Lincoln Home Historic Furnishings Report

SECTION D: EVIDENCE OF ORIGINAL FURNISHINGS (continued)

ACCESSORY FURNISHINGS

SPRINGFIELD STORE ACCOUNTS:

The following items are taken from the Lincoln family's accounts with Springfield stores. [72] Although the present location of these items is unknown, all would be appropriate for display at LIHO.

BASKET OF APPLES:

In an article entitled "Lincoln As I Knew Him," Charles S. Zane, a Springfield resident, recalled a visit to the Lincoln home. He recounted, "On reaching the house, we found a large basket of apples in the sitting room and were invited to help ourselves." [73]

VOLK BUST OF LINCOLN:

In an article in Century Magazine of December 1881, Leonard Volk recalled making a small bust of Lincoln and presenting it to Mrs. Lincoln in Springfield:

I was invited into the parlor and soon Mrs. Lincoln entered holding a rose bouquet in her hand, which she presented to me after the introduction; and in return I gave her a cabinet size bust of her husband, which I had modelled from the large one.

This bust appears in the Leslie's drawing of the front parlor, on the top shelf of the whatnot.

DINNERWARE, ETC.:

Lincoln Silver & Glassware Six Silver Forks Three Cut Glass Goblets An Inkwell and Sand Shaker (Present locations unknown)

According to an article in the Springfield Register dated November 9, 1923, these artifacts were exhibited in the window of the J.C. Klaholt & Co. jewelry store. A Mrs. Mae McKnight was offering them for sale. The newspaper printed the affidavit signed by Mrs. McKnight (November 9, 1923) which outlined the artifacts' history. Mrs. McKnight stated:

I... do hereby certify that the six silver forks, three cut-glass goblets, an inkwell, and sand shaker in my possession were purchased from Abraham Lincoln at the old Lincoln home in Springfield in 1861 when Mr. Lincoln sold his household goods and left for Washington, to become President of the United States.

I further certify that the aforesaid heirlooms were in the personal possession and use of Abraham Lincoln and members of his family, and that they were purchased from Mr. Lincoln by my grandmother, Mrs. Roxana McIntire, who originally had one dozen knives and forks and one dozen glasses. These heirlooms were handed down by my grandmother to my mother, Mrs. D.A. Nafew, and by her, to me.

The Lincoln provenance for these items appears to be well documented up to 1923. Unfortunately, the location of these items is presently unknown.

Lincoln Home Artifacts with Lincoln History of Ownership:

Ironstone Bowl (LIHO 193); Creamware Pitcher (LIHO 197); Transfer Printed Plate (LIHO 192); Leaf Shape Ironstone Serving Dish (LIHO 195)

These four pieces of china, supposedly from the Lincoln Home, were among the six items with a Lincoln provenance purchased in 1953 from L.C. Handy Studios in Washington, D. C. The history of the ownership of this china, as told by one of the owners of Handy Studios, Mary Evans, is that it was purchased at the 1861 Lincoln sale by Isaac Strohm, a Springfield resident. Strohm does not appear in the 1860-61 Springfield Directory, although he was listed as a 10-year-old boy in the 1850 Springfield census. No affidavits substantiate this story. The archeological evidence of china in use during the Lincoln period, however, shows evidence of these types of ceramics. Although this is not enough information to verify the Lincoln association with these ceramics, they are characteristic of ceramics in use at midcentury. The leaf shape serving dish is marked with the impress "J. Clementson," a mark in use by the Joseph Clementson Staffordshire potteries from 1839 to 1864. [74]

Hand Painted China Dinner Plate LIHO 196; Glass Pitcher with Painted Decoration LIHO 259; Abalone Shell LIHO 290; Abalone Shell LIHO 291

These items were given to the Lincoln Home in the 1920s by Logan Hay, according to a letter from Hay in the LIHO files. Hay was a member of a Springfield family who had been neighbors of the Lincolns. According to Mr. Hay, these items had all belonged to Mrs. Lincoln. No affidavits or explanations of provenance were found to accompany the artifacts; therefore, they cannot at this time be authenticated as Lincoln items.

According to the catalogue cards for the shells, they were used to hold down Mrs. Lincoln's drapes. This history, however, does not seem likely; shells do not appear in the 1861 Leslie's Illustrated drawings and those drawings show the drapes just touching the floor. One visitor's account at that time mentions seeing shells on the whatnots. Displaying shells as knick-knacks on shelves is a more likely practice than using them to hold down drapes on the floor. Moreover, the additional length required for the draperies to be held down in this fashion would have been a costly luxury.

Pressed Glass Cake Stand (LIHO 255)

This cake stand was purchased from Mrs. Lucy Rhea in 1934. Correspondence from Mrs. Rhea prior to that time also mentions the cake stand. In a letter she wrote July 17, 1934, to Virginia [Brown], she described it as "Mrs. Lincoln's high glass cake stand."

The invoice states there was an accompanying affidavit; however, it is currently missing and the Lincoln provenance cannot be stated absolutely. Although the cake stand cannot at this time be authenticated, it is likely that Mary Lincoln owned such an item.