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Mysterious Odd Fellow and 1865 New York Herald (Lincoln's Assassination)

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    Posted 11 years ago

    MichiganMi…
    (16 items)

    I have a portrait of a man I cannot identify. Short story: I'm wondering if he is familiar to anyone.

    Long story: I purchased a copy of The New York Herald from 1865 about Lincoln's assassination, and, inside, was this portrait (it was not framed at the time, I had that done). One thing that stuck out about the man is the three link chain he's wearing on his coat. It appears to me that it is an Odd Fellow's chain, but I could be wrong, of course.

    So, I'm wondering if anyone can confirm that that is an Odd Fellow's symbol, and if he was any person of import.

    Finally, on the back of the portrait, in very small script which I can barely make out using a 20x loupe, is a long string (approx 80-90 characters) of meaningless alpha-numeric babble. (Ex: ...4XWVL3AH...), which I am leaning toward believing is a code of sorts.

    Honestly, it's fascinating, and I really want to learn more.

    Unsolved Mystery

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    Comments

    1. scottvez scottvez, 11 years ago
      Yes he is wearing an odd fellow pin.

      You may want to do some research on the paper as a lot of reprints were done following the death and into the early 20th century. The color looks too brown and the lines don't look correct to me for an era version.

      scott
    2. scottvez scottvez, 11 years ago
      I did a quick check and "10,459" is one of the ways to ID as a later example.

      Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

      scott
    3. MichiganMillsJr MichiganMillsJr, 11 years ago
      Don't worry about it. I appreciate your honesty. I did have my suspicions in the first place, anyway. It was obvious to me, as well, that it was off. My primary interest is this portrait of my mystery man.

      However, I will pass along the information about the reproduction to the person I bought this from.

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