Details:

Ford's Theatre, location of the Abraham Lincoln assassination, custom display featuring a swatch of linen which originates from a Ford's Theatre circa 19th century.

The affixed fabric swatch measures approximately .625" x .625" and has been affixed to an 8.5 x 11" University Archives certification display sheet. This display includes a reproduction image of the handwritten note explaining its background.

Historical Background and Provenance:

Complete Transcript of Note: "The table cover was made from the immense hand-painted curtain, of the stage, in the Ford theater, and was hanging there at the time Lincoln was shot. My great-grandfather worked in the theater at the time and bro't home the curtain when it was discarded, and his wife, (my great-grandmother) soaked it in gallons of turpentine to remove the painted scenery. There were many, many, yards in the piece and after she had thoroughly cleaned it, she supplied the household with tablecloths, sheets, slips and numerous other necessities. It was all of pure linen and very nice at the time she made the articles from it. This cover has had years of hard use, as can be seen." - Mrs. L. M. Kellogg

Complete Transcript of Box Label: ANTIQUE TABLE CLOTH – CIRCA 1865. This table cloth, part of a linen curtain panel removed from the Ford Theater shortly after President Lincoln was shot by Booth. A relative, employed at the theater, gave the panel to my Grandmother Crafts mother who cut it into many sizes and uses in the house. (please read her description of this. - Martin Kellogg

Historical Background

Between 10:15 and 10:30 p.m. on Friday, April 14, 1865, actor John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., during a performance of Our American Cousin, a popular English farce. Only five days earlier, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered his army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the war that had consumed Lincoln’s Presidency. The reelected President looked forward to a more peaceful second term in office.

Soldiers carried the unconscious President across 10th Street to the Petersen Boarding House, because doctors feared he would not survive the carriage ride back to the Executive Mansion, about a mile away. In the boarding house, he was placed diagonally on a bed in a back room rented by an army clerk. Despite the attendance of the best doctors in Washington, Lincoln’s wound was mortal. He died at 7:22 a.m. on Saturday, April 15.

A Martin Kellogg was a metalworker in Jamestown, New York, in 1928, and may be the person who owned the tablecloth.

Martin Kellogg's "Grandmother Crafts" may have been Juliette Montague Cook Crafts (1847-1900) of Hadley and Whately, Massachusetts. She married Bela Kellogg Crafts (1841-1921) in 1865. Her mother was Angeline Kellogg Cook (1811-1881), and her father was James Cook Jr. (1807-1892), both of Hadley, Massachusetts. According to the label, the transformation of the Ford's Theatre curtain into this tablecloth and other items was the work of Angeline Kellogg Cook, who received the material from "a relative."

The handwritten note declares that it was her husband, employed at Ford’s Theatre, who gave the fabric to the creator of the tablecloth.

Sourced from and certified authentic by University Archives one of the foremost authorities on historical relics and artifacts. Accompanied by to color copies of the original note and full table images from which this swatch was clipped.

Authentication:
Includes a full letter of authenticity from JG Autographs, Inc.

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Reference sku: 11674 1416976-1