Abraham Lincoln’s Lock Of Hair Goes Under The Hammer, Fetches Over $81,000

Auction house RR Auction of Boston has sold off Abraham Lincoln’s lock of hair along with a blood-stained telegram regarding his assassination for more than US$81,000.
The 16th president of the US was shot at the Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., by John Wilkes Booth in 1865.
The lock of hair, which was roughly 2-inch, was removed during Lincoln’s postmortem examination.
It was then mounted on an official War Department telegram sent to Dr Lyman Beecher Todd, a postmaster and a cousin of Mary Todd Lincoln, the former president’s widow.
The auction house confirmed the authenticity of the hair strands and the telegram through a letter written from Dr Todd’s son James Todd in 1945. The letter stated that the lock of hair “has remained entirely in the custody of our family since that time.”
Advertisement Advertisement
The hair clipping was last sold off in 1999 until now. The auction house had estimated the items to sell for slightly over US$75,000, but it garnered a total of US$81,250.

[via TIME, cover image via Shutterstock]