Grace Bedell

Grace Greenwood Billings (née Bedell; November 4, 1848 – November 2, 1936) was an American woman, notable as a person whose correspondence, at age 11, encouraged Republican Party nominee and future president Abraham Lincoln to grow a beard. Lincoln later met with Bedell during his inaugural journey in February 1861.

Event

Grace Bedell was born on November 4, 1848, in Albion, New York, U.S. Bedell grew up in Westfield, New York. It is possible that her name was inspired by the popular writer and abolitionist Sara Jane Lippincott, better known as "Grace Greenwood."

Background

On October 15, 1860, a few weeks before Lincoln was elected President of the United States, Grace Bedell sent him a letter from her house at 34 Academy Street in Westfield, New York, urging him to grow a beard to improve his appearance. Lincoln responded in a letter on October 19, 1860, making no promises. However, within a month, he grew a full beard.

In an 1878 interview with a local newspaper of Westfield, Grace Bedell-Billings recalled what prompted her to write the letter: "We were at that time residing at Westfield, N.Y. My father, who was a staunch Republican, brought one day to me – who followed in his footsteps and was a zealous champion of Mr. Lincoln – a picture of 'Lincoln and Hamlin', one of those coarse exaggerated likenesses which it seems the fate of our long-suffering people in such contents. You are familiar with Mr. Lincoln's physiognomy, and remember the high forehead over those sadly pathetic eyes, the angular lower face with the deep cut lines about the mouth. As I regarded the picture, I said to my mother, 'He would look better if he wore whiskers, and I mean to write and tell him so.'"

The correspondence

Hon A B [sic] Lincoln...