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| Invitation sent to Elizabeth LC Dixon From the President and Mrs. Lincoln |
It was Dixon family legend that during the Civil War our great-great grandmother, Elizabeth L. C. Dixon was a close friend of President and Mrs. Lincoln.
It was only after discovering this White House invitation and other papers in the Dixon-Welling papers at Connecticut Historical Society could we dispel the family lore as fact.
This White House dinner invitation was delivered February of 1863 to Sen. James Dixon and wife Elizabeth L.C. Dixon, our great great grandparents, requesting their presence to dine with the Lincolns at the White House.
What is not obvious from the invitation is the occasion. Could it be a belated birthday celebration for President Lincoln? Quite possible given it had been a year of mourning for Mrs. Lincoln since Willy's death.
The newspapers would report a day after the festive event the small gathering was in celebration of the wedding of P.T. Barnum's famous Gen. Tom Thumb and his new bride, Lavinia Warren.
We can only wonder if Sen.and Mrs. Dixon knew in advance who the guests of honor would be that evening. The Dixon's had been well acquainted with "teenie" Tom Thumb and PT years before. Each had been residents of Connecticut but this wasn't the thread that bound them. This odd foursome had became intimate friends in 1840 aboard the Great Western steamship. Barnum on his way to London and the Dixon's on their way to Europe for their honeymoon tour.
An excerpt of the 1840s Honeymoon diary, Elizabeth Dixon describes Tom Thumb as:
It was only after discovering this White House invitation and other papers in the Dixon-Welling papers at Connecticut Historical Society could we dispel the family lore as fact.
This White House dinner invitation was delivered February of 1863 to Sen. James Dixon and wife Elizabeth L.C. Dixon, our great great grandparents, requesting their presence to dine with the Lincolns at the White House.
What is not obvious from the invitation is the occasion. Could it be a belated birthday celebration for President Lincoln? Quite possible given it had been a year of mourning for Mrs. Lincoln since Willy's death.
The newspapers would report a day after the festive event the small gathering was in celebration of the wedding of P.T. Barnum's famous Gen. Tom Thumb and his new bride, Lavinia Warren.
We can only wonder if Sen.and Mrs. Dixon knew in advance who the guests of honor would be that evening. The Dixon's had been well acquainted with "teenie" Tom Thumb and PT years before. Each had been residents of Connecticut but this wasn't the thread that bound them. This odd foursome had became intimate friends in 1840 aboard the Great Western steamship. Barnum on his way to London and the Dixon's on their way to Europe for their honeymoon tour.
Other than that diary excerpt we know little about their associations after attended the February 1863 White House dinner.The pigmy dandy Tittletat Titmouse in plain homespun language, with his ringlets always in tight curl, blue embroidered cravat, diamonds and rings, but all he could do, it would "take nine of him to make a man". He used always to jump over the seat and I was expecting he would alight in the astral lamp over his head and if he had I don't know how we should ever have got him out, he was so small.
Found in the private collection of the Dixon family is this CDV of Mrs. Tom Thumb and her baby, given to Mrs. Dixon as a keepsake and preserved for the last 150 years as a reminder of the past and forgotten Civil War friendships.
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| Mrs. Tom Thumb |
For information about Tom Thumb's visit:
http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/inside.asp?ID=210&subjectID=3
