Lincoln Home Historic Furnishings Report

SECTION D: EVIDENCE OF ORIGINAL FURNISHINGS (continued)

RECORDED KITCHEN FURNISHINGS

STOVE:

The Royal Oak cook stove now in the Lincoln Home Kitchen (LIHO 559), thought to have once been Mrs. Lincoln's, came back to the Home with several other items from the Oldroyd Collection. It has a well-documented history. The stove's provenance is described in the 1896 Descriptive Catalogue of the Oldroyd Collection by Charles Coe. He wrote:

Stove, cook; "Royal Oak," no. 9, manufactured by Jewett and Root, Buffalo, N.Y., 1855. This stove--an old-fashioned woodburner, with four lids--and a wide hearth,--was in use by the family previous to their departure for Washington. It is still in good serviceable condition. An accompanying affidavit made by the son of E. Kreigh, stove dealer, Springfield, states that an entry in his father's books shows that Mr. Lincoln purchased the stove on the 9th of June, 1860. [80]

The original affidavit appears to be missing; however, the stove is identifiable by a stamped manufacturer's mark, and the suggested history is plausible. Kreigh was a Springfield stove merchant and two checks for very small sums written by Mr. Lincoln in 1859 (see p. 119) to Springfield stove merchants, P.A. Dorwin & Co. (February 16, 1859) and D.J. Boynton (September 7, 1859) might indicate that his old stove was having repairs or worn parts replaced.

CUPBOARD:

There are written references to the presence of a kitchen cupboard during the Lincoln occupancy, although there is no known existing cupboard. [81] A reminiscence, told in connection with a cupboard in the (Chicago) Lincoln Memorial Collection, specified a pie cupboard in the Lincoln Kitchen:

There is an old cupboard--the sort your grandmother probably used. It is five feet high; has board doors and a strong lock. A gentleman who was a visitor to the Lincoln mansion in Springfield in the earlier days vouches for this:

In this cupboard, Mrs. Lincoln kept her pies, cakes, and preserves. On one occasion, company was expected. The cupboard was comfortably crowded with delicacies. The boys--Bob and Tad--went to the room in which the cupboard stood and gorged themselves with the contents, thus getting what you newspaper fellows would call a "scoop" on the company. Mrs. Lincoln thereupon ordered this lock to be placed on the cupboard, and she carried the key to the same up to the day the family left Springfield for Washington. (Article about the Lincoln Memorial Collection, Chicago Tribune, Monday, April 17, 1890.)

The cupboard in the Lincoln Memorial Collection, however, is clearly a wardrobe and probably was in one of the bedrooms. The reminiscence possibly refers to another cupboard.

Another newspaper article (in the Danville Commercial-News Danville, Illinois, February 13, 1929) mentions a Lincoln cupboard and several pieces of china which belonged to a Mrs. Eugene Jackson, great-granddaughter of Maria Vance, who claimed to have been a cook in the Lincoln household.

Although there is some doubt among Lincoln scholars as to whether or not Maria Vance was a cook in the Lincoln household and how long she was employed, Robert Lincoln did pay her a visit in Danville in 1897, which suggests she was at one time associated with the Lincolns. [82]

According to the article, Maria Vance "helped pack the household goods and was given numerous articles as keepsakes, which are scattered now." A porridge set, bowl, saucer and pitcher, of "delicate design" were mentioned as well as a cupboard, which family tradition claimed was given to Maria as a wedding present. The cupboard was described as "old style 'safe' form" resting on a base.

For possible kitchen chairs see pp. 53 through 60, the general section on Lincoln chairs. Possible kitchen china is discussed on pp. 101 through 104.

The following pages contain lists, in chronological order, of spices, foodstuffs, and a few kitchen utensils which the Lincolns purchased at nearby Springfield stores. These purchases would have been found on the Lincoln kitchen shelves.

KITCHEN PURCHASES:

Kitchen purchases listed in Pratt, Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln: [83]

Kitchen Purchases Found in Lincoln Day By Day [84]