The April 26th Hartford (Ct) Courant had an article by David Altimari about an angry court battle going on between the descendants of President Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles. The Welles and Brainard branches of his family are locked in both probate and civil courts over what happened to some of interesting items such as an unused ticket to the Gettysburg Address (I didn't know you had to have a ticket to view it) and personal notes passed between Lincoln and Welles.
There are allegations that the Brainards sold a Spencer repeating carbine, the 16th one made (16th president), and one that Lincoln had fired and given to Welles as a gift.
Plus, quite a few documents were stolen from a Missouri motel parking lot in 2006 during a move.
Welles was one of Lincoln's closest confidants. At least 713 notes and letters between the two were found among the documents, many written on odd-shaped paper which was typical of Lincoln, who was likely to grab anything lying around when a thought came to him. Lincoln experts have found a four-year gap in the Lincoln-Welles correspondence and this could be the missing letters.
Also missing is a finely cut glass wine decanter believed to have been used in the White House by the Lincolns.
The value of the stolen items is estimated at between $25,000 to $50,000.
I sure hope the missing correspondence turns up. This definitely would be valuable information in the Union naval effort.
Give it Up, Guys!! --Old B-R
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
