The Fathers and Saviors of Our Country: A Presidential Sale

20 1/2 x 13 in. printed newspaper in 5 columns. (Spotting, toning.)

A CONFEDERATE NEWSPAPER ANNOUNCES THE ASSASSINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

The Augusta Daily Constitutionalist was founded in 1822 by Philip C. Gieu, who throughout its run claimed it as the "oldest democratic paper in the south." Gieu was succeeded by James Gardner in 1845, who, throughout the 1860 presidential campaign, was one of the South's most prominent voices against secession. Upon Georgia joining the Confederacy in January 1861, however, the Constitutionalist became one of the most ardent pro-Confederacy papers in operation throughout the Civil War, with Gardner even going so far as to fire an editor in 1864 for voicing pro-reunification sentiments in its pages. In May 1865, the paper's operations were temporarily shut down by the Union military due to its continued support for the Confederate cause. The paper would ultimately cease operations in 1877 after being bought by the Augusta Chronicle.

The present issue, printed a full week after President Lincoln's death, is a testament to both the significant delays in news reaching different parts of the former Confederacy at the time and its inaccuracy: Lincoln's death is announced as having taken place on 12 April. Gardner himself seems skeptical of the news, writing above the bulletin, "We publish the following dispatch, which purports to come through Mr. Barr, the telegraphic superintendent of Gen. Johnson's army. It bears upon its face many evidences of the sensational, and we advise our readers to take it, for the present, with a grain of salt." On the following page, further information is given, with the assassin identified as "Smith" and described as having first murdered Lincoln and then attacked Secretary of State William Seward in his home. The bulletin closes with, "The [Chattanooga, TN] Gazette does not mention any dramatic ejaculation by the modern Brutus. He seemed to be satisfied with deeds and not words."

RARE: We trace no records of this issue having previously sold at auction.