It was the fall of 1860. Abraham Lincoln was the
Republican nominee for President of the United
States. Election Day was less than a month away.
Mr. Lincoln, a lifelong beardless man, received a
letter written by Grace Bedell, an 11 year old girl
from Westfield, New York. Written October 15th,
1860, the letter urged him to grow a beard.
Unedited, Miss Bedell's letter read:


     Hon A B Lincoln...
Dear Sir

  My father has just home from the fair and brought home
     your picture and Mr. Hamlin's. I am a little girl only 11
     years old, but want you should be President of the United
     States very much so I hope you wont think me very bold to
     write to such a great man as you are. Have you any little
     girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and
     tell her to write to me if you cannot answer this letter. I
     have got 4 brother's and part of them will vote for you
     any way and if you let your whiskers grow I will try and
     get the rest of them to vote for you you would look a
     great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies
     like whiskers and they would tease their husband's to vote
     for you and then you would be President. My father is
     going to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for
     you to but I will try to get every one to vote for you that
     I can I think that rail fence around your picture makes it
     look very pretty I have got a little baby sister she is nine
     weeks old and is just as cunning as can be. When you
     direct your letter direct to Grace Bedell Westfield
     Chatauque County New York

     I must not write any more answer this letter right off
     Good bye

     Grace Bedell
     




The Republican Presidential nominee responded on
October 19th. His letter to Grace Bedell read:

                                   Private

     Miss Grace Bedell

     My dear little Miss

     Your very agreeable letter of the 15th is received - I
     regret the necessity of saying I have no daughters - I
     have three sons - one seventeen, one nine, and one seven
     years of age - They, with their mother, constitute my
     whole family - As to the whiskers, having never worn any,
     do you not think people would call it a piece of silly
     affection if I were to begin it now?

     Your very sincere well wisher
     A. Lincoln




                              The rest is history. When
                              Abraham Lincoln left Springfield
                              on February 11th, 1861, bound
                              for the White House, he was
                              fully bearded. On February
                              16th the train stopped in
                              Westfield, New York. The
                              President-elect appeared on the
                              train platform, and he called
                              out for Grace. Grace was in the
                              crowd with her two sisters,
Alice and Helen. She came forth, Lincoln kissed her,
and he said he took her advice. (The photo to the
upper left was taken in 1863 when Grace was 14; at
the lower left is Grace in adulthood; at the right is
Grace in her mid 60's). Today, the original of
Grace's letter to Lincoln is in the
Burton Historical Collection of the
Detroit Public Library. In the early
1990's it was offered for sale at a
price of $1,000,000. Lincoln's letter
to Grace is owned and displayed by the
American Museum of Historical
Documents located in Las Vegas,
Nevada. 

                         When she was 17, Grace married
                         George Billings, and the couple
                         moved to Delphos, Kansas. Billings
                         was a former Civil War sergeant.
                         The couple had one child, Harlow
                         Drake Billings, who was born on
                         September 16, 1872. Grace passed
                         away on Monday, November 2,
                         1936, two days prior to what would
                         have been her 88th birthday. Both
she and her husband are buried in the Delphos
cemetery. The text of her letter and Mr. Lincoln's
reply are on a memorial that was dedicated in the
town square on August 8, 1966. The Governor of
Kansas, William H. Avery, presided over the
dedication ceremonies. The text of the monument
reads: "Delphos: the Home of Lincoln's Little
Correspondent."

For more on Grace Bedell see Fred Trump's "Lincoln's Little Girl: A True Story."
It's an excellent book. The photographs of Grace as a young girl and in her later
years came from Trump's book. The photograph of the middle aged Grace came
from "Life of Abraham Lincoln" by Clifton M. Nichols.