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Fragment of linen shirt worn by President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th President of the United States until his assassination on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth. The shirt is part of a collage of material relating to John C. Weaver, a Civil War veteran from Philadelphia. The collage includes the cloth fragment, a photograph, two newspaper clippings, a document and annotations. The annotations read as follows: Top, “notice folds and pin marks…father always carried piece of shirt securely fastened.” Left, “Piece of A. Lincoln’s shirt worm at time of assination [sic].” Right, “This is the room where A. Lincoln died. Directly opposite from where I stand with fathers [sic] framed credentials was the place where the bed stood. Notice the many photographs of A. Lincoln.”

Details

  • Title: Fragment of President Abraham Lincoln’s Shirt
  • Date Created: 1865
  • Physical Dimensions: Height- 16 inches, Width- 12 inches
  • Provenance: John C. Weaver was one of six Quartermaster Department soldiers under the command of General Daniel Rucker, who transported Abraham Lincoln’s body from the Petersen House where he died on April 15, 1865, to the White House where Army surgeons conducted the autopsy. In gratitude for the service of the soldiers, Rucker gave each a piece of the white linen shirt worn by President Lincoln when he was shot on April 14. Note the dirt, creases, and pin holes on the shirt fragment. Weaver would fold and pin the fragment to the inside of his jacket so that it covered his heart when his jacket was buttoned. The collage was created by Weaver’s daughter, Ella Millen. It was donated by Weaver’s great-great-grandson, Union League Member Ralph and Elaine Burnard, to The Union League of Philadelphia, a patriotic society founded in 1862 to support Abraham Lincoln and the Union during the American Civil War.
  • Type: Collage
  • Rights: The Abraham Lincoln Foundation of the Union League of Philadelphia. For questions regarding usage please contact archives@unionleague.org.
  • Medium: Paper, Cloth
  • Internal ID: 2007.1.1

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