caption resting_place death_date death_place birth_place resting_place_coordinates birth_place_coordinates birth_date known_for signature image article_title name occupation
carte de visite of seth kinman in 1864 table bluff cemetery , loleta , california 24 february 1888 table bluff , california union county , pennsylvania 40.6495 bluff cemetery -124.2093 type : landmark_region : us-ca inline table 40.649 -124.209 inline 29 september 1815 presidential chairs kinmansig.jpg seth kinman california hunter.jpg seth kinman
 seth kinman hunter , hotel keeper
seth kinman

seth kinman -lrb- september 29 , 1815 -- february 24 , 1888 -rrb- was an early settler of humboldt county , california , a hunter based in fort humboldt , a famous chair maker , and a nationally recognized entertainer .
he stood over tall and was known for his hunting prowess and his brutality toward bears and indians .
kinman claimed to have shot a total of over 800 grizzly bears , and , in a single month , over 50 elk .
he was also a hotel keeper , barkeeper , and a musician who performed for president lincoln on a fiddle made from the skull of a mule .
known for his publicity seeking , kinman appeared as a stereotypical mountain man dressed in buckskins on the u.s. east coast and selling `` cartes de visites '' of himself and his famous chairs .
the chairs were made from elkhorns and grizzly bear skins and given to u.s. presidents .
presidents so honored include james buchanan , abraham lincoln , andrew johnson , and rutherford hayes .
he may have had a special relationship with president lincoln , appearing in at least two of lincoln 's funeral corteges , and claiming to have witnessed lincoln 's assassination .
his autobiography , dictated to a scribe in 1876 , was first published in 2010 and is noted for putting `` the entertainment value of a story ahead of the strict facts . ''
his descriptions of events change with his retelling of them .
contemporary journalists and modern writers were clearly aware of the stories contained in the autobiography , `` but each chooses which version to accept . ''
