A lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair (above) was among the items auctioned
Saturday at a Historical Americana auction in Dallas, Texas.
(AP) – A lock of Lincoln’s hair sold for $25,000. It was taken by Surgeon General
Joseph K. Barnes shortly after the president was assassinated by John Wilkes
Booth.
The Donald P. Dow collection brought top bids totaling more than $800,000,
doubling expectations.
A 1861 letter written by Booth to a friend boasting about his career and value
as an actor sold for $30,000.
A piece of linen from Lincoln’s death bed and stained with his blood (below) sold
for $6,000 while an 1864 letter signed by Lincoln authorizing a prisoner swap
involving Gen. Robert E. Lee’s son from a Union POW camp sold for $27,500
and Booth’s military arrest warrant also went for $21,250.