Abraham Lincoln Axes

[Faiaoga]

In another discussion, there was a picture of a pocketknife that Abraham Lincoln was carrying on the night he was shot. I have not yet seen the latest film about Lincoln, but I know there is increased interest about him and the Civil War era. Only for personal interest, is there information available concerning axes or axe patterns used by Abe the Rail Splitter?
Faiaoga

 

[halfaxe]

It wouldn't have been a double bit. Those didn't become popular until later. There are axes still around that were made in the 1840's-1860's. They tend to look more square and blocky-looking than later axes. I never saw Abe's specific axe though. There is a museum with his actual compass from when he was a surveyor.

 

[Steve Tall]

This article says that of all the axes supposedly used by Lincoln, this one has the best documentation:

from http://www.rrstar.com/news/x1637131140

One week before his assassination, he picked up this 7-pound axe and did some demonstrations in front of a bunch of wounded soldiers. Some quotes from the linked article:

"Historians figure Abraham Lincoln was showing off on April 8, 1865, when, at the end of a long day, he spotted an ax at a Union Army field hospital in Virginia. He’d spent hours shaking hands with thousands of wounded soldiers. A doctor told him his arm was surely tired. Holding his arm straight out, Lincoln picked up the ax by the butt, with the handle parallel to the ground, and held the 7-pound tool motionless. He was 56 years old and one week away from assassination. “Strong men who looked on, men accustomed to manual labor, could not hold the same ax in that position for a moment,” wrote Francis Fisher Browne, a Union soldier who authored a biography called “The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln.” Lincoln also went to work chopping a log, historians say. Browne said someone saved the chips."

from the Rockford Register Star
http://www.rrstar.com/news/x1637131140

 

[CB-R]

That's real cool and all, but it doesn't look much like the lugged thing he used in that vampire hunter movie

 

[Faiaoga]

halfaxe and Steve Tall: thank you for the prompt and helpful replies. The newspaper article from Rockford IL seems to be especially useful. I know that Lincoln was strong and a good wrestler, but to read that he could handle an 7 pound axe is very impressive. History teachers should use facts like these to make our knowledge of Lincoln more personal. Thanks
Faiaoga