An Official Invitation
to Gettysburg
Judge David Wills to
Abraham Lincoln
Holograph letter,
Page 2 - Page
3 - Page 4
November 2, 1863
Manuscript Division
Gift of Robert Todd Lincoln, 1923
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Judge David Wills's letter to Abraham Lincoln is the official
invitation to the president to participate in the dedication of
Gettysburg Memorial Cemetery. Wills carefully explained to Lincoln
that this was a state initiative. The proposed cemetery was planned
and financed by states represented in death at Gettysburg. Wills,
who had conceived the idea of a national cemetery and had organized
the dedication, made it equally clear to the president that he
would have only a small part in the ceremonies. Although there
is some evidence Lincoln expected Wills's letter, its late date
makes the author appear presumptuous, especially when one realizes
that Edward Everett, the principal speaker for the occasion, received
his invitation in September. Seventeen days was extraordinarily
short notice for presidential participation even by nineteenth-century
standards.
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