Lincoln Survey Map To Be Donated To Presidential Library

Descendants of John Kennedy Kincaid will donate an 1835 land survey map prepared by Abraham Lincoln to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum during a ceremony at 1:30 p.m. today. In their early 20's, Mr. Kincaid and the future president were friends and business associates as well as early members of the Republican Party.

As the Springfield State Journal Register reports, the survey map appears no different than any other 19th-century piece of pioneer bureaucracy - except for the "A. Lincoln" signature down at the bottom of the page and the future president's distinct handwriting. Lincoln surveyed the property, midway between Athens and New Salem, for Kincaid, presumably to supply timber for the Kincaid homestead.

For years, the Kincaid family had proudly displayed the survey map as a conversation piece, until they had it appraised back in 1976 and were told it was worth approximately $20,000. While the family declined to disclose the results of a recent appraisal of the document, they did tell the Journal Register that if, "...someone paid $20,000 for it 30 years ago, it would have been a very good investment."