The country of Switzerland is known secretive banking, cheese, neutrality, skiing, and majestic beauty as this image of the Swiss Alps shows. Now it can be known as the site of a recent discovery of a document which contains the handwriting of Abraham Lincoln.
NBC-affiliate station KSDK (St. Louis, MO) reported that researchers with The Papers Of Abraham Lincoln project at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) were contacted by a gentleman from an Australian university. He remembered seeing a Lincoln document in Switzerland while doing research there, and thought the people at the ALPLM would like to know about it.
The researchers contacted the Bibliotheque de Geneve (Library of Geneva) who confirmed the authenticity of the document in question. It was written in May 1863 by famed minister and abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom's Cabin), as a letter of introduction for a female journalist. Nearly two years later, Lincoln added his own comment to the letter, stating that while he didn't know the person in question, if Beecher had vouched for her, he would as well.
The Papers of Abraham Lincoln project is actively searching the world for any documents which were written or signed by Lincoln. This new discovery, while not significantly important, shows that there are hopefully more Lincoln documents waiting to be found.
The entire article from KSDK, complete with the text of the letter, may be found here.
1 comment:
Hello! Abrahham Lincoln has always been a hero of mine. I'm researching my ancestor, Rev. Martin White (a short bio of his life is on my history blog), a promise I am keeping to my Grandmother. She spent 28 years researching her maiden name of White and both of us found our mutual ancestor interesting and she asked me to continue researching him as I live in the Border War area. During my research, I found that Martin White served in the State Legislature at the same time as Lincoln was serving his last two years there. While looking for census records for my ancestor, I also found Lincoln's. Lincoln's first home in Illinois was within 5 miles of my ancestor's and I've been looking for documents/letters that Lincoln might have referred to my ancestor or one of Martin's in-laws (Fletcher) who lived nearby. Martin was living in Missouri when Lincoln visited Kansas. Gary Freese, a Logan County, IL genealogist has been very helpful in finding information on Martin/Lincoln and he tells me that the Logan County Historical Society Museum has a Lincoln room for memorabilia relating to the President, however, he doesn't have a genealogy chart for Lincoln, as my husband thinks that Lincoln may be his paternal 7th cousin, 3 times removed and we need verification. Gary sent me the link to the State House of Representatives Journal for 1840-42 with a list of all the Representatives, the issues, and who voted for what. By the way, I found your blog via Pinterest. Interesting eye candy! :) I have a board on Abe with some of the things I have found on him.
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