Sardina Resident finds Lincoln History

Photo Caption: Sardinia’s Lee Oprea next to 1860 Presidential Campaign Poster that she uncovered in her upstairs bedroom.

First Headline:

Sardinia resident finds Presidential Election of 1860 Poster in Historic House

This is what the poster is

this is what was found

Second Headline:

Washington and Lincoln Images Found on Fireboard Under Layers of Wall Paper.

By Jay Burney

It is not everyday when you come face to face with Abraham Lincoln. But that is just what happened to Sardinia Resident Lee Oprea when she was engaged in removing wall paper from her upstairs bedroom.

Now, Lee Oprea doesn’t live in an ordinary house.  She lives in one of the most historic houses on one of the most historic properties in all of WNY. So historic that it is on the National and State Registers of Historic Places.

Lee lives on her families Rider Hopkins Farm on Benton Road, which is part of the Olmsted Camp property. The home, known as the James and Abigail Hopkins House, dates from the 1840’s. The pre-civil war era brick Greek Revival home is considered to be a rare surviving example of a Western New York settlement era farm.

Lee was doing a bit of renovating and remodeling when she uncovered what she at first thought might be a sheet from an old newspaper. She was looking for a date when she uncovered Lincoln’s face.  “I was surprised and knew that this was something unusual, but this is an old house with lots of history” Lee told the Standard.

The Lincoln face is a part of a poster that is in pretty bad shape. The Poster is an interesting original artifact from the Presidential Campaign of 1860, which included candidates Lincoln, Stephan Douglas, and Sam Houston.

The poster is a 27 x 35.5 inch multicolored broadside published by H.H. Lloyd and Company of New York.  It is titled “Political Chart-Presidential Campaign, 1860”

The poster features portraits of the 15 previous Presidents with brief biographical information.  In the center top of the poster are the various 1860 Presidential Vice-Presidential candidates from the 1860 contest. Candidates include John Bell and Edward Everett of ‘Constitutional Union Party; Stephen Douglas and Herschel Johnson of the Northern Democratic Party;  John Breckinridge and Joseph P. Lane of the Southern Democratic Party;  Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin of the Republican Party , and Sam Houston who was described by the northern press as being of the “Peoples Party”.  Brief party platforms were printed as well as a map of the United States.

These posters and broadsides were widely circulated and hung in classrooms and taverns and became the focal point of debate and discussion.  It is really a wonderful relic from Sardinia’s and America’s past.  When asked what she was going to do with the poster, Oprea told the Standard, “I am going to try to preserve it and I am talking with several experts about how to do this.”  Good luck Lee, and thanks for sharing this wonderful find with us.

Lea and her find

The Hopkins, Olmsted, Oprea Farm