Raynors HCA 2015-05
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/21/2015
Lot of three mourning artifacts which include a black silk veil, or shawl, 53-1/2” x 36”, ...plus, a black silk folding parasol with a rope-and-ball turned elephant ivory handle, 23” extended, 18” diameter, and a black silk folding fan, 11-1/2”x 20” wide. These items are accompanied by a photocopy of a 1977 affidavit signed by Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith describing the contents of a trunk found at Hildene upon the death of his sister Margaret "Peggy" Beckwith. Included in the list are 3 carriage parasols; 2 mourning veils; and 5 Black fans; and an additional Deed of Gift from Beckwith, dated, September 12, 1977, which specifically gifts these three items to Margaret Fristoe (Beckwith's future wife). The deed of gift refers to the affidavit noted previously. The lot is also accompanied by a notarized affidavit dated June 2, 2010, which includes the complete line of descent of these Lincoln family artifacts and information attesting to their provenance. This lot descended in the family of Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, great grandson of President Abraham Lincoln, and the last of Lincoln’s direct descendants. Beckwith’s mother, Jessie, was one of two daughters of Robert Todd Lincoln and his wife Mary Harlan Lincoln. Robert was the only surviving son of Mary and Abraham Lincoln’s four children. Robert Todd Lincoln (“Bud” or “Bob”) Beckwith (1904-1985) married three times. His first marriage to Hazel Holland Wilson ended without issue; his second marriage to Annemarie Hoffman ended in divorce in 1976 when she was discovered to be pregnant – but apparently not by Bud Beckwith. Beckwith married again in 1979, this time to divorcee Margaret Fristoe (1901-2009). At Bud’s death in 1985 the items offered here passed to Margaret, and at her death in 2009, the collection descended to her daughter from her first marriage. The affidavits accompanying the lot are signed during a period when Beckwith made donations of Lincoln family materials to a number of institutions including the Illinois State Library (now the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library), the Chicago Historical Society (now the Chicago History Center), the New York Historical Society, and others. Much of the material listed in the affidavits is genuinely associated with Abraham Lincoln, but some is associated only through oral tradition. Without further concrete documentation, it is impossible to ascertain whether the property belonged to Mary Todd Lincoln, Mary Harlan Lincoln or other descendants. Given the documented personal wealth and civic largesse of Bud Beckwith, he had little monetary reason to fabricate provenance. Clearly he was certain of their family history.
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