LINCOLN CONSPIRATORS GALLOWS RELIC AND LINCOLN LOCK OF HAIR
A terrific relic display, a very small lock of three strands of Abraham Lincoln's hair, tastefully matted with a chip of wood from the gallows upon which his assassins and their fellow conspirators were hanged on July 7, 1865. The hair was obtained from a larger lock given by Mrs. Lincoln to Mrs. Caroline Wright, the wife of former Indiana Gov. Joseph Wright, sold at Christie's in 1992. The gallows relic was obtained by a guard at the hanging who removed a large section of wood immediately after the proceedings, just as souvenir hunters descended upon the scene. The relics are triple-matted in gold, white and red felt with images of Lincoln, a reward poster seeking Lincoln's killers, the conspirators just after they were hanged, and a printed description. Provenance for both relics accompanies.