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Lincoln's Beard

Kari's dad, Fred, has been actively researching his family tree; he's traced some of the roots all the way back to England. In his research he found a website devoted to one of his more recent relatives, Grace Bedell (the cousin of his great-grandmother). When Grace was 11, she wrote a letter to Abraham Lincoln suggesting that he grow a beard. Having received the lettter only one month before the 1860 presidential election, it appears that Lincoln took her advice. When he boarded the train for Washington the next February, he was fully bearded.

There are plenty of websites devoted to this story and the famous letter. Apparently, when the letter was last offered for sale in the 1990's, the asking price was set at $1,000,000.

Fred has sent me some digital files of Grace and asked for my help cleaning one of them up so it could be suitably framed. Here are the before and after images. I'll get the print in the mail to you soon, Fred!

Before

After

Click either picture for a larger view.