Note: Please see Day 3 (October 11) of the sale that features rare material relating to the Gettysburg Address.

Camden & Amboy R.R. Co. Pass Mr. C. S. Ogden Committee of Reception, for President Elect, from Trenton to Philadelphia. Printed rail pass. [Philadelphia?], 21 February 1861. 2 1/4 x 3 1/2 in. 

A rare and important invitation to accompany President-Elect Abraham Lincoln on his Inaugural Train journey from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington, D.C. 

Departing on 11 February 1861, Lincoln proceeded to stop and speak at 16 cities. After stops in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Pittsburgh, the train journed north to Buffalo and made its way across western New York. After visits in New York City and Trenton, New Jersey, the train continued to Philadelphia. The ticket here is for the leg between Trenton and Philadelphia. 

After speaking to the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly at the state house on the morning of February 21st, Lincoln travelled to Philadelphia and arrived in the late afternoon, and directly gave an oration from the balcony of the Continental Hotel. After dinner with Mary, he hosted a public reception beginning at 8:30 p.m.

Near the end of the party, he met with Frederick W. Seward, son of Lincoln's future Secretary of State William Seward, who delivered news that an assassination plot in Baltimore had been uncovered. 

The next morning, Lincoln arrived at Independence Hall and delivered an address that centered on the Founding Fathers, stating, "I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing here in the place where were collected together the wisdom, the patriotism, the devotion to principle, from which sprang the institutions under which we live. I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence."

Already, 6 states had formally seceded from the Union (Texas's referendum would pass the next day), and the Confederate government was formed on February 8th.

Earlier in his journey, Lincoln had been reluctant to comment publicly on the secession crisis, but he was now acutely aware of the desperate need for national unity, and he addressed the rumors of war: "Now, my friends, can this country be saved upon that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. If it can't be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. But, if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle---I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on this spot than to surrender it. Now, in my view of the present aspect of affairs, there is no need of bloodshed and war." 

The revelations of the night before were clearly on his mind as well, he continued,  "If it can't be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. But, if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle---I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on this spot than to surrender it."

After his address, he raised a 34-star flag, bearing a star for the new state of Kansas, which had been admitted to the Union on January 29th. 

After stopping in the Pennsylvania capital, his train proceeded to Baltimore, where he transferred stations at about 3:30 in the morning. Avoiding calamity, he arrived in Washington, D.C. on the morning of 23 February 1861. 

VERY RARE. No other similar passes were located. 

[Abraham Lincoln, Politics, Mary Todd Lincoln, 1860 Election, Election of 1860, 1864 Election, Election of 1864,  Lincoln Assassination, John Wilkes Booth] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Civil War, Union, Confederate]