We think no less of a lily because it is rooted in mud, the real miracle is that mud can produce a lily.

Collection of six (6) manuscript recollections of encounters with Abraham Lincoln from soldiers, nurses, and citizens, each 6.5 x 9 in., from the collection of researcher John E. Boos (1879-1974), including:

1. Autograph document signed by William H. Dall (1845-1927). Washington, D.C., 18 October 1924. 4 pages.

The most fascinating of the reminiscences is penned by prominent American naturalist and Alaskan explorer, William Healey Dall (1845-1927). Dall's account suggests that many details regarding Lincoln's early life were hidden to spare him ridicule during the 1860 election. While Dall writes that he only "saw Lincoln only once in the summer of 1862 when I visited Washington as a boy, and called at the White House with other visitors," he provides great detail regarding a project on Lincoln worked on with his famous mother, transcendentalist and social reformer Carolina Healey Dall (1822-1912): "My mother Mrs. Carolina Healey Dall...was a noted writer and lecturer on reform matters in 1860 and was asked to write a campaign life of Lincoln. She went to Springfield, and spent two weeks with Mr. Herndon, Lincoln's partner, looking over papers and documents with this object in view. Mr. Herndon gave her an authentic piece of oak rail split by the candidate, of which I had a paper cutter fashioned, still in my possession. She found so much that was painful and distressing in the data about Lincoln's childhood and early life, that she felt she could not conceal [it all] if a true account was written, [so] she relinquished the task, though the payment offered was alluring, especially as I have been told that after the election certain of Lincoln's friends approached Herndon and partly by persuasion and a liberal payment, bought these documents and destroyed them, for the sake of the President's early history. Mr. Lincoln knew my mother well, and told her when some libels about his orgin and childhood were printed in the South during the Civil War, that the reason they were not repudiated was that they were essentially true. We think no less of a lily because it is rooted in mud, the real miracle is that mud can produce a lily."

Caroline Dall's works are extensive, including anti-slavery works, significant women's rights treatises, as well as works of fiction, though as reported here, it does not appear that she ever completed any works regarding Abraham Lincoln.

2. Autograph document signed by George T. Meech, Co. C, 21st Connecticut Infantry. N.p., n.d. 2 pages.

While at Point of Rocks Hospital, the convalescing soldier heard of Lincoln's visit and "immediately myself and two or three others concluded we would have a joke with the good President by lacing...shoes which had been taken from a negro soldier who had recently died. [We placed] a placcard underneath [the shoes] with these words, 'Shoes with which Abraham Lincoln is to crush the Rebellion -'. In a little while Mr. Lincoln came walking leisureally along ahead of his family with his hands clasped behind him. And when his eyes caught sight of these shoes, he paused for a moment, and then moved on with a smile on his face."

3. Autograph letter signed by Gilbert Chapman, Company K, 10th New York Heavy Artillery, to John E. Boos. Cape VIncent, New York, 11 April 1928. 1 page.

While sick in hospital, Chapman met the President and First Lady, writing that "[Lincoln] left a great impression on my mind that I have never forgotten. The Great man."

4. Autograph document signed by Sarepta C. Patterson. N.p., n.d. 1 page.

A concise account: "I served as a nurse at Annapolis, Maryland in the Navy School from 1863 to 1865. I saw LIncoln shortly after Emancipation Day - he then was in Annapolis, and also made a visit to our hospital and I as well as the other army nurses there had the great pleasure of meeting him and shaking his hand. Also viewed his body lying in state at the White House after he had been assassinated."

5. Autograph letter signed by George Henderson, to Boos. New Bern, North Carolina, 24 October 1928. 1 page.

6. Document signed by Miss C. Hancock, Army Nurse, 2nd Corps, with typed transcription. N.p., n.d. 1 page.

A recollection of Lincoln's visit on 8 April 1865 at Field Hospital at City Point, Virginia where she worked as a nurse: "Near the close of the Civil War, while Lincoln was visiting the Hospital at City Point, the Supt. in charge was anxious to have LIncoln see how well it was conducted. But in answer to their remarks, he said: 'Gentlemen you know best how to conduct these hospitals, but I came here to shake the hands of the men who achieved our victories.'"

John E. Boos (1879-1974) was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln and the early 20th century dedicated his time to visiting GAR encampments and soliciting reminiscences from anyone he could find who was may have encountered Lincoln. He amassed a large collection, all of which were recorded on distinctive 6.5 x 9 in. paper. Though dispersed, many accounts are now housed in libraries, notably a large collection at the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan (John E. Boos Collection, 1860-1988, 2005).

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Abraham Lincoln, Politics, John Wilkes Booth, Assassination, Manuscripts, Letters, Documents, Ephemera, John Boos, GAR, Grand Army of the Republic, Veterans' Organizations, Women's History, Suffragettes]