1. Lincoln’s Possessions When He Was Assassinated Were Eventually Donated to the Library of Congress
Abraham Lincoln had a white linen handkerchief when he was shot, with “A. Lincoln” embroidered in red. He also had a pocketknife with an ivory handle. He had a pair of gold-rimmed glasses mended with a string, a pair of folding spectacles in a silver case, plus glass cleaner and buffer. The arms on his glasses – he had one for reading and the other to correct his strabismus – often came loose. Lincoln probably carried the pocketknife to tighten them whenever that happened. There was also a sleeve button with a gold initial “L” on dark blue enamel and a watch fob.
The Confederate banknote was in a brown leather wallet. People did not carry identity cards back then, so Lincoln did not have any. Oddly, the wallet contained no cash other than the worthless Confederate $5 note. Instead, there were eight newspaper clippings with positive coverage of his presidency. Given the difficulties, he faced on a daily basis, and the torrent of negativity directed his way, the president probably carried the clippings around to boost his morale and as a means of positive affirmation. The contents of Lincoln’s pockets were kept by his family for decades, they were donated to the Library of Congress in 1937.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
American Battlefield Trust – The Declaration of Causes of Seceding States
American Battlefield Trust – The Reasons for Secession: A Documentary Study
Catton, Bruce – Mr. Lincoln’s Army (2015)
Catton, Bruce – The Coming Fury (2011)
Encyclopedia Britannica – Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Foote, Shelby – The Civil War: A Narrative, Volume 2, Fredericksburg to Meridian (1958)
History Collection – How the Lost Cause Changed American History and Created its Pseudo-History
History Net – George W. Kincaid and the 37th Iowa Infantry in the US Civil War
Library of Congress – Civil War Thanksgiving Foods
Library of Congress – The Contents of Abraham Lincoln’s Pockets on the Evening of His Assassination
Military Network – The ‘Graybeards’ Were an Infantry Unit Just for Men Too Old for Military Service
National Museum of the United States Navy – Powder Monkeys and the American Civil War
National Park Service – Fort Scott: Cooking Food Rations
History Collection – Fascinating Civil War Facts that Won’t be in the History Books
Quartz – For the Last Time, the American Civil War Was Not About States’ Rights
Ranker – All of the Contents of Abraham Lincoln’s Pockets the Night He Perished
Ranker – Unconventional Foods People Ate to Survive the Civil War
Sandburg, Carl – Abraham Lincoln: The War Years (1939)
Spaulding, Lily May and John, Editors – Civil War Recipes (1999)
United States Navy Memorial – Aspinwall Fuller
Washington Post, February 26th, 2011 – Five Myths About Why the South Seceded
