- Date:
- November 08, 1863
- Original Format:
- Postcard
- Item#:
- MES13870
- Photographer:
- Alexander Gardner
Abraham Lincoln
This postcard photograph of Abraham Lincoln was taken by Alexander Gardner just eleven days prior to the Gettysburg Address and is believed by many to be the best ever taken of Lincoln. This postcard offers the following short biography: "Born in Hardin Co., Ky, Feb. 12, 1809. Moved to Illinois, 1816. Was rail splitter, flatboatsman, druggist, postmaster, surveyor. In Black Hawk War, 1832. In Legislature, 1834. Admitted to bar, 1837. Elected Congress, 1846. Elected President, 1860 ; again 1864. Shot by Wilkes Booth, Washington, D.C., April 14, 1865; died next day. Funeral at Springfield, Ill., May 4, 1865. Centenary, Springfield, Illinois, February 12, 1909." This is one of many postcards published commemorating the centennial Lincoln's birth.