Masterpiece by Lincoln in Connecticut

Discovered at the Wadsworth Atheneum were pages from American history

On a visit to Hartford Connecticut I stopped in to see an item my family had donated to the Wadsworth Atheneum.   Prior to my visit I emailed a copy of the acknowledgement receipt given to my family by the Wadsworth Atheneum when we made the donation. 

I found the item within the vault. Within the vault there was a safe. From within the safe came the item I had heard so much about all my life---The Greeley Letter.

I was told by my aunt it was a masterpiece, the original three page letter written August 22, 1862 by President Lincoln to New York Tribune newspaper editor, Horace Greeley. Words from these pages are iconic;

My paramount object is to save the Union and is not either to save or destroy slavery...

The historian Phillip Shaw Paludan wrote about the importance of the letter;

 If there is one document that is more often quoted than any other in the argument, debate, or conversation about Lincoln it is the letter that Lincoln wrote on August 22, 1862 to Horace Greeley.

Why is this American treasure at America's oldest art museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum? 

Dr. James Clarke Welling, president of George Washington University 1871-1894 was given the letter by President Lincoln and retained the original letter his entire life. In 1880, Welling wrote the Emancipation Proclamation in North American Review stating: 

 This letter appeared for the first time in the National Intelligencer on August 23, 1862 and the letter came into my hands from the fact I was one of the editors.

In his 1880 article James Clarke Welling included a facsimile of the letter 'for editorial curiosity'.  

In 1923, Miss Elizabeth L. Dixon, on behalf of the Welling family and brother in-law, Dr. James Clarke Welling, donated this Lincoln masterpiece to the Wadsworth Atheneum. 

Miss Dixon's father, Sen James Dixon was a life member of this revered institution. Since inception in the 1840s, the Wadsworth Atheneum has served the community as both public art museum, historical society and public library. Philanthropic stewardship by the Dixon-Welling family continued over the years donating family historical treasures to the Hartford Public Library and Connecticut Historical Society. 

1864 Influence of Mrs. Dixon

Letter From Lincoln to Gen. Grant:

Executive Mansion
Washington, March 29, 1864

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, Army of the Potomac: Captain Kinney, of whom I spoke to you as desiring to go on your staff, is now in your camp, in company with Mrs. Senator Dixon. Mrs. Grant and I, and some others, agreed last night that I should, by this dispatch, kindly call your attention to Captain Kinney.   A. LINCOLN.

 Mrs. ELC Dixon visits nephews
Ernest L. Kinney, Nathaniel C. Kinney

General Grant replied on the same day:

Your dispatch suggesting Capt. Kinney for a staff appointment just recd. I would be glad to accommodate Capt Kinney but in the selection of staff I do not want any one whom I do not personally know to be qualified for the position assigned them.' 

Captain Nathaniel Cogswell Kinney did not get the promotion, as Mrs. Dixon and her sister, Mary C. Kinney had hoped.  From CW Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 7. Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -    ‘Captain Kinney has not been positively identified. Mrs. Dixon was presumably the wife of James Dixon.’

Referring URL: http://wiki.lincolntelegrams.com/index.php?title=March_29,_1864_(2)

Lincoln's Paramount object was to save the Union

The first time in 150 years

President Lincoln's Letter to Horace Greeley

Museum Archival Prints of the original letter penned by President Lincoln to Horace Greeley, August 22, 1862 are available for the first time in 150 years.  

The prints are available exclusively through Caroline Welling Van Deusen, great granddaughter of letter owner, Dr. James Clarke Welling and great niece of Miss Elizabeth L. Dixon. 

In 1923 Miss Elizabeth L. Dixon donated the famous Greeley letter, on behalf of the Dixon and Welling family, to the country’s oldest public art museum, the Wadsworth Athenaeum, in Hartford, Connecticut.  

Welling family received a gift receipt from the Wadsworth Atheneum in acknowledgement of their generous donation.  As proof of provenance a copy of the Wadsworth receipt is included with each print.

Purchase details to be posted soon. 

August 22, 1862 Lincoln's Letter to Horace Greeley: Editing Mr. Lincoln

On August 22, 1862 President Lincoln wrote a public letter to Horace Greeley and gave it to National Intelligencer editor, James Clarke Welling, to be published the next day in his newspaper.

President Lincoln's private secretary, John  Nicolay recalled;

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, James Clarke Welling was passionate about historical accuracy. His college thesis at Princeton was Causes of Historical Discrepancies.

In 1880 Welling made another revision to the Lincoln-Greeley letter, Aug. 22, 1862. He referred to the original letter in his possession and corrected the misprinted word from "this" union to "the" union.

Lost Footprints Found

Imagine you discovered Civil War relics that confirmed someone in your family witnessed the death of President Lincoln. This is precisely what happened to me.

Found within our family collection of Civil War relics are artifacts left our great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth L. C. Dixon that confirmed she witnessed that fateful night and details of her close friendship with the Lincoln's - from their first days in Washington, until their last. 

The writing and relics left by Elizabeth L. C. Dixon, preserved over generations, offer an intimate glimpse into the past, from a new vantage point. 

So, 'Why was her friendship with the Lincoln's overlooked in history?' and 'Why am I the first of her children to share this trove of Civil War treasures publicly? The answers to these questions may surprise you. 

Over the last decade, after discovering dozens and dozens of Civil War relics, papers, diaries, photographs in our family's basements, attics and historical societies it has become clear that our family has needed these 150 years to heal -- Elizabeth L. Dixon must have been an archetype for the following generations and we have had to wait until her children's children's children were grown that her relics would be found and details of her friendship with the Lincolns finally shared, publicly.

The first of Elizabeth Dixon's writings; 'The Diary of Elizabeth Dixon', 1845-47' was featured in 'White House History', Issue 33, published by the White House Historical Association. 

For details go to:

https://shop.whitehousehistory.org/products/the-white-house-neighborhood-and-the-war-unseen

Twenty years before she witnessed Lincoln's deathbed she wrote at the end of this diary;

 

" I wonder if this will be of interest in after years, for that was my intent on writing it, a giddy life but my head was not turned by it". 

A stark contrast to her words in 1865, she never could have imagined what was in store for her, but we know don't we?