Photo emerges that might be last taken of Lincoln

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- An expert on Lincoln photography thinks a photograph found in Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's family-owned album showing President Abraham Lincoln in front of the White House could be one of the last photos taken of the 16th president before he was assassinated in 1865.

Grant's great-great grandson Ulysses S. Grant VI had seen the previously unpublished image in the general's personal photo album, but didn't think much of it until he scrutinized it earlier this year.

"I started to think that it might be the White House," said Grant, a construction business owner from Springfield, Missouri. "Then I started to look at the height difference between the people in the photo."

Thinking that the towering individual commanding the attention of the other people in the image could be Lincoln -- who stood 6-foot-4 and is the nation's tallest president -- Grant called Keya Morgan, a renowned collector and scholar of Lincoln and Gen. Grant photographs, to see whether his suspicions could be verified.

Morgan, who owns the world's largest collection of Lincoln artifacts and original photographs, persuaded Grant to take the small photo out of the album to see whether any clues could be found on the back -- particularly the name of the photographer.

"If you don't know who the photographer is, it's like not knowing who your father and mother are," Morgan said.

Sure enough, the seal of photographer Henry F. Warren appeared on the back, along with an inscription: "Lincoln in front of the White House," dated 1865. Grant recognized the handwriting as that of his great-grandfather and Gen. Grant's youngest son, Jesse Grant. Those indicators, along with a revenue stamp used from 1864-66 to raise money during the Civil War, helped convince Morgan that the photograph could be the well-documented missing photo from Lincoln's last "sitting."

According to Morgan -- who cites Lincoln's secretaries John Hay and John Nicolay -- Warren took the last three photographs of Lincoln on March 6, 1865, just two days after his second inauguration.

Morgan says Warren was desperate to take pictures of Lincoln, so he staged the first act of paparazzi photography. According to Morgan, Warren first took photos of the president's son Tad on his pony. The following day, Warren gave the pictures to Tad and told him to summon his father. Morgan says that Warren was already set up to take the photo outside the White House, and that Lincoln gave him access afterward to take two more portraits on the White House balcony.

Will Stapp, founding curator of the National Portrait Gallery's photography department and a professional photograph appraiser, agrees with Morgan's assessment of the long-lost image.

"The figure itself, the physique -- in looking at it under a magnifying glass, I can see the shape of his beard; I can see the hairline," Stapp told CNN. "It's similar to the impression you get from other photos taken of [Lincoln] from the same distance, like at the Gettysburg Address and his inauguration."

Stapp and Morgan also say it appears that Lincoln is wearing the same clothes in the outdoor photo as he wore for the portraits taken the same day.

As one of only 130 photographs of Lincoln, it is an extraordinary find not only because of its proximity to Lincoln's death, but because it shows him in a natural stance.

"You could put yourself in the shoes of the people around [Lincoln] and see what it was like to live at the White House," said Morgan, who says he receives 10 to 20 requests a day asking him to verify potential Lincoln photographs.

Morgan, who purchased the photo from Grant, says he has received thousands of e-mails from Lincoln aficionados commenting on the find. His Web site, lincolnimages.com, received more than 5 million hits on Tuesday and crashed because of the traffic overload.
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Photo emerges that might be last taken of Lincoln
 
Cool; I'm always fascinated with that time era especially when it is about Lincoln.

I also read an article mentioning about a hidden message in Lincoln's pocket watch.

Here's the article -- washingtonpost.com
 
Oh wow!

The old photos and the watch are both interesting. Both are a piece of History.

It ready does makes you wonder about movies like The National Treasure.
 
I don't see how they can say it definitely is Lincoln. The head and face are blurry. It would be nice to see an enlarged image-when I zoom in, it gets more blurry.
 
Lincoln is always an interesting topic.


A local Lincoln historian in my area does "Lincolns Last Hours" play at a local historical theatre. People come in character and get so caught up in the play as participants that the life squad stays on stand-by for heartattacks and such.

It is very moving.

We were all remarking about Presidents aging during their White House Years. Lincoln sure shows that if you compare his inaugural picture to that of the last ones before his assasination.
 
Babyblue said:
Oh wow!

The old photos and the watch are both interesting. Both are a piece of History.

It ready does makes you wonder about movies like The National Treasure.
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It definitely does make you think about the movie like The National Treasure. Although, I have to wonder if there's more out there that are really just as it is shown in that movie as well? It'd be interesting though.
 
flyingace said:
I don't see how they can say it definitely is Lincoln. The head and face are blurry. It would be nice to see an enlarged image-when I zoom in, it gets more blurry.
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This is 1860's and the camera was just "new" technology that time. Very rare photos are in good quality, they don't have the resolution to take picture far away from camera like the picture shown above in the article. It becomes blurry one you try to zoom in.
 
Jolie77 said:
It definitely does make you think about the movie like The National Treasure. Although, I have to wonder if there's more out there that are really just as it is shown in that movie as well? It'd be interesting though.
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:hmm: Hidden clues. Hidden treasures!

If it is real!! It really would get us out of the recession we are in!! :)

I am sure they have clues and secret codes everywhere. From past presidents etc. Secrets. It would be fascinating to find some, and to know about some of them.
 
Wow, very interesting... wished that he was still alive though. I love history...old stories and old stuff.
 
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