Lincoln Carriage Returns to South Bend

[Gay Mathis]

http://www.fox28.com/News/index.php?ID=32390

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Lincoln Carriage Returns to South Bend

One of our national treasures returns home to South Bend and the Studebaker Museum.

Lincoln's carriage arrived Thursday after a year in Pennsylvania undergoing conservation.

Movers unloaded it and museum employees admired the work. The 1865 carriage was owned by President Abraham Lincoln and was the one that took him on his last ride to Ford's Theatre.

They stabilized the interior which was disintegrating and did some repainting, but first uncovered a monogram that was rumored to be there a monogram no one was sure existed.

The cost of the work was around $30,000 dollars. A special unveiling of the newly preserved carriage will be held Friday, February 8th at 6 p.m.

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Gay

[gary]

Wonderful restoration work. Compare it to the wagon that carried Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta. Abe's carriage looks usable. King's looks like its ready to be salvaged for firewood.

[ole]

Super post, Gay! But what monogram?

ole

[Gay Mathis]

Originally Posted by ole

Super post, Gay! But what monogram?

ole

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Ole, these stories say this about the "Monogram"
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http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2...ws/news255.txt

Excerpt:

From an e-mail tip regarding the carriage’s original appearance, the conservators also uncovered Lincoln’s monogram on the doors.

"We didn’t know the monogram was there," Howard says. "We based our search initially upon a story that had been forwarded about it being gold."

The difficulty was getting down through the multiple layers of paint and varnish over the monogram without dissolving it, he explains.

"We could see the gold and remnants of green paint, but a lot of detail had been lost prior to having been repainted," Howard says.
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http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...carriage_N.htm

Excerpt:

Workers discovered the carriage originally wasn't black, but rather dark green with maroon, gold and white details, Howard said. The conservators also uncovered an elaborate cursive presidential monogram — A.L. — on each door, which had been painted over

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Gay

[30th_il]

It's neat that even after 143 years, things like this are still being discovered and continue to stir the imagination!

[unionblue]

30th Il,

I agree.

Unionblue

[jessup66]

It's great that we still appreciate things like this other wise it could have very well been used for fire wood.