Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1894-04-21
THE LINCOLN MUSEUM.
Why 1t Should Receive Financial
Aid from Congress.
Good Work Done by the Memorial Assoc
citation of the District of Columbia
The olroyd Collection of
Lincoln Relics.
Especial washington Letter

The people of the republic live In
the present and care very little for the
incidental details of American history,
or for the current events which will be
of important historical value to future
generations. We do not preserve our
landmarks, as the peoples of the old
world are accustomed to do.
For example, Old Ford's theater, in
the Judgment of many should have
been preserved just as it was on the
occasion of the assassination of Pres
ident Lincoln. 1t should never have
been used as n government office.
Then, just opposite the old theater, is
the little brick house in which Pres
ident Lincoln died. Congress ought
long years ago to have purchased and
maintained that property. 1t was sug-
gested again and again in public
prints, and occasionally in the house
of representatives, but nothing came
of it.
The house is now leased by the
Memorial Association of the District
of Columbia. This Memorial associa-
ton is composed of some of the leading
citizens of the country, presided over
by Chief Justice Fuller, of the United
States supreme court, and is actuated
by purely public spirited motives. AL
though its members have met with
comparatively little encouragement
from congress so far, they have, at
their own expense, leased this prop
erty for one year, in the hope that by
the expiration of that time the nation
oil cl 1,,i11 +l,a o,,l
appropriateness of purchasing the
property outright for national mu-
scum of relics of the martyr president.
Upon all great occasions which
bring throngs of people to the nation
al capital the thousands or tens of
thousands of visitors seek the spot
where Lincoln died. The house has
been maintained as private residence
so that the interior could not. be seen
without annoyance to the family re-
siding there. Finally the owner was
called upon so many times by sight
seers that he concluded to charge an adj
mission fee to those who wanted to see
the bedroom which became so sudden
ly and so sadly historic. The Memorial
association wants the house to be open
to the public free.
The large collection of Lincoln relics
which are now on exhibition in this
building belongs to Capt. o. H. Olroyd,
who commenced collecting these arti-
cles as far back as 1860. They were
preserved until recently in the house
at Springfield, ILL.,, where Lincoln re-
sided when he was elected president
The house was given to the state by
Robert T. Lincoln, and until recently
Capt. Olroyd was custodian.
The Memorial association regards
the Olroyd collection of about three
thousand pieces as good nucleus of a
museum of the life of Lincoln. They
expect to receive valuable relics from
time to time from every part of the
union. In the Olroyd collection there
are pictures of all grades, from crude
newspaper cuts and campaign badges
to large oil portrait painted by HOLES
in 1853, and the Lincoln life mask and
bust by Voll1, probably the best in ex-
istence. There are many quaint pieces
of furniture hallowed by association
with Lincoln. Chief among these are
an old mahogany hair-cloth sofa and