1841 Abraham Lincoln Letter
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GUEST:
This is a letter that is written to Andrew McCormick, who was my great-great-grandfather, and it was written to Abraham Lincoln in 1841.
APPRAISER:
I don't think I've ever seen an Abraham Lincoln letter of such feeling. It is absolutely one of the most emotional Lincoln letters you'll ever see. You always think of Lincoln as being so calm and steady and sedate-- even the handwriting in this letter is agitated and almost angry. Obviously, Lincoln was writing to someone who was a close friend, because he signs it just "Lincoln," not "A. Lincoln," not "Abraham Lincoln." Lincoln is writing to your great-grandfather...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...about a man by the name of William Walters, who was up for reelection in 1841. And Abraham Lincoln did not like him one little bit, because one of his dear friends was running against him-- Simeon Francis. And Abe Lincoln wanted Simeon Francis to win this reelection.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Not the person that apparently your great-grandfather was going to be voting for. Let me just read a few of the lines here. "I have just learned with utter astonishment "that you have some notion of voting for Walters. "This certainly cannot be true. "It cannot be that one so true, "firm, and unwavering as you have ever been can for a moment think of such a thing." A Lincoln letter of an early date, from January 1841. It's not dated, but we're able to find out when Walters was going to be reelected in the context of the letter. The condition of the letter is absolutely pristine. Something like this would be in the ballpark of $75,000 to $125,000 at auction.
GUEST:
(chuckling) Whew. Whoa.
APPRAISER:
What do you think of that?
GUEST 1: Fantastic.
GUEST 2: I had no idea.
APPRAISER:
And you're keeping it...
GUEST 2: And this belongs to my 18-year-old son right now, so...
APPRAISER:
Well, your 18-year-old son has something very wonderful to keep in the safe deposit box. It's an absolutely wonderful piece of Americana.
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