Abraham Lincoln's Wedge

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Description:

Lincoln used this iron wedge to split wood while living in New Salem, Illinois in the early 1830s.

In 1885 workers found this wedge during renovations to a house that once belonged to Mentor Graham in New Salem, Illinois. Graham was a friend of Abraham Lincoln’s, and Lincoln gave him the wedge as a token of friendship when he left New Salem to begin his career as a lawyer in Springfield, Illinois.

The initials “A L” appear on one side of the wedge. John Spears, a neighbor, recalled the day Lincoln went to a blacksmith and asked to have his initials cut into the wedge. The blacksmith hesitated, claiming he was “no scholar.” Lincoln borrowed the tools and marked the wedge himself.

Gift of Henry W. Allen, 1920

User: Lincoln, Abraham

Location: Currently not on view

Associated Place: United States: Illinois

Used: Presidents

Subject:

See more items in: Political and Military History: Political History, General History Collection, Government, Politics, and Reform, Selections from the Abraham Lincoln Collection

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Related Publication: Rubenstein, Harry R.. Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life

Credit Line: Gift of Henry W. Allen (SI)

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: PL.030794Catalog Number: 30794Accession Number: 65826

Object Name: wedge

Physical Description: iron (overall material)Measurements: overall: 1 1/2 in x 8 3/4 in x 2 in; 3.81 cm x 22.225 cm x 5.08 cm

Metadata Usage: CC0

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a3-30e5-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_513431

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