Possible Photo of Lincoln’s Funeral Procession Prompts Personal Reflections of a Missing Friend
US Natl Archives may’ve found Lincoln funeral pics unseen for almost 150 years @cbcasithappens http://t.co/gysXrvgXut pic.twitter.com/MnkUqWcK8l
— Philip Turner (@philipsturner) March 21, 2014
When I had my bookstore, Undercover Books, we stocked and sold a majestic photography book called The Face of Lincoln, which collected every known photograph of Lincoln. It came out in 1979. 
A few years later, I gave it as a wedding present to my Franconia College classmate and close friend Robert Henry Adams, who after college in New Hampshire had moved back to his hometown of Chicago where he became a dealer in rare books, prints, and fine art. The third member of our troika of friendship was Karl Petrovich, a dear friend to both of us. A few years after that, by which time I had moved to NYC, Rob gave me an original Lincoln photograph by Alexander Gardner, a contemporary of Matthew Brady. Sadly, Rob died in 2001, a dear friend whom I still miss all the time. Karl died a few months after Rob, early in 2002.
I thought of Rob yesterday when I heard CBC As It Happens’ interview with a US archivist who believes that a fellow staffer of his recently discovered a photograph of Lincoln’s funeral procession as it passed in front of Grace Church at Broadway and 10th Street in Manhattan, near where Matthew Brady had his photographic studio. It’s a segment that would’ve fascinated him, and he would have had an educated opinion about whether these pictures do show the Lincoln funeral. You may listen to the story about the discovery via this link. Along with pictures of The Face of Lincoln and the Lincoln photo Rob gave me here are some more shots: of Rob himself, with me; Karl Petrovich; his wife Sandra Adams; his sons, Jesse and Sam; and my wife Kyle Gallup. Cross-posted on Honourary Canadian.
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- In Rob’s Chicago backyard, early ’90s.
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- On Mount Moosilauke, with Rob and Karl, late ’70s.
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- Rob was an expert chili cook.
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- A Lake Michigan idyll with Sam and Rob.
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- One of my fave pictures of Rob
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- The six of us had a great Chicago breakfast at a Lithuanian establishment called The Healthy Food Restaurant.
i think about and miss Rob every day. i am grateful to your blog as a source of pictures that i’ve never seen before but feel familiar with because i know those expressions so well. thanks, Phil.
Dear Kit, so good to know you saw my piece about our old pal. I’ll continue posting pictures. There are two other posts on my site that have some recollections of him, at these links:
1) http://philipsturner.com/philip-turner-photos/
2) http://philipsturner.com/philip-turner-personal/
Good to hear from you. Let’s keep in touch, Philip
Karl Petrovich was a high school friend of mine and while I was attending Boston University he used to visit. I learned from his brother that he crossed over a few years ago … was really disheartened to learn the news.
Thank you for posting his picture … Karl was an exception person and I continue to remember him fondly. 😉