[LINCOLN] Wood Relic Re: Emancipation Proclamation

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Day 2: Early & Historic Americana

By Fleischer's Auctions

Oct 10, 2025

Set Reminder 2025-10-10 09:00:00 2025-10-10 09:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Day 2: Early & Historic Americana https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/fleischers-auctions/day-2-early-historic-americana-19250
Day one of Fleischer's 2025 Fall Premier auction includes early American artifacts, documents, signatures, ephemera, and weaponry. Rare material relating to African American history is featured, as well as fine examples of antique photography. Fleischer's Auctions info@fleischersauctions.com

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• Lot Description

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

   

  Piece of wood from the White House. Relic approx. 1/2 x 6 3/4 in., tied with red ribbon to 9 x 11 in. cardstock mount. With American flag decal. 

   

  A wood relic taken from the room where President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on 1 January 1863 and where “Presidents since Jefferson’s time” used as an office. This was presented to Civil War brevet Brigadier General and Medal of Honor recipient William Jackson Palmer (1836-1909) by Lieutenant Colonel W. M. Palmer, a former staff member of Civil War brevet Major General and Republican U.S. Senator William J. Sewell (1835-1901), who served from 1881 to 1887 and again from 1895 until his death. The wood was presented to Palmer in June 1902, after Sewell’s passing. 

   

  William Jackson Palmer was originally a civil engineer, working on the railroads in Pennsylvania prior to the Civil War. When the war began, he organized the Anderson Troop, an independent Pennsylvanian cavalry that would transform into the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry by September 1862. A few days after the Battle of Antietam, Palmer was captured and confined in Castle Thunder for four months; he then rejoined his regiment and participated in the Battles of Chickamauga and Nashville, as well as commanded the cavalry pursuit of Jefferson Davis following the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston. Palmer received the Medal of Honor on 24 February 1894 for his actions as colonel at Red Hill, Alabama, on 14 January 1865, where he led an army of less than 200 men against superior Confederate forces and did not lose a single man. 

   

  William J. Sewell enlisted as a captain with the 5th New Jersey Infantry on 28 August 1861, quickly rising through the ranks as a lieutenant colonel in July 1862 and colonel in January 1863. He was injured during the Battle of Gettysburg, causing wounds that would eventually result in his resigning from service altogether. Sewell also received the Medal of Honor during the Chancellorsville Campaign. The citation reads “assuming command of a brigade, he rallied around his colors a mass of men from other regiments and fought these troops with great brilliancy through several hours of desperate conflict, remaining in command though wounded and inspired them by his presence and the gallantry of his personal example.”

   

  The wood was likely acquired during the White House renovations of 1902. The White House’s website states the following: “In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt began a major renovation of the White House, including the relocation of the President’s offices from the Second Floor of the Residence to the newly constructed temporary Executive Office Building (now known as the West Wing).” 

   

  [Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Relics, Militaria] [Abraham Lincoln, Politics, Mary Todd Lincoln, 1860 Election, Election of 1860, 1864 Election, Election of 1864, Lincoln Assassination, John Wilkes Booth] 

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