Author Alan Hunter graces our pages in his Bumps in the Night column every week, and spends his October weekends guiding folks around Irvington on his Ghost Tours. However, he also is an avid collector of Abraham Lincoln items, and is a collector of items on Osborn Oldroyd, the first collector of Lincoln items. “I grew up with Lincoln,” Hunter explained. “And that led me to Oldroyd.” Oldroyd, in turn, led Hunter to write The Petersen House. The Oldroyd Museum and the House Where Lincoln Died, which has just be released. ($24.99 and available on Amazon, and at www.through-time.com).
To celebrate the release, Al Hunter will be holding a book sale and signing party at the Riley House in Greenfield, 250 W. Main St., on Saturday, Oct. 31 from 2-4 p.m. He will be giving a talk as well about the connections between James Whitcomb Riley and Lincoln, and recount some ghost stories connected to the Greenfield area. Hunter used to lead a very popular ghost tour of Greenfield along with Kidsplay.
The book, published by America Through Time, consists of photographs and artwork of the building where Lincoln died. Sometimes overlooked by tourists in Washington D.C., the small former boarding house was a family residence for a time after the assassination. “The family house changed overnight,” Hunter explained. “It ruined the family.” The Petersens sold the house, and the next family also struggled with living with the burden of history.
If you are familiar with his columns, you probably recall several columns Hunter has done about Oldroyd, the first true collector of Lincoln-related items. After Lincoln’s assassination, Oldroyd sought a place to display his huge collection of Lincoln “trophies.” Robert Lincoln rented him the family home in Springfield, and for 10 years, Oldroyd operated a museum there. However, he and his collection were evicted, and the then-owners of the Petersen House offered a place for him in Washington, D.C. at the almost sacred site of the great president’s death. The collection was moved there in 1893, where it stayed until 1926 — the only museum in the nation’s capitol dedicated to Lincoln. (The Lincoln Memorial was built 1914-1922.) The federal government bought the collection in 1926 to preserve it, but it was broken up and scattered among several collections (and some has been lost forever).
“I wrote the book because the story of the Petersen House/HWLD has not been updated in over three quarters of a century. I have walked ALL OVER that house. Every square inch from top to bottom,” Hunter said. “I plan on writing another book, this one on the Lincoln tomb in Springfield, of which I have likewise been all up and over. So I guess you could say that the dust from both of these buildings has seeped into my bones.”
Many of the photos in the book are taken from Hunter’s own personal collection, which he has acquired over the years at auctions and sales. Still others are from archives and university collections and provide a fascinating look into a historically significant home. Today, after an extensive renovation, it is open to the public under the watchful eye of the National Park Service, and tickets to the the Ford’s Theatre site across the street are also good for the Petersen House. (Due to COVID-19, there are currently restrictions on visiting both sites.)
Hunter’s journey to understand more about Lincoln led to his wanting to know more about the eccentric Oldroyd, who has not been treated kindly by some historians. “He’s a scapegoat, seen as a P.T. Barnum showman. But he’s a fascinating character. He took three wounds at Vicksburg. I want to set the record straight.”
