Finding the Biggest Man

Finding the Biggest Man. Looking for Lincoln. During the State Republican convention, local photographer, E. A. Barnwell, owner of the People's Ambrotype Gallery in Decatur, decided to seek out the “biggest” man among the Convention participants. According to oral tradition, Barnwell was interested in finding the tallest man in stature. What he found out from people was that the “biggest” man in stature and in importance were both one and the same , Abraham Lincoln. On May 9, 1860, Barnwell asked Lincoln to come to his gallery, located just around the corner from the convention. There Lincoln posed for a portrait and was rewarded with the only known photograph of himself in Decatur. The next day, May 10th, Lincoln was nominated as the presidential candidate by the Illinois Republicans. Later, on May 18th, 1860, when Lincoln was nominated by the National Republican Convention held in Chicago, the delegates were showered with prints made from an Alexander Hesler photograph. Unfortunately, there were no known prints of the Barnwell photograph used during any part of the 1860 presidential campaign., Abraham Lincoln has always been fascinated with advances in technology and science. This fascination was especially evident in the ever-advancing field of photography. Unlike many men who became president before him, Lincoln seemed to have a sense of history that photography provided. Modern photography had not been invented until 1839, but in a short period of twenty-one years, Lincoln was photographed at least thirty-nine times before becoming president in November 1860. Many of these photographs were taken in conjunction with important events in Lincoln's own life. These times included important law cases, as when his 1857 Hesler photograph was taken; or when he went to New York to give his Cooper Union Address, where Mathew Brady took his portrait, causing Lincoln to say, “Brady and the Cooper Institute made me President.”, Captions/credits , [Top] The image of Abraham Lincoln, done by E.A. Barnwell may have been lost to posterity except for the photographer's daughter, Grace R. Barnwell. A retired elementary school teacher, Grace Barnwell walked into the Decatur Public Library in November 1947 and gave the only known photographic print to the Library, explaining that she wanted the photograph returned to the city where her father had taken it. Courtesy of Decatur Public Library , [Bottom, left] Abraham Lincoln Courtesy of the City of Decatur, Lincoln Heritage Project , [Bottom, right] Abraham Lincoln Courtesy of the City of Decatur, Lincoln Heritage Project