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Lincoln Historian
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Category: Blog

Blog

Freemen Yet Slaves Under Abe Lincoln’s Son


There was an old saying among the black employees of the Pullman Car Company: “Lincoln freed the slaves, and the Pullman Company hired ‘em.” In fact, the Pullman Company, created by George M. Pullman in 1867, was the single largest employer of blacks in America after the Civil War and…
Posted on May 26, 2022 by jsnemerson by jsnemerson
Blog

“The Mary Lincoln Polka”


Have you ever heard "The Mary Lincoln Polka," which was premiered on Feb. 5, 1862 at the (now infamous) White House ball? Did you know you can listen to it today? The polka was written in honor of the First Lady by Francis Scala, leader of the U.S. Marine Band.…
Posted on May 18, 2022May 26, 2022 by jsnemerson by jsnemerson
Blog

Abraham Lincoln, Harry Houdini, and a Spiritualist Lie


Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist? Harry Houdini, the famed magician, did not think so, and he took great efforts to prove it. In 1925, Houdini even had a brief correspondence with Robert T. Lincoln on the subject. Three of Houdini’s letters, plus one response from the 81-year-old Robert (written by…
Posted on September 16, 2021May 16, 2022 by jsnemerson by jsnemerson
Blog

Earliest Known Photo of Abraham Lincoln


The earliest known photo of Abraham Lincoln is well known and commonly seen today, but did you know it was unknown to the public until 1896?   The daguerreotype, attributed to photographer Nicholas H. Shepherd, was taken in 1848 when Lincoln was a 37-year-old frontier lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, and…
Posted on April 14, 2021May 16, 2022 by jsnemerson by jsnemerson
Blog

Lincoln’s Descendant Disliked Her Famous Heritage


Mary Lincoln “Peggy” Beckwith, Abraham Lincoln’s great-granddaughter, was a liberated woman who refused to conform to the social expectations of her time. She preferred pants and men’s shirts to wearing dresses. She enjoyed pursuits considered then to be more masculine than feminine, such as farming, hunting and fishing, golfing, photography,…
Posted on April 14, 2021May 16, 2022 by jsnemerson by jsnemerson
Blog

Mary and Tad interviewed by NY World in 1871


When Mary Lincoln and her 17-year-old son Tad returned to American after nearly three years in Europe, they traveled from Liverpool, England to New York City on the steamship "Russia." They were noticed immediately by the press when the ship docked, and shortly after they checked into their hotel, a…
Posted on May 22, 2020May 16, 2022 by jsnemerson by jsnemerson
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