Witness to history: Confederate gavel Lincoln discussed on night of assassination
Historic gavel used in the Congress of the Confederate States of America, retrieved from Richmond in April 1865 by Senator Charles Sumner. Before departing for Ford’s Theatre on the night of his assassination, Abraham Lincoln mentioned the gavel and how it was acquired to White House visitors, Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax and Massachusetts Congressman George Ashmun. Lot includes original copy of April 17, 1865 edition of the Boston Daily Evening Traveller and an 1867 book, Six Months At The White House, both of which make reference to the gavel. Estimate $5,000-$10,000
DENVER, Pa. – April 15, 1865 is a date that will forever be associated with the assassination of America’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. While volumes have been written about shooter John Wilkes Booth’s cowardly act, and the valiant fight to save Lincoln’s life, not as much is commonly known about the hours leading up to the president’s fateful visit to Ford’s Theatre.
A unique and historically significant item entered in Morphy Auctions’ March 15-17 Collectible Firearms & Militaria Auction helps to shed light on Lincoln’s final hours and his composed state of mind following the Confederacy’s surrender. It is the gavel that was used in the Richmond, Virginia, chambers of the Congress of the Confederate States of America.
After the fall of Richmond in April 1865, the gavel was retrieved from the disarray of the former Confederate government’s venue by Senator Charles Sumner, leader of the anti-slavery “Radical Republicans” of Massachusetts.
The gavel was symbolic and important to President Lincoln. At around 8pm, prior to departing for Ford’s Theatre on the night of his assassination, Lincoln discussed the gavel’s acquisition with two White House visitors: Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax and Massachusetts Congressman George Ashmun.
“Mr. Sumner has the gavel of the Confederate Congress, which he got at Richmond to hand to the Secretary of War, but I insisted then that he give it to you. Tell him for me to hand it over,” Lincoln instructed Colfax. That direct quote appeared two days after the assassination in an account published in the April 17, 1865 edition of the Boston Daily Evening Traveller.
The gavel offered by Morphy’s retains its period brown-ink label that reads in handwritten script, “Gavel of the Confederate Congress.” It is not to be confused with modern souvenir gavels made from wood obtained from historic buildings.
“This is the actual gavel that was used in the Confederate Congress and retrieved by Senator Sumner,” said Dan Morphy, president of Morphy Auctions. “Its symbolic value was recognized at the time by Lincoln, Colfax and Congressman Ashmun who, in the same conversation with Lincoln, referred to his own preservation of a gavel he had used at the Chicago Convention of 1860, where he had nominated Lincoln for President of the United States.”
Original copy of April 17, 1865 edition of the Boston Daily Evening Traveller, which mentions the gavel on the front page.
The gavel will convey to its new owner with an original copy of the April 17, 1865 edition of the Boston Daily Evening Traveller and an 1867 book, Six Months At The White House, that makes reference to it. The conservative pre-auction estimate for the lot is $5,000-$10,000.
