DALLAS, TX.- On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech at the Consecration of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that redefined the purpose of the Civil War and shaped how subsequent generations of Americans viewed the history and governance of their nation. Four and a half months earlier, the Union had won the bloodiest battle in American military history, a victory that marked a crucial turning point in the war. One hundred sixty-two years later, what began as a simple tree branch picked up from the battlefield and shaped into a walking stick with ties to both important moments in American history will be among the hundreds of historic artifacts for sale in the October 24-25 Americana & Political Signature® Auction.
The Gettysburg Cane Presented to Edwin M. Stanton was given to Lincoln as a gift at some point during his trip to Gettysburg when he gave his Gettysburg Address. Walking sticks were popular gifts at the time, and Lincoln, who did not use one himself, presented it as a souvenir to his Secretary of War, Stanton, who collected canes. Memorializing the importance of the gift’s origin, Stanton added a brass head with the inscription “From the Gettysburg Battle-field, July 1, 2, 3, 1863. / A. Lincoln, Pres’t of U.S.” The Gettysburg cane comes with four other canes passed down to Stanton’s descendants as well as provenance documents and the shipping crate in which the canes were preserved.
“Stanton had a metal knob added to it and engraved so people would know exactly what it was,” says Don Ackerman, Heritage’s Managing Director of Political Americana. “Basically Stanton was documenting that this was a battlefield relic and that it was given to him by Lincoln. So with the Gettysburg Address, the Battle of Gettysburg, it just hits all the high marks. It’s a fabulous piece, and then there are the four other canes, including one made from wood from the flagpole from Fort Sumter. This is really the highlight lot. We are very excited about it, and it was a completely unknown piece. It should generate a lot of bidding.”
Interest in Lincoln memorabilia, also called Lincolniana, has “gone unabated over the years,” Ackerman adds. This auction includes more than 60 other lots, including one relic from the Presidential Box at Ford’s Theater that has been matched to a picture taken a few days after the April 14, 1865 assassination: a tasseled red and white striped cord used to gather the box’s front curtains near where Lincoln was sitting.
“There were a lot of souvenir hunters at the time, so people who could get access to the Presidential Box would take things, like pieces of the wallpaper,” Ackerman says. He says this is the only Ford’s Theater gathering cord to come onto the market, making it difficult to accurately predict the sale price. “We have never sold one,” he says, “but considering it’s a complete artifact and was a foot away from Lincoln when he was shot, I think it is a very significant piece.”
Other Lincolniana includes a large National Union campaign broadside for Lincoln and Andrew Johnson for Vice President from the 1864 election, in which they ran under the temporary National Union Party, a coalition of Republicans and pro-Union War Democrats.
Another piece of U.S. presidential campaign artistry in this auction qualifies as a holy grail for collectors: an “Eagle With Rays” St. Louis Button Company jugate from the losing James M. Cox-Franklin D. Roosevelt ticket in the 1920 election. “Generally, the country was trying to forget World War I and get back on an even keel,” Ackerman says. “People were not interested in politics so much in the Roaring 20s, so a lot of buttons produced in 1920 and 1924 tend not to be particularly colorful, and these were issued in a limited quantity. It’s speculated the button companies only made samples because nobody ordered them in large quantities.”
Several John F. Kennedy items will also be available in the auction. Notable lots include the gold Benrus wristwatch presented to Kennedy by members of the Democratic National Committee after his nomination, with the inscription “To our next president J.F.K.” on the caseback; a 1963 Kennedy family photo presentation personalized to Secret Service Agent Robert W. Foster with signatures from the President, First Lady Jacqueline and daughter Caroline along with some ink marks from John Jr.; and even a pair of Kennedy’s well-worn long underwear. A signed and personalized photograph of Kennedy inscribed to 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater, who cultivated a serious passion for photography, shows Kennedy’s wit and reveals a playful side to the political rivalry between the two. His inscription along the lower margin reads: “For Barry Goldwater - Whom I urge to follow the career for which he has shown such talent - photography! - from his friend - John Kennedy.”
Auction lots also include historic newspapers and autographs, advertising material, Western history items and a wide selection of items related to aviation and transportation history.
