Pres. Lincoln Rare Full-figure Black Silhouette Likely Executed from Life, on Verso of an Early Hardin County, Kentucky Document 

Full-figure silhouette of a bearded President Abraham Lincoln, left hand appearing to be in his jacket pocket, facing left. Drawn on the verso of an 8” x 13” sheet of laid watermarked paper bearing an 1806 Elizabeth Town, Hardin County, Kentucky legal document signed by Abisha Ashcraft. Folds. Tear in upper left blank edge. Edges slightly frayed. Light soiling, mostly on the document side with light show-through at Lincoln’s left foot. Overall, in fine condition.

Abisha Ashcraft (1780-1839) later served as a private on the roll of Capt. Edward Rawlings’s Company of Infantry, Col. Nicholas Miller’s & Col. Benjamin Wright’s Regiment, Kentucky Militia, in the War of 1812. Benjamin Shacklet, one of the names in this document, was married to Abisha’s sister, Elizabeth. Abner Ashcraft, also mentioned, was Abisha’s brother. While the silhouette is not dated, it is possible that it was drawn from life since it is recorded that a number of Kentuckians visited Lincoln in the White House and it is possible that one of them had brought this 1806 document from Hardin County to show him.

For example, in his “Diary,” Illinois Senator Orville H. Browning wrote that on December 25, 1861, at Christmas dinner, the Lincolns entertained large number of guests, including several members of official family and old friends from Kentucky and Illinois. Lincoln was almost eight years old when his family had left Kentucky. President Lincoln knew the Ashcraft family. In “The Boyhood of Abraham Lincoln” by J. Rogers Gore and Austin Gollaher (Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1921), a story involving Jimmie “Freckles” Ashcraft and Lincoln is recounted. One day, outside John Hodgen’s mill, one of Abe’s friends, Jimmie Ashcraft, threw a stone hitting Lincoln’s dog, Honey, because “the dog’s ugly and I wanted to hear him holler.” Abe replied, “Well, I am ugly too. Next time you want to hit somebody ugly, hit me; I’ll know why you hit me; Honey doesn’t.” John Hodgen observed what had happened and warned Ashcraft that if he threw any more stones at Honey, Lincoln would give him “a good whipping” to which Freckles replied, “Abe can’t do it.” Lincoln did not want to fight, so Hodgen arranged a contest between the two youngsters “to see which one would whip if a sure-enough fight should ever take place.” Hodgen wanted “to see which one can lift the other the easiest, by taking hold at the nape of the neck and the seat of the trousers.” Lincoln lifted Ashcraft with ease and shook him, as instructed by Hodgen. Freckles couldn’t lift Abe and said, “I can’t whip him and I won’t throw any more rocks at his dog.” Jimmie Ashcraft was Abisha Ashcraft’s nephew (Abner Ashcraft’s son). Ex-King V. Hostick.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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