Attic find: White House bureau carved by Tad Lincoln – “DIED ON 1865” and full grief story

[Tad Lincoln]

Bought this rough c. 1850s mahogany bureau at a West Virginia estate sale in 2013.
Spent the last 12 years slowly cleaning it with nothing but Q-tips and denatured alcohol.This is what came out of the wood:

• Deep “TAD” initials in multiple places
• “DIED ON” carved on the lower rail
• Backwards “1865” under old shellac
• Complete post-assassination grief narrative: osprey talon clutching caterpillar → butterfly, faceless man with crooked arm, owl in the knot, X-eyed fish, scream face, tadpole nests — all done by a 12-year-old boy who just lost his father and knew he was next.

Same penknife hand as the documented Tad carvings at Springfield and Soldiers’ Home — but way darker and deeper.Barley-twist columns are an exact match to the bedroom suite still at Hildene (Robert Todd Lincoln’s house). This piece came out in the 1971–1975 Isham estate dispersal.Full high-res photos, UV shots, and 12-year documentation here:
https://thomastadlincoln.comThoughts from the relic hunters?

 

[Tnmountains]

Are you saying this was Tad... Abraham Lincolns son? If so what a historical epic find.

 

[Tad Lincoln]

Are you saying this was Tad... Abraham Lincolns son? If so what a historical epic find.

The only piece of info I'm missing for full provenance is the owner before 2010 (Greg Hoover of Canton, Ohio) and mid 1970's Lincoln Isham
furniture dispersal...It was gifted down to RT (from MTL)....then to RTL's daughter (Mary Isham) and then to Lincoln Isham...GAP....Greg Hoover....ME 2013 - present....Greg Hoover was an Antiques dealer that told me it definitely was bought around Canton or the border counties of PA....I've attached another image hidden beneath the shellac on the back upper rail....Ms. Keckley (With the long flowing hair on the left) and Mary Todd on the right....That's my interpretation...