Vanderbilt to Display Abraham Lincoln Letter Presidents’ Week

Vanderbilt Collection Artifact Has Mysterious Provenance

Just after the start of the Civil War in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to Fernando Wood, then mayor of New York City, that is part of William K. Vanderbilt II’s extensive archives. To commemorate the February 20 Presidents’ Day holiday, the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum will display the Lincoln letter, as well as an oil portrait of George Washington—originally thought to have been created by the renowned American portraitist Gilbert Stuart—and an engraving of Washington by Justus Chevillet of Germany. 

Visitors who purchase a ticket for a Vanderbilt Mansion tour will be able to view the letter, portrait and engraving, which will be on display in the mansion from Saturday, February 18, through Sunday, February 26.

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

On Presidents’ Day, observed on Monday, February 20, and for the winter school break (February 18-26), the Vanderbilt will operate Monday-Saturday, 11 to 5, and Sunday, 12 to 5.

President Lincoln wrote the letter to Mayor Wood on May 4, 1861—two months to the day following his inauguration as President and less than one month after the start of the Civil War, which began on April 12 with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

Wood (1812-1881), who built a successful shipping enterprise in New York City, served several terms in Congress and was mayor of New York for two terms, 1854-58 and 1860-62.

Fernando Wood wrote the letter to Lincoln shortly after the Fort Sumter attack, offering whatever military services he could provide, as mayor, to the President. Lincoln’s reply to Wood was in gratitude for his offer of assistance.

Excerpt:

In the midst of my various and numerous other duties I shall consider in what way I can make your services at once available to the country, and agreeable to you –

Your Obt. [Obedient] Servant

A. Lincoln

Stephanie Gress, the Vanderbilt Museum’s director of curatorial affairs, said, “We do not know how this letter came to be in Mr. Vanderbilt’s possession. Perhaps it was originally the property of his great-grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was an acquaintance of Mayor Wood, and it was passed down through the Vanderbilt family.” The value of the letter is unknown, Gress said.

The Vanderbilt’s framed oil portrait of George Washington was believed to have been painted by Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), widely considered to be one of America’s foremost portrait artists. He produced portraits of more than 1,000 people, including the first six Presidents of the United States. Stuart painted a number of Washington portraits. The most celebrated is known as the “Lansdowne” portrait (1796), and one large-scale version of it hangs in the East Room of the White House.

Stuart’s best-known work is an unfinished portrait of Washington begun in 1796 and sometimes called “The Athenaeum.” This image of Washington’s head and shoulders is a familiar one to Americans—it has appeared for more than a century on the U.S. one-dollar bill.