Donner Party Member James Reed Carried Abraham Lincoln’s Document
July 21st, 2010 - 7:26 pm ICT by GDBy Gina Gomez
July 21, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train and witnessed tragic mishap in Sierra Nevada. Last week Californian researchers made a discovery among the items of one of the members of the Donner Party where a military document with Abraham Lincoln’s handwriting was found. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum said on last Monday that Donner party member James Reed and his family carried muster rolls with Abraham Lincoln’s name on them among their other belongings.
The handwriting of Abraham Lincoln in one of the documents was authenticated by a team of librarians, historians and handwriting experts. The director of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Stowell said that the officials often find documents that detail fascinating stories about Abraham Lincoln’s life and his times, however it was rare for the found document to have such an intriguing history after “it was written”. The director also said that these documents detail part of Abraham Lincoln’s military service and the fact that they accompanied the Donner Party to California make these documents doubly significant.
The four muster roll documents that were discovered include “Private Abraham Lincoln” among the list of soldiers and in one of them two and half lines are clearly written in Abraham Lincoln’s hands. The documents show that Abraham Lincoln had a horse worth $85 and Government issued equipment which valued around $15. James Reed was a friend of Abraham Lincoln who brought the documents with him as the family started their journey towards west. The document contains the name of soldiers who served in the Black Hawk War of 1832.
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