The New Lincoln-- Part 2: "That's Him!"

Christopher Oakley made his big "Lincoln Find" while studying an enlargement of one of the images of the crowd. To create the image, photographer Alexander Gardner employed a new technique creating photos simultaneously called a stereograph. These would yield a 3-D image when seen through an early version of a View-Master. (I've seen one at the Lincoln Home in Springfield, Illinois.)

While looking, Oakley came across the image of Secretary of State William H. Seward. He knew that Lincoln sat near Seward at the ceremony and figured he must be somewhere nearby. To Seward's left sat a vague outline of a bearded figure with a stovepipe hat. Zooming in tighter, Oakley sprang from his chair and exulted, "That's him!"

Well worth reading the rest of the article.

Will the Real Mr. Lincoln Please Stand Up. --Old Secesh