Artifact of the month: Lock of Robert E. Lee’s hair

robert e. lee's hair
“Gen. Lee’s Hair” has been carefully written in pencil on the paper that was wrapped around the lock.

When Ellen Douglas Brownlow asked the former Civil War general in 1870 for a lock of his hair as a keepsake, he would not have considered it a strange request. In fact, it was common in the Victorian era for friends to exchange a cutting of human hair. Civil War soldiers often left some of their long tresses with loved ones before departing for service. Hair was preferred over autographs, and prominent people were known to give clips of hair to admirers.

According to Brownlow’s account in 1903, Lee good-naturedly made the cut himself. The lock was then divided among several ladies, which explains why this one is more a collection of strands. It eventually ended up in the Southern Historical Collection’s Boyd Family Papers before its transfer to the North Carolina Collection Gallery earlier this month.

While many locks from historical figures are safely preserved in manuscript collections, others are part of a thriving souvenir market in celebrity hair. Prices for a few strands can reach five figures, as shown in 2011 when a fan paid over $40,000 for a lock of Justin Bieber’s hair. According to a New York Times article, a locket with a sample of Lee’s hair sold in 2012 for $12,500 at auction.

$10 reward for Andrew Johnson, runaway apprentice

On this day in 1824: In an ad in the Star of Raleigh, tailor James J. Selby offers a $10 reward for the return of two apprentices:

“RAN AWAY from the Subscriber, on the night of the 15th instant, two apprentice boys, legally bound, named WILLIAM and ANDREW JOHNSON. The former is of a dark complexion, black hair, eyes, and habits. They are much of a height, about 5 feet 4 or 5 inches. The latter is very fleshy, freckled face, light hair, and fair complexion. . . . They were well clad — blue cloth coats, light colored homespun coats, and new hats, the maker’s name in the crown of the hats, is Theodore Clark. I will pay the above reward to any person who will deliver said apprentices to me in Raleigh, or I will give the above Reward for Andrew Johnson alone.

“All persons are cautioned against harboring or employing said apprentices, on pain of being prosecuted.”

In 1865, Andrew Johnson will succeed Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States.