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Carlsbad, California
July 16, 1933
This cane was made by William Dunlap and James Dunlap of Ripley Ohio the year that Abraham Lincoln ran against Stephan Douglas out of a stick from the Henry Clay homestead. The silver head was made by a jeweler.
Abraham Lincoln was to speak at the Little Brick School located on the William Dunlap farm. At the meeting the cane was presented to Abraham Lincoln. He took out his pocket knife and put his monogram on the head. At his inauguration as President he had the cane in his possession. The following morning my great uncle, James Dunlap called on the President, by invitation. Abraham Lincoln said to him, “James you take this cane and keep as a souvenir. I have done as you boys asked and have carried it to the White House.”
James Dunlap kept the cane until he passed away, then William Dunlap kept it until he passed away. Then his eldest son, Benjamin Hopking Dunlap, gave it to me when I was twenty one years of age. I have had it in my possession ever since. It has not been out of the Dunlaps’ possession since Abraham Lincoln presented it to James Dunlap at the White House.
It has been said by a great many Lincoln scholars that Lincoln never carried a cane, always an umbrella, except one a lady, who was a little girl at the time. Who was the daughter of a friend of Lincoln, and she wrote an article that published in a magazine. It said she had seen Lincoln carry a cane and had played with it.
I am leaving this to the trustees of Amethyst Lodge No. 94 A.F. & A.M. Creede, Colorado. If they ever see fit to dispose of it, the returns to be used to the benefit of the above named lodge.
Witness S/W E. Ore S/ William W. Dunlap
This photo shows about 1/4 of the books in the Lincoln Room at the federal repository.