Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Oldroyd, Osborn Hamiline, 1842-1930
- Abstract:
- The Oldroyd mss., 1864-1909, are letters and papers of Osborn Hamiline Oldroyd, 1842-1930, Lincoln collector and museum curator, relating to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
- Extent:
- 4 Folders
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
[Item], Oldroyd mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Background
- Biographical / Historical:
Osborn H. Oldroyd, 1842-1930, was a Civil War veteran and a collector of Lincoln memorabilia. He served in the Union Army in the 20th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and in 1885 published excerpts from his diaries on the Vicksburg Campaign.
In 1883, Oldroyd and his wife, Lida A. Stoneberger, began renting the former home of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois from Lincoln's son Robert. In 1884 they opened the ground floor of the home as the Lincoln Museum, displaying Oldroyd's collection of Lincoln memorabilia. In 1893, after Robert had deeded the house to the state of Illinois in 1887, Oldroyd moved his family and the collection to Washington, D.C. He set up a museum in the Peterson House, the house where Lincoln died. In 1925, he sold his collection to the U.S. government, which moved the collection to the Ford Theatre. Oldroyd is also the author of The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (1917), which contains reminisces from several of Lincoln's close friends.
- Scope and Content:
The Oldroyd mss., 1864-1909, are letters and papers of Osborn Hamiline Oldroyd, 1842-1930, Lincoln collector and museum curator, relating to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Among the correspondents are Mrs. Nannie B. Arnold, John E. Buckingham, Mrs. William T. Clark, Henry Clark Corbin, William Henry Crook, Thomas Thompson Eckert, Henry Clay Ford, John Thomson Ford, Quincy Adams Gillmore, Mrs. Harriet A. Graham, William McDaniel, Richard James Oglesby, Rously P. Quesenberry, Julia Adelaide Shepard, Mrs. Jennie (Gourlay) Struthers, George B. Todd, Louis J. Weichmann and William Withers.
The letter of April 16, 1865, from Julia Adelaide Shepard to her father was published in Century Magazine, April 1909, and partially printed in When Lincoln Died by Ralph Borreson, New York, Appleton-Century, 1965, p. 20 (Lilly E457.5 .B73). For John Hoppman's testimony, see The Conspiracy Trial for the Murder of the President ... edited by B. P. Poore, Boston, 1865, I:448-449, and The Trial of the Assassins and Conspirators ... for the Murder of President Abraham Lincoln, Philadelphia, c.1865, p. 70. See also Oldroyd's The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln ... Washington, D.C., 1901, for Henry Clay Ford's description of the theatre, p. 8, and the chapter on Louis J. Weichmann, chief witness for the government, pp. 153-194.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchase. 1952.
- Physical location:
- Lilly - Short
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
This collection is open for research.
Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
[Item], Oldroyd mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
1200 East Seventh StreetBloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- CONTACT:
-
(812) 855-2452liblilly@indiana.edu