Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1915-02-03
Pens THAT ENDED !:
GREAT CIVIL il NJ WAR !
Precious Historic Relics Used
by Generals Grant and Lee Are
Now Treasured in
I Missouri City. y

THE two pens that ended the great
j Civil war are in Missouri. Only
once have they, been dipped In ink
since the memorable day when U. s.
Grant and Robert q. Lee made use
Of them in the Virginia hamlet dig
nified by the name Of Appomattox
Courthouse. The present owner, DR..
! =. p. Cronkite, a St. Joseph dentist,
would deem it little short OF sacri-
lege for the pens to be touched BY
any drop Of ink destined to flow
into ordinary sentences. The pens
repose securely in a strong box In
Doctor Cronk1te's st. Joseph home.
70l5 Francis street.. They still are
wrapped in paper taken from, the
table on which the surrender paper
was signed. - 4. 4 y e =. y ~ 4,
The coming OF these historic pens
to Missouri was not heralded. They
wore added to one Of the most inter
esting private historical collections In
the state, but . collection the exist
ence Of which Is quite unknown even
in St. Joseph save to those Of Doc
tor Cronkite's intimates who have
had the hospitality OF his den on the
third floor Of his home. s'=s. ~: 5 n
The pen came to Doctor Cronkite
from Mrs. A. B. lawrence OF War
saw, N r., after the death Of her
husband, Colonel Lawrence. who In
his lifetime was indeed an indefatig.
able collector. The colonel gath
cred together every Bible translation
but two, while his collection OF coins
sold for $4,000 on his death. One
tie between the St. Joseph collector
and Colonel Lawrence was the fact
that Doctor Cronkite's father was an
officer in the First New York dra-
goons, Of which Colonel Lawrence was
lieutenant colonel. X se,5.5 FsGf
No better history of the pens prob
ably is to be desired than the one
written out In Colonel Lawrence's
handwriting: n, s&.rt3s' =, :. r.. <
THE pens In this box, one quill.
the other steel, marked at the time,
April 10, 1865. are the ones used in
signing the Gen. r. E. Lee surrender
papers in the Col. Wilmer Mclean
house, where the surrender took
place at Appomattox Courthouse. Va.
April 10, 1866, and were given to me
in the Mclean house April 10, 1866,
as souvenirs with piece cf the table
on which General Lee signed the sur
render dictated by General Grant.
The piece of table was given to me
next day in my Office in the sheri1's
room of the courthouse by Colonel
Wilmer Mclean. with certificate Of
its history. The sheriff was William
Daniel Hi1, now in Hixburg. Appomat-
tox, Va, to whom turned over the
surplus surrender property. for dis
tribution among the poor and deserv-
ing Of the vicinity OF the surrender by
verbal order of General Grant to me
: In the presence Of Maj. Gen. John
Gibbons, president, of the commission
left by General Grant to close up
surrender matters ut the courthouse.
The ragged piece of paper In which
the pens are wrapped was part Of .
larger piece on the table on which the
surrender papers were written. and
which took from the table to wrap
the pens In as they were handed to
me by General Potter, our Twenty
fourth army corps chief of stan. for
the valued souvenirs they were.
These pens have never been but
once since dipped In ink, and then ut
the Soldiers fair In New York city
for my signature the evening General
Grant was there. -, ..
"(SiGnedJ A. B. LAWRENCE"
An even more detailed account, In