Lock Of Hair Of POTUS Who Helped Form Idaho Just Sold For $81,000
A few strands of hair and a bloodied telegram of the former U.S. president who signed legislation that helped form the boundary that became the state of Idaho has just sold at auction for a large sum of money.
A two-inch lock of former United States President Abraham Lincoln's hair just sold for $81,000 to an anonymous bidder, according to details shared by CNN. Abraham Lincoln was in office from March of 1861 to April of 1865. The prized presidential haul also included a telegram stained with the 16th president's blood, with all items being collected shortly after Lincoln's assassination in April of 1865.
During Lincoln's second year in office, he signed a territorial act that paved the way for thousands of settlers to claim land and begin building what would become the 43rd state. There is an Abraham Lincoln exhibition at the Idaho State Archives that contains dozens of significant items relating to the president. The Julia Davis Park, in Boise, also has a statue of Lincoln
The items that sold this week at auction were initially given to the cousin of former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, according to CNN. Lincoln was shot in the head while attending a performance by John Wilkes Booth.
The 155-year-old items, including the telegram that was sent to family the night of Lincoln's death, officially changed hands on September 12. Abraham Lincoln most famously signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, which made ownership of slaves illegal and punishable by law.