$4,400 Paid for 4-Page Letter Recalling Tale of Lincoln Beard

A four-page letter, in which a woman describes how her childhood correspondence persuaded Abraham Lincoln to grow a beard, was bought at an auction in New York for $4,400.

In the letter, dated 1918, Grace Bedell recalls the time when she was 11 years old and wrote to Lincoln, telling him he would look better in a beard, Darvick said.

“It’s a very high price for something relating to Lincoln and not signed by Lincoln,” said Herman Darvick, who sponsored the auction.

He said the letter was bought by a Long Island collector of American historical autographs who asked to remain anonymous.

The letter goes on to recount that, in 1861, Lincoln was in Miss Bedell’s hometown of Westfield, N.Y. Speaking from a railroad platform, the President said to her, “You see I let these whiskers grow for you, Grace.”