A lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair along with a blood-stained telegram about his 1865 assassination have been sold at auction for more than $81,000.
The hair, which was sold through the RR Auction of Boston, measures about 2 inches long. It was taken from a postmortem examination that took place after the 16th president was killed by John Wilkes Booth in 1865.
RR Auction’s executive vice president Bobby Livingston said in a statement: “When you are dealing with samples of Lincoln’s hair, provenance is everything and in this case, we know that this came from a family member who was at the President’s bedside,”
RR Auction vouched for the authenticity of the lock and telegram. Dr. Todd’s son, James Todd, wrote in a 1945 letter that the clipping of hair “has remained entirely in the custody of our family since that time.”
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Prior to this, the same lock of Lincoln’s hair was sold in 1999 for an undisclosed amount.