Lot 215

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Description:

Abraham Lincoln Assassination Hair Relic: the Most Documented Lock of Lincoln Hair Extant!

Three strands of hair belonging to 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), encapsulated within a plastic sheath at the top of a Certificate of Authenticity from University Archives. The C.O.A. #8481 was issued by company founder John Reznikoff on December 13, 2006. The plastic mount measures 1.875" x 2" while the Certificate of Authenticity measures 8.5" x 11" overall.

The Lincoln hair strands offered here are among the most remarkably well-documented in the world; accompanying the lot are more than 50 pages of provenance material (in the form of high-quality photo-reproductions of the originals) documenting the virtually continuous chain of custody of the hair between 1865 and today (2021 at the time of this writing).

On the evening of April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was attending a benefit performance of "Our American Cousin" at Washington's Ford's Theatre when Southern partisan John Wilkes Booth snuck into the presidential theater box and shot him once in the head below the left ear.

The first doctors to reach Lincoln's side had been spectators in the audience. These were Dr. Charles Augustus Leale (1842-1932), a 23-year-old chief surgeon at a Washington, D.C. army hospital; and Dr. Charles Sabin Taft (1835-1900), a surgeon employed at a nearby signal corps school hospital. Dr. Leale cut away a lock of Lincoln's blood-spattered hair in order access the fatal wound, and removed the first of many blood clots from Lincoln's head in order to ease his breathing. He then attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with Dr. Taft's assistance. The two doctors accompanied Lincoln across the street to the Peterson House, where Dr. Taft applied cold compresses to his forehead and reportedly administered the last teaspoon of water and brandy to Lincoln's lips. Lincoln expired nine hours after the shooting.

After Lincoln's death, the hair lock Dr. Leale had removed from Lincoln's scalp was presented to First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. The widow distributed the hair, divided into smaller allotments, as mementos to Lincoln's friends, and it was in this way that the hair lock made its way to Dr. Charles S. Taft.

Dr. Charles S. Taft bequeathed Lincoln's hair lock to his eldest son Charles Clement Taft (1864-1925), a Manhattan department store manager, upon his death in 1900. The younger Taft sold six strands of this hair lock to John Hay, one of Lincoln's personal secretaries, in 1905. Charles C. Taft sold another portion of the same hair lock to Major William H. Lambert (1842-1912) in March 1908. Lambert was a Civil War veteran, an insurance executive, and a major collector of Lincolniana. Major Lambert preserved the Lincoln hair lock in a custom 14K gold case. The case was engraved with provenance information verso, and its beveled glass top allowed for touchless viewing of the hair lock.

Lincoln's hair lock was sold as part of Major Lambert's estate by the Metropolitan Art Association at The Anderson Galleries between January 14-16, 1914 in a 3-day sale. Henry C. Hines of New Jersey, a former Assemblyman, purchased the Lincoln hair lock at this auction for $330. The hair lock, sealed in this same case, was discovered among Hines's personal belongings by a close acquaintance of his in 1993.

John Reznikoff acquired the Lincoln hair lock in the 1990s. During a 2006 interview, Reznikoff estimated that the entire Lincoln hair lock of which these strands were a part was worth upwards of $750,000. 

CHAIN OF CUSTODY

The hair lock was removed from Lincoln's head wound on April 14-15, 1865 by Dr. Leale in order to access the wound.
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The hair lock was given to First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.
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Mary Todd Lincoln gave the hair lock to Dr. Charles S. Taft, who had attended Lincoln the night of the assassination.
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Dr. Charles S. Taft bequeathed the hair lock to his eldest son Charles Clement Taft.
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Charles Clement Taft sold the hair lock to Major William H. Lambert, a major Lincoln collector.
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William H. Lambert's estate, containing the hair lock and other Lincoln relics, was sold at auction via the Metropolitan Art Association at The Anderson Galleries in January 1914.
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Henry C. Hines of New Jersey purchased the hair lock at auction. It remained among his possessions until 1993.
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The hair lock was acquired by John Reznikoff, founder of University Archives.

PROVENANCE

The hefty packet of provenance information accompanying the lot includes photocopies or print-outs of original correspondence between owners, collectors, donors, dealers, and museums, ca. 1905-1996; auction catalogue information from 1914; photocopies of period newspaper clippings and magazine articles discussing Lincoln relics; pictures of Major Lambert's case; and historical background material about the doctors attending Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. Please see below for a brief summary of the provenance information included with this lot; individual scans can be forwarded upon request.

Arranged chronologically

1. A print after John H. Littlefield, "Death-Bed of Lincoln, April 15, 1865" showing Dr. Taft holding Lincoln's head at center.

2. Excerpt from a magazine discussing the efforts of Dr. Leale and Dr. Taft on the night of the assassination.

3. March 3, 1905 letter from John Hay to Theodore Roosevelt, establishing Charles C. Taft as a source of Lincoln hair. (2 transcripts)

"Dr. Taft cut it off the night of the assassination and I got it from his son -- a brief pedigree…"

4. March 14, 1907 letter from Charles C. Taft to O.H. Oldroyd of the Lincoln Memorial Collection concerning the sale of the Lincoln hair lock and assassination cuff link.

5. March 1, 1908 letter from Charles C. Taft to General James Grant Wilson (1832-1914), a Civil War veteran and member of the Lincoln Fellowship Club, regarding the sale of the Lincoln relics he had inherited.

"My father the late Dr. Charles Sabin Taft U.S.A. was one of the attending surgeon's [sic] who responded to the call when the Presidend [sic] was assassinated…"

6. March 5, 1908 letter from General James G. Wilson to Major William H. Lambert concerning the sale for $600 of Dr. Taft's Lincoln relics.

7. March 9, 1908 letter from General James G. Wilson to Major William H. Lambert regarding the actual purchase.

"…this afternoon I purchased for you the precious Lincoln relics bringing away the priceless large lock of hair…"

8. March 12, 1908 letter from Charles C. Taft to Major William H. Lambert confirming receipt of the check.

9. March 12, 1908 dated notarized affidavit signed by Charles C. Taft.

10. March 15, 1908 letter from Charles C. Taft to Major William H. Lambert regarding the Lincoln cuff link, another part of Dr. Taft's legacy.

11. March 24, 1908 letter from Charles C. Taft to Major William H. Lambert regarding money received from John Hay in return for several strands of Lincoln hair.

12. March 28, 1908 letter from Charles C. Taft to Major William H. Lambert mentioning his father's personal reminiscences of Lincoln visiting the military hospital during the Civil War.

13. Contemporary newspaper articles about a lawsuit filed by Charles C. Taft regarding the alleged theft of part of Major Lambert's Lincoln hair proceeds.

14. July 20, 1908 letter from Charles C. Taft to Major William H. Lambert concerning the sale of his brother's part of their father's bequest.

15. January 11, 1914 "New York Times" advertisement announcing the upcoming sale of Major William H. Lambert's estate.

16. Information pertaining to the Metropolitan Art Association auctioning off of the "Library of the Late Major Wim. H. Lambert, Part I, Lincolniana," listing the Lincoln hair lock as Lot 825. This lot crossed the auction block on January 16, 1914.

"825. LOCK OF HAIR cut from Lincoln's head after he was shot…"

17. Photographs showing Major Lambert's engraved gold case containing the Lincoln hair lock.

18. Contemporary newspaper articles about the sale of Major Lambert's estate, with explicit reference to the Lincoln hair lock.

19. February 3, 1914 letter from Charles C. Taft to Henry C. Hines, who had purchased the Lincoln hair lock at the recent auction.

20. February 4, 1914 and February 5, 1914 letters from representatives of the Metropolitan Art Association to Henry C. Hines, with companion transmittal envelopes.

21. Twentieth-century newspaper articles discussing the sale of non-hair related Lincoln artifacts, as well as other Lincoln hair originating from Mrs. Schuyler Colfax.

22. May 17, 1996 letter from the United States Department of the Interior to University Archives regarding a donation of Lincoln hair to the Ford's Theatre Museum.

23. Article, "The Scalp Hunter," published in March 2006 issue of "Maxim" Magazine discussing John Reznikoff's celebrity hair collection. Reznikoff was included in the Guinness Book of World Records as the owner of the largest hair collection in 2014.

24. A summary of the chain of custody, 1865 to today.

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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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000