1860 Chicago, IL - ABE LINCOLN LETTERHEAD, Big Tornado & Mormons - AWESOME FIND
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:34737300 | Certification: Original |
| State: Illinois | Quality: Original |
| Place of Origin: United States | Grade: Original |
Postal History
The following incredible 1860 (most likely Chicago area letter) describes the tornado that swept through Iowa and northern Illinois on 3 June 1860 as well as the substance of a Mormon meeting. Unfortunately the identity of the author is unknown—his signature appearing to read “J. Jones, ” and we know that he wrote the letter to “Frank, ” but there is no dateline nor envelope to help us further identify him. Perhaps the most incredible feature of the letter i...s the lithographic letterhead featuring the recently selected Republican Party nominee Abraham Lincoln. Aside from the portrait of Abe, there is a vignette that reads, “Honest Abe Lincoln on his flat boat” as well as a split rail fence. This is a very rare letterhead indeed.NOTE - The envelope shown in the scan is NOT the envelope that carried this letter, nor does it come with the lot. We are just showing for comparison to the letter, to illustrated the scarcity of this letterhead. The envelope was sold in a major auction house (Matthew Bennett), and a copy is shown in the scan for research purposes. It was also postmarked in Chicago, where these were used - and where this letter was likely written.TRANSCRIPTION[Illinois]
[@ 10 June 1860]Hurrah for honest Abe of the West, Flat Boat, Rail Fence, and all. Now Frank, don’t you think this paper is “sum.” There is everything being done that will tend to cause excitement in this part of the country.We have had a terrible storm here of wind, fore balls, hail, rain, thunder, lightning, etc. etc. ad infinitum. You have probably read of it in the print before this time. ¹ It commenced in Iowa and extended into this state, devastating the whole country over which it passed. Some 200 or 300 have been killed. Just north of here it killed three persons and wounded two more. Horses and cattle were taken up and carried to a great distance, then thrown upon the ground with such violence as to tear them to pieces. Logs and whole trees were carried to a distance of four miles. One mowing machine was taken up and carried off so that it has not yet been found although it has been over a week since the storm. Parts of houses have been found 20 miles from where the last house was injured.The tornado was accompanied with balls of fire which were plainly seen from here. The roaring of the wind was also distinctly heard from here. It is estimated that millions of property has been destroyed. So violent a tornado has never before occurred in so high a latitude.I attended a Mormon meeting the other day and heard something not often heard in enlightened communities. Some of the comparisons made by the Rev. Prophet were so chaste and beautiful in style that I guess I will relate one of them. He was trying to frighten the Gentiles into the idea that Hell was to be their future abiding place and as Gentiles are quite numerous in these parts, he seemed to think it would require some extra effort on his part to make them believe Hell would hold them all. So instead of trying to exactly fix the dimensions of the place, he betook himself to the other expedient of showing that it was a place that would expand according to circumstances. He said in the course of his remarks that it would stretch like a woman’s stocking or a balloon or something that could be blown up. This last figure showed such vast penetration of judgement that I saw plainly he would soon be beyond my comprehension so I “slid.”Goodbye for the present. Yours truly. Write soon. — J. Jones¹ Under the heading, “The Year of Hurricanes, ” the Rockford Republican carried a front page story on July 5, 1860 stating that, “All over the Northern and Middle States, tornadoes or unprecedented violence, extent, and destructiveness have occurred. At least three hundred lives have been lost by the force of the elements. There seems to have been a cycle of tornadoes. Within a fortnight there have been four in the Middle and Western States, one extending from Louisville up to Central Ohio, one in Cattaraugus county in Western New York, one in Armstrong and the adjoining counties in Western Pennsylvania, and now one in Iowa and Northern Illinois, which, it is said has surpassed all the others in violence and destructiveness. Whole villages have been demolished and their inhabitants either killed outright, or fearfully mangled by the falling og houses, the mad sweep of the winds, or the flying timbers and trees. The imagination can hardly paint the terror which has overtaken, in stern reality, the inhabitants of the devastated districts. It must have been witnessed to be realized….The space traversed by the last great tornado, in Illinois and Iowa, was fully one hundred and fifty miles in length. The force of the wind has been almost incredible. Tin from roofs was carried over twenty miles; large brick houses were lifted completely from their foundations and twisted around in the air, before being dashed to fragments upon the ground. Churches were demolished with a single thunder gust, and the whirling and snapping of the whole forests of trees as they were caught up in the folds of the tremendous whirlwinds, were awfully grant to hear and see.”FULL SCANS provided for your research benefit.TERMS$3.00 postage in the United States. We accept Paypal.Postage combined for multiple purchases. Please wait for me to send the invoice, otherwise you will pay a higher rate.For International buyers, we utilize eBay’s Global ShippingProgram. We had too many packages sentvia the post office go missing. So webelieve this program will be safer for us and for you.We are members of the American Philatelic Society, the U.S.Philatelic Classics Society, the Confederate Stamp Alliance and the IllinoisPostal History Society.We only sell genuine, original letters (no copies orreproductions). Some of our letters havebeen transcribed and nicely presented for future genealogists and history buffson the Spared & Shared blog.We have been selling on eBay since 1998. BID WITH CONFIDENCE !
00157
The following incredible 1860 (most likely Chicago area letter) describes the tornado that swept through Iowa and northern Illinois on 3 June 1860 as well as the substance of a Mormon meeting. Unfortunately the identity of the author is unknown—his signature appearing to read “J. Jones, ” and we know that he wrote the letter to “Frank, ” but there is no dateline nor envelope to help us further identify him. Perhaps the most incredible feature of the letter i...s the lithographic letterhead featuring the recently selected Republican Party nominee Abraham Lincoln. Aside from the portrait of Abe, there is a vignette that reads, “Honest Abe Lincoln on his flat boat” as well as a split rail fence. This is a very rare letterhead indeed.NOTE - The envelope shown in the scan is NOT the envelope that carried this letter, nor does it come with the lot. We are just showing for comparison to the letter, to illustrated the scarcity of this letterhead. The envelope was sold in a major auction house (Matthew Bennett), and a copy is shown in the scan for research purposes. It was also postmarked in Chicago, where these were used - and where this letter was likely written.TRANSCRIPTION[Illinois]
[@ 10 June 1860]Hurrah for honest Abe of the West, Flat Boat, Rail Fence, and all. Now Frank, don’t you think this paper is “sum.” There is everything being done that will tend to cause excitement in this part of the country.We have had a terrible storm here of wind, fore balls, hail, rain, thunder, lightning, etc. etc. ad infinitum. You have probably read of it in the print before this time. ¹ It commenced in Iowa and extended into this state, devastating the whole country over which it passed. Some 200 or 300 have been killed. Just north of here it killed three persons and wounded two more. Horses and cattle were taken up and carried to a great distance, then thrown upon the ground with such violence as to tear them to pieces. Logs and whole trees were carried to a distance of four miles. One mowing machine was taken up and carried off so that it has not yet been found although it has been over a week since the storm. Parts of houses have been found 20 miles from where the last house was injured.The tornado was accompanied with balls of fire which were plainly seen from here. The roaring of the wind was also distinctly heard from here. It is estimated that millions of property has been destroyed. So violent a tornado has never before occurred in so high a latitude.I attended a Mormon meeting the other day and heard something not often heard in enlightened communities. Some of the comparisons made by the Rev. Prophet were so chaste and beautiful in style that I guess I will relate one of them. He was trying to frighten the Gentiles into the idea that Hell was to be their future abiding place and as Gentiles are quite numerous in these parts, he seemed to think it would require some extra effort on his part to make them believe Hell would hold them all. So instead of trying to exactly fix the dimensions of the place, he betook himself to the other expedient of showing that it was a place that would expand according to circumstances. He said in the course of his remarks that it would stretch like a woman’s stocking or a balloon or something that could be blown up. This last figure showed such vast penetration of judgement that I saw plainly he would soon be beyond my comprehension so I “slid.”Goodbye for the present. Yours truly. Write soon. — J. Jones¹ Under the heading, “The Year of Hurricanes, ” the Rockford Republican carried a front page story on July 5, 1860 stating that, “All over the Northern and Middle States, tornadoes or unprecedented violence, extent, and destructiveness have occurred. At least three hundred lives have been lost by the force of the elements. There seems to have been a cycle of tornadoes. Within a fortnight there have been four in the Middle and Western States, one extending from Louisville up to Central Ohio, one in Cattaraugus county in Western New York, one in Armstrong and the adjoining counties in Western Pennsylvania, and now one in Iowa and Northern Illinois, which, it is said has surpassed all the others in violence and destructiveness. Whole villages have been demolished and their inhabitants either killed outright, or fearfully mangled by the falling og houses, the mad sweep of the winds, or the flying timbers and trees. The imagination can hardly paint the terror which has overtaken, in stern reality, the inhabitants of the devastated districts. It must have been witnessed to be realized….The space traversed by the last great tornado, in Illinois and Iowa, was fully one hundred and fifty miles in length. The force of the wind has been almost incredible. Tin from roofs was carried over twenty miles; large brick houses were lifted completely from their foundations and twisted around in the air, before being dashed to fragments upon the ground. Churches were demolished with a single thunder gust, and the whirling and snapping of the whole forests of trees as they were caught up in the folds of the tremendous whirlwinds, were awfully grant to hear and see.”FULL SCANS provided for your research benefit.TERMS$3.00 postage in the United States. We accept Paypal.Postage combined for multiple purchases. Please wait for me to send the invoice, otherwise you will pay a higher rate.For International buyers, we utilize eBay’s Global ShippingProgram. We had too many packages sentvia the post office go missing. So webelieve this program will be safer for us and for you.We are members of the American Philatelic Society, the U.S.Philatelic Classics Society, the Confederate Stamp Alliance and the IllinoisPostal History Society.We only sell genuine, original letters (no copies orreproductions). Some of our letters havebeen transcribed and nicely presented for future genealogists and history buffson the Spared & Shared blog.We have been selling on eBay since 1998. BID WITH CONFIDENCE !
00157
