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From a photograph loaned by W. J. Franklin of Macomb, Illinois, and taken in 1866 from an
ambrotype made in 1858 in Macomb. This portrait figures in the collection in the Lincoln Home at
Springfield, Illinois, and on the back of the photograph is the following inscription: "This likeness
of Abraham Lincoln is a faithful copy of an original ambrotype, now in possession of James K.
Magic. It was taken August 25, 1858, by Mr. T. P. Pierson, at Macomb, in this State, and is believed
to be of anterior date to any other likeness of Mr. Lincoln ever brought before the public. Mr. Magie
happened to remain over night at Macomb, at the same hotel with Mr. Lincoln, and the next morning
took a walk about town, and upon Mr. Magie's invitation they stepped into Mr. Pierson's
establishment, and the ambrotype of which this is a copy was the result. Mr. Lincoln, upon entering, looked
at the camera as though he was unfamiliar with such an instrument, and then remarked: 'Well, do
you want to take a shot at me with thtft thing?' He was shown to a glass, where he was told to
'fix up,' but declined, saying it would not be much of a likeness if he fixed up any. The old neighbors
and acquaintances of Mr. Lincoln in Illinois, upon seeing this picture, are apt to exclaim: 'There!
that's the best likeness of Mr. Lincoln that I ever saw!' The dress he wore in this picture is the same
in which he made his famous canvass with Senator Douglas." This inscription was written by J. C.
Power, now dead, but for many years custodian of the Lincoln monument in Springfield.
-- Page 65 of The Early Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Ida M. Tarbell and J. McCan Davis, New York: S.S. McClure, 1896. (TarbellE)
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