1. Material:
  2. metal (543)

Old Abe Medallion

Creator:
unknown
Location:
Virginia, Martinsburg
Origin Date:
1961
Materials:
metal
Measurements:
overall: 9 1/2 in diameter
Item ID:
71.2009.081.2837
Holding Institution:
Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum
Available for Viewing:
No
Category:
Fine Art

Description

This very heavy large spelter medallion has a raised and rounded rim with a raised right profile of President Abraham Lincoln in the center of the plain field. There is a screw hole on each side of the profile which was originally used to attach the medallion to the side of the "Old Abe" locomotive belonging to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Baltimore and Ohio trainmen Abner T. Ingles, engineer, and Bill Faulkner, fireman, were strong Union men and staunch admirers of President Abraham Lincoln. In early 1861 Ingles had a Martinsburg, Virginia, foundry create an original medallion (described above) by using a bronze right profile of President Lincoln attached to a board as a mold to cast three more medallions. The original bronze bust master was then attached to a spelter medallion. The remaining three casts were all one piece of spelter. Two medallions were attached to the sides of the engine cab under the windows and the other two were placed on each side of the tender. Because of the medallions, the locomotive soon became known as "Old Abe." Late in May 1861, rumors were heard that Stonewall Jackson and his Confederate troops were approaching Martinsburg. With no hope of escape, Bill Faulkner immediately removed the four medallions from the locomotive and took them to the home of a friend who lived on the Winchester Pike. The Confederate troops arrived and took possession of "Old Abe" and the other locomotives in the train yard and moved them to Winchester. Faulkner had failed to tell Ingles where he had taken the medallions and when Faulkner was killed during the war, all hope of their recovery was gone. About 1915, E. L. Bangs, who was in charge of the Baltimore and Ohio historical exhibits stored at Martinsburg, learned the story of the lost medallions. After seeing a sketch of the medallions, Bangs eventually found all four of them in a Martinsburg junk shop. Bangs shared his good fortune with three other Lincoln collectors while retaining the master medallion with the bronze head on spelter for himself. Part of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum