a concentrated series written by Lincoln, are not published in the Collected Works.
of trips over the past nine months, project editors have visited Several are from repositories, but individual collectors and
more than one hundred repositories with small and large manuscript dealers made others available to the Papers of
collections of Lincoln documents. Teams of editors have now Abraham Lincoln. The website provides a title and date for
scanned more than six thousand documents at these each document, along with information about its current
repositories and in nearly two dozen private collections. The location in a repository or private collection. Selecting a
team at work at the National Archives has scanned more thumbnail image of a document will display a larger digital
image. The documents presented on the website are only a
than 2,250 documents since June.
Many of the documents that project staff members tiny fraction of the thousands of documents now being located,
have scanned were written, signed, or endorsed by Abraham imaged, transcribed, and annotated by the Papers of
Lincoln. Transcriptions of most of these documents appeared Abraham Lincoln.
in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, but
the project has uncovered several documents
written by Abraham Lincoln that
were not included
in that 1953
publication or the
two supplements
published in 1974
and 1990. Because
the scope of the Papers
of Abraham Lincoln
includes incoming
correspondence, project
editors have scanned
thousands of documents
written to Lincoln as well.
In response to
queries from several
supporters of the project, the
Clockwise from left: Lincoln to Edward R. S. Canby; Lincoln to Edwin M. Stanton; Lincoln to
Papers of Abraham Lincoln has
Henry W. Hoffman and Francis S. Corkran; Lincoln Endorsement.
now provided a sampling of new Images courtesy of the National Museum of American History (Washington, DC); Wisconsin Historical Society
(Madison); Chicago Historical Society; Chapin Library, Williams College (Williamstown, MA).
DIGITIZATION OF LINCOLN DOCUMENTS ON THE EAST COAST
I
n June, Stacy McDermott and Kelley Boston traveled to
New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire to digitize sixty
Lincoln documents in seven repositories. Included in the trip
was Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, which
had twenty-one documents within the project’s scope.
McDermott and Boston also digitized an early Lincoln letter
owned by Christa and Chris Bellmare in Newington, New
Hampshire.
The project would like to thank the Bellmares; Lynn
Barton, historian, and Bill Sauke, president, at the Webster
Museum and Historical Society in Webster, New York; Paul
Carnahan, librarian, at the Vermont Historical Society in
Barre; Jay Satterfield, special collections librarian, and
Barbara L. Krieger, archival specialist, at the Rauner Special
Collections Library at Dartmouth College; Frank Mevers,
state archivist, and Benoit Pelletier Shoja, researcher, at the
New Hampshire Division of Archives and Records
Managements in Concord; David Smolen, special collections
librarian, in the Tuck Library at the New Hampshire Historical
Society in Concord; Jeffrey Marshall, archivist, and
Prudence Doherty, reference librarian, at the Bailey/Howe
Library at the University of Vermont in Burlington; and Jane
Ploughman, librarian, at the Henry Sheldon Museum of
Vermont History in Middlebury.
In July, John Lupton and Erika Nunamaker traveled
to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. They visited twelve
repositories and two private collectors and scanned twentysix documents. They wish to acknowledge the assistance of
Linda Kay at the Ocean County Historical Society in Toms
River, New Jersey; Joseph Klett, Bette Epstein, and Joanne
Nestor at the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton; Cheryl
Oestreicher at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey;
Richard Rizzo of Edison, New Jersey; Gregory Romano of
Crosswicks, New Jersey; Jan Ballard at Moravian College
in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Diane Shaw and Eric Luhrs at
Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania; Diane Koch at
Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Joseph
Garrera at the Lehigh County Historical Society in Allentown,
Pennsylvania; Mary Ann Moran and Alan Sweeney at the
Lackawanna Historical Society in Scranton, Pennsylvania;
Lee Stout at Pennsylvania State University in State College;
William F. Chaney of Harwood, Maryland; Carole Briggs at
the Jefferson County Historical Society in Brookville,
Pennsylvania; and Pamela Speis at the Mahoning Valley
Historical Society in Youngstown, Ohio.
In August, Erika Nunamaker and Susan Krause
traveled to fifteen places in western and central Pennsylvania,
where they obtained scans of 163 documents, including
Sheet of Lincoln Signatures
Image courtesy of Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.
several dozen telegrams exchanged between Pennsylvania
Governor Andrew Curtin and Abraham Lincoln during the
Civil War. For the generous help they received, they would
like to thank Lisa Lazar at the Pittsburgh Regional History
Center in Pittsburgh; Barbara Perlstein at West Overton
Museums in Scottdale; Amanda Hickey at York College in
York; Louise Owen at the Historical Society of Dauphin
County in Harrisburg; Linda Ries and Harry Parker at the
Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg; Lila FourhamShaull at the York County Heritage Trust in York; James
Gerenscer and Deborah Ege at Dickinson College in Carlisle;
Greg Goodell at Gettysburg National Military Park in
Gettysburg; Heather Tennies at the Lancaster County
Historical Society in Lancaster; Brett Kelley and Kristy
Westpfahl at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg;
Norman Callan of Altoona; Christian Dahl of Pittsburgh; Betsy
Kellner at the Venango Museum of Art, Science, and
Industry in Oil City; and Susan Beates at the Drake Well
Museum in Titusville.
DONORS NEEDED
T
he project relies on the generous contributions of private
individuals interested in our efforts to document the life
of Abraham Lincoln. As the project begins the very expensive
and labor-intensive work at the National Archives, we would
like to encourage individuals to make personal donations to
the project. This quarter, we would like to thank contributor
Garry Greenberg.
In August, Daniel Stowell, Ed Bradley, and Karen
Needles took time from their ongoing research at the
National Archives to visit three repositories in Washington,
D.C. and scan Lincoln documents. The PNC / Riggs Bank
Archives has four checks written and signed by Lincoln as
well as ledgers detailing his banking activities while president.
The Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site has sixteen
documents, including a discharge for a member of Captain
Abraham Lincoln’s company in the Black Hawk War, an
1841 bond regarding land Lincoln bought from his father,
and several pieces of presidential correspondence. The
Division of Politics and Reform at the National Museum of
American History holds two dozen documents, including
several letters of recommendation for Illinois Whig and
Republican Nathaniel G. Wilcox, some written by
Congressman Lincoln in 1849 and others written to President
Lincoln in 1861.
The Papers of Abraham Lincoln appreciates the
assistance of Mary Beth Corrigan at the PNC / Riggs Bank
Archives for making that collection available. Curator Gloria
Swift at Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site welcomed
project staff to that institution, provided a tour of the Petersen
House where Lincoln died, and offered valuable suggestions
on other institutions that might hold Lincoln documents. At
the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History,
Lisa Kathleen Graddy, Pat Mansfield, and Harry Rubenstein
provided both a friendly welcome and expert assistance.
Thank you to all of these professionals for their support of
our research.
Certificate of Discharge for Lewis Farmer written by
Abraham Lincoln, September 21, 1832
Image courtesy of Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site.
TIPS IN THE FIELD YIELD DOCUMENTS
W
hen project researchers make scheduled visits to
repositories to digitize Lincoln documents, they often
meet librarians and archivists who know about Lincoln
documents housed in nearby institutions. These tips
sometimes lead the project to previously unknown
documents.
A tip from Barbara Perlstein of West Overton
Museums in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, led Erika Nunamaker
and Susan Krause, who were traveling across that state in
August, to a document at the Venango Museum of Art,
Science, and Industry in Oil City. At the Venango Museum,
they digitized a Lincoln letter
written on January 9, 1865, to a
young Pennsylvania woman. In
the letter, Lincoln tendered his
“sincere thanks” for the woman’s
donation of $5,000 to the soldiers
recuperating in Philadelphia
hospitals.
Emma Taft Egbert was a
seventeen-year-old newlywed in
1864, when her brother was
wounded in battle. Charles Taft,
Emma Taft Egbert
a private in Company D of the
Image courtesy of the
207th Infantry Regiment of Venango Museum of Art,
Pennsylvania, was taken to a
Science, and Industry.
Philadelphia
hospital. Distressed
that she could not
locate her brother,
Emma Egbert
arranged
a
Christmas dinner
for
all
the
hospitalized
soldiers
in
Philadelphia to
ensure that her
brother would
receive a holiday
meal.
Her
generosity in this
gesture prompted
the personal note
of thanks from the
President. Betsy Kellner, Venango Museum’s executive
director, surmises that the document has been in the museum’s
possession for several decades, perhaps even donated in the
nineteenth century by the family, who resided in Venango
County. Although the letter was included in The Collected
Works of Abraham Lincoln, the project did not know the
whereabouts of the original.
LINCOLN EDITOR
ISSN 1537-226X
The Quarterly Newsletter of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln
Printed by authority of the State of Illinois
(3.8M—09-06)
A Project of
How You Can Help:
The Papers of Abraham Lincoln is cosponsored by
the University of Illinois at Springfield.
• By advising project staff of known or reported Lincoln
documents in your locality. We are seeking copies of any
document, letter, or contemporary printed account that relates
to Abraham Lincoln’s entire life, 1809-1865.
• By making a tax-deductible donation to the Papers of
Abraham Lincoln in support of the project. Such gifts provide
crucial support in furtherance of the project’s objectives.
Project Staff:
Daniel W. Stowell, Director/Editor; John A. Lupton, Associate Director/
Associate Editor; Ed Bradley, Assistant Editor; Susan Krause, Assistant
Editor; Stacy Pratt McDermott, Assistant Editor; Christopher A. Schnell,
Assistant Editor; Kelley Boston, Research Associate; Karen Needles,
Research Associate; Erika Nunamaker, Research Associate; Carmen
Morgan, Secretary; Marilyn Mueller, Research Assistant; Michael Kelley,
Graduate Assistant.
Please address inquiries and gifts to:
The Papers of Abraham Lincoln
#1 Old State Capitol Plaza, Springfield, IL 62701-1507
Phone: (217) 785-9130 Fax: (217) 524-6973
Website: http://www.papersofabrahamlincoln.org
LINCOLN EDITOR
The Quarterly Newsletter of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
#1 Old State Capitol Plaza
Springfield, IL 62701-1507
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