Possible Lincoln Note Found at Flea Market

Collector Bruce Steiner paid $50 for a stack of old documents at a flea market last October and was greatly surprised when he found a note on the outside of an envelope signed "A. Lincoln" and dated April 14, 1865, the day that Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth.

He was at Jamie's Flea Market in South Amhurst, Ohio. On the outside of the envelope were the words "Let this man enter with this note," and it was signed A. Lincoln.

The Illinois Historic Preservation Society and the Abraham Lincoln Museum and Library have examined it and report that it looks genuine.

No one has any idea how much it's worth, but Steiner is keeping it in a bank's safety box. Nor does anyone know how the note came to be in that group of old papers. That would probably be an interesting story in itself. Could this have been the very last thing Lincoln wrote? Plus, why didn't the previous owner know what he had?

Ya Just Never Know What You'll Find at a Garage Sale or Flea Market, or In Your Attic. --RoadDog