Sarah bush johnston lincoln biography images

The approximately 2-by 3-inch photo of Sarah Bush Lincoln was correctly labeled in the museum's permanent Lincoln exhibit. But the county historical society was unaware that only one other photo of Lincoln's stepmother is known to exist, and it is found only in copies - the original is missing. We just didn't know it was such a big deal," said Suzy Beggin, director of the museum.

The photo is an ambrotype, a 19th-century type of photograph made on a glass plate, in a leatherette-covered wooden case. It was donated to the historical society in and may have been on display since then. Late last year, an amateur historian visiting the museum to research some Civil War artifacts recognized the resemblance to the other photo of Lincoln's stepmother, which is a slightly different pose.

After getting permission to take it out of its case, the historian found an inscription on the back of the case that read "Sally Bush - Abraham Lincoln's Stepmother - Thomas Lincoln's second wife. She would have been addressed in public as 'Mrs. Lincoln scholar Wayne Temple, who was asked to authenticate the photo, agreed that the use of the nickname helps indicate the photo is genuine.

The fact that the picture has been in the historical society's collection for so long also lends credibility to the claim that the photo is authentic.

Abraham Lincoln's stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnston

While nowadays anything remotely connected to Lincoln is considered highly collectable, in a picture of his stepmother would have been of little value to most collectors, and therefore not worth faking. And if someone had wanted to falsify a picture of Sarah Lincoln back then, they would not have called her "Sally. Her first husband died, and on Dec.

Young Abe would have been 10 years old at the time of the marriage. Sarah died on April 12, The photo was probably taken a few years before her death. The photo was donated to the museum by a Lincoln collector from Freeport, who apparently purchased it specifically to donate to the museum.