CHILD-SIZED RIFLE GIFTED FROM ABRAHAM LINCOLN TO SON

Child-sized Kentucky Percussion Rifle with presentation engraving in the wood of the stock, from Philadelphia gun maker Joseph Golcher, active 1836-1855. 25" octagonal barrel, 41" long overall, brass double hair trigger guard, buttplate, patchbox, with original ramrod. Stock was later engraved "My Dearest Son, Robert Todd Lincoln, Happy 12th Birthday, August 2, 1855". First appeared on the market in NYC at the 1945 antiques exhibition at Madison Square Garden. Includes original 1945 receipts and program from the NYC Antiques Show of 1945 that contains the dealer in the listing. 1854: Lincoln re-enters politics to oppose the Kansas-Nebraska Act and is elected to the Illinois legislature but declines the seat, hoping instead to become a U.S. Senator. 1855: Lincoln loses the election for U.S. Senator; at this time, senators were chosen by the Illinois House of Representatives, not by direct election. The Lincolns were still in Illinois at the time of Robert's 12th birthday.