Family collection of lost letters, diaries and objects found in attics and archives retrace archetypal ancestors' footprints to discover their lost life stories
During my Jan 16, 2021 interview on Untold Civil War podcast we spoke about a couple major events of the Civil War that were witnessed by members of my family.
On August 22, 1862 when President Lincoln finished his famous letter to Horace Greeley he had the letter delivered to and published by National Intelligencer editor, my great grandfather, James Clarke Welling.
Also, another family member, my great great grandmother, Elizabeth L. C. Dixon was a witness at the Petersen House, when President Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15, 1865.
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Paul and I discuss Civil War heirlooms that retrace my family’s Civil War footprints and friendship with the Lincolns, from the Lincolns’ first days in Washington until their last.
Last Hours of Abraham Lincoln
Until now, little is known about these lady friends of Mary Lincoln who witnessed Lincoln’s death.
We discuss, the possibly as to, why it’s taken 155 years to learn who they were and why these friends were at the Petersen House.
Elizabeth Dixon, Mary Lincoln at Lincoln’s deathbed
Mrs. Mary C. Kinney and Miss Constance Kinney, future Countess Gianotti, wife of Count Caesar Gianotti of Italy.
Shown on the top, is my great-great grandmother, Mrs. Elizabeth L. C. Dixon with outstretched Mary Lincoln and the dying president.
Below are two other family members who witnessed Lincoln’s death– the sister of Elizabeth L.C. Dixon, Mrs. Mary C. Kinney and niece, Miss Constance Kinney, future Countess Gianotti, wife of Count Caesar Gianotti, of Italy.
Please listen to the episode and let me know if you find it informative and/or interesting.
On August 22, 1862 President Abraham Lincoln wrote his, now famous, public letter to Mr. Horace Greeley, editor of the New-York Tribune.
Lincoln never sent the letter to Greeley. He sent it to a rival editor, National Intelligencer editor, James Clarke Welling, who published a ‘revised version’ the following day.
President Lincoln’s private secretary, John Nicolay later recollected:
On August 22, 1862 President Lincoln wrote an open letter to Horace Greeley, editor of New York Tribune. This letter, which has become famous in history, he sent to the National Intelligencer for publication. Dr. James Clarke Welling was at that time the editor in charge, and he did what few young editors would have ventured upon. He wanted to make a change to Lincoln’s text so he immediately carried the manuscript back to the President, and suggested its omission. President Lincoln good-naturedly complied, not that he was convinced of the alleged imperfection, but because he never stubbornly resisted advice where only trifles were concerned.
Recollections of John Nicolay Private Secretary to President Lincoln Princeton College Bulletin Volume VII; April, 1895
From an early age, Dr. James Clarke Welling was passionate about historical accuracy. His college thesis at Princeton was Causes of Historical Discrepancies.
In 1880 Dr. James Clarke Welling brought to the attention of the Library of Congress that another revision should be made on the printed version of the text of the published letter to Greeley. Dr. Welling referred to the original letter in his possession and corrected the misprinted word from “this” union to “the” union.
Lincoln, Abraham. Abraham Lincoln papers: Series 2. General Correspondence. 1858 to 1864: Abraham Lincoln to Horace Greeley, Friday, Clipping from Aug. 23, 1862 Daily National Intelligencer, Washington, D.C . 1862. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mal4233400/.
The original manuscript of President Lincoln’s Proclamation, written July 25, 1862 was a prelude to the Emancipation Proclamation.
After President Lincoln composed this proclamation, the draft handwritten copy was delivered to editor, James Clarke Welling, for publication in the National Intelligencer.
As mentioned in a previous post, Lincoln did the same gesture a month later, when he delivers his famous Greeley Letter to Welling who published and then retained the original draft of Greeley Letter throughout his lifetime.
As for the July 25th, 1862 proclamation after he received and published it in the Intelligencer, James C. Welling donated the page torn from history to the New Jersey Committee at the 1864 Great Fair of Philadelphia.
The manuscript was sold by lottery and the lucky bidder was Anne Hampton Brewster, who bequeathed her books, manuscripts and maps to the Library Company of Philadelphia.
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