The Forgotten Letter of Grace Bedell
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| Abraham Lincoln and Grace Bedell photos. Both were taken about the time that Bedell wrote her second letter. |
In 2007, a forgotten letter surfaced in the National Archives — written by a teenage girl who once changed Abraham Lincoln’s face. Historian Karen Needles, Director of the Lincoln Archives Digital Project, unearthed a long-lost letter in the Treasury records at the National Archives. It was addressed to President Abraham Lincoln, requesting his help in securing a position with the U.S. Treasury Department.
What makes this discovery so remarkable is not just the letter itself, but the fact that its author was none other than Grace Bedell—the young girl whose famous "Beard Letter" had influenced Lincoln’s public image years earlier.
By 1864, three years had passed since Lincoln had stepped off his inauguration train in Westfield, NY to personally meet Grace. Much had changed in that time—not just for the nation, but for Grace’s family as well. Her father had lost much of his property and assets, leaving them struggling financially.
At 15, Grace was no longer the child who had once advised Lincoln on his appearance. She was a young woman facing the blunt edge of economic reality. Seeking an opportunity to help her parents, she learned that the Treasury Department in Washington was offering stable jobs with decent wages, and women were preferred for their keen ability to detect counterfeit currency.
So, on January 14, 1864, Grace wrote to Lincoln again—but this time, her letter was not about beards or elections. It was a plea for economic opportunity, a request for help in securing a government job. She reminded Lincoln that he had once signed himself as her “true friend and well-wisher”—and now, she hoped he would prove it by helping her obtain meaningful work.
A Letter That Was Nearly Forgotten
Because of her beard letter and his personal meeting with her, Grace Bedell was no longer just another unknown citizen—her words had once shaped how a president presented himself to the nation. Her rediscovered letter provides a rare and meaningful extension to a historical footnote in Lincoln's story.
Although it didn’t change history the way her first one did, it reveals that Grace still saw Lincoln as a trusted figure—someone worthy of her respect, someone she believed might still help or guide her during her hour of need.
Grace’s Correcting the Miscount of Grace's Letters
For years since its discovery, historians have referred to Grace Bedell’s January 14, 1864 letter as her second letter to Lincoln. However, this isn’t entirely accurate.
In reality, this was Grace’s third letter to Lincoln, though only two survive today. She had previously written to him once before asking for a government position, but never received a response. In her 1864 letter, she referenced this earlier, unanswered request, stating:
I have addressed one letter to you before, pertaining to this subject, but receiving no answer, I chose rather to think you had failed to receive it, not believing that your natural kindness of heart, of which I have heard so much, would prompt you to pass it by unanswered. [1]
Historians often overlook this detail because only two of Grace’s letters survive:
✔ The famous "Beard Letter" from October 15, 1860, advising Lincoln to grow a beard.
✔ The 2007 discovery of her job request from January 14, 1864.
Since the first job request letter was never recovered, most sources count only those letters that are physically in the historical archives. But accuracy prevents flawed or misleading history. Grace Bedell wrote three letters.
Unfortunately, both letters went unanswered. Historians speculate that Lincoln may never have seen January 14th letter. Needles noted that Lincoln’s secretary, John Hay, was out of town when the letter arrived — meaning it likely went straight into the Treasury application files rather than onto Lincoln’s desk. Needles believes the letter - had it reached Lincoln - would have lifted his spirits in the midst of wartime burdens.
And he would have answered it.
In fact, Grace thought so too - at least with regards to the first job request letter. She wrote:
but receiving no answer, I chose rather to think you had failed to receive it, not believing that your natural kindness of heart, of which I have heard so much, would prompt you to pass it by unanswered. [1]
Whatever the case, Grace never received a position in the Treasury Department, and this letter ended in the dusty bin of history—until its surprising rediscovery in 2007.
Though Grace never secured the job she hoped for, the rediscovery of her letter provides a remarkable glimpse into her persistence, ambition, and quiet determination to shape her own future. The rest of her life proves this.
Grace’s Later Life: A Quiet Frontier Resilience
Lincoln’s silence — whether accidental or bureaucratic — meant Grace had to build her future without the help she once hoped for. And she did.
On December 3, 1867, at nineteen, she married George Newton Billings, a Civil War veteran who had served in the 10th New York Volunteer Infantry and later as a sergeant in the 8th New York Heavy Artillery. Before settling down, George worked as a wagon‑train captain, guiding settlers westward. By 1870, the couple made their home in Delphos, Kansas, a small frontier town north of Salina.
Life on the Kansas prairie demanded grit, and Grace rose to it. She rode horseback, learned to shoot, carried a pistol in her purse, and mastered the skills needed to survive a landscape shaped by droughts, grasshopper plagues, prairie fires, tornadoes, disease, and the constant uncertainty of frontier life. She adapted without complaint — the same quiet determination that had driven her to write Lincoln in 1864.
The Billings family became woven into the fabric of Delphos. George worked as a cashier at the State Bank of Delphos, and some accounts suggest he helped found it. Their only child, Harlow Drake Billings, born in 1872, later became president of the same bank. Through Harlow, Grace’s descendants remain in Kansas today.
The Billings household also crossed paths with frontier legend Wild Bill Hickok, who was a frequent dinner guest until his death in Deadwood in 1876 — a reminder that Grace’s life intersected with more than one American icon.
Despite her unexpected brush with history, Grace rarely spoke about her childhood letter. She disliked attention, once saying she didn’t care for “making a fuss.” Perhaps Lincoln’s silence in 1864 left a lingering sting. Or perhaps she simply preferred the privacy of a life she built on her own terms.
George died in 1930 after nearly fifty years at the bank. Grace followed on November 2, 1936, just two days before her 88th birthday. They are buried together in Delphos.
Today, both Delphos, Kansas and Westfield, New York honor her with memorials — quiet tributes to a woman whose life stretched far beyond the single moment history remembers.
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| Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., April 1, 2012 Historical Marker Database |
History remembers Grace Bedell for the letter that changed Lincoln’s face. But the letter she wrote four years later — the one he never saw — reveals the woman she became
This is another anecdote from the archives of Abraham Lincoln, Storyteller.
Mac
FYI: Grace Bedell's third letter is published it its entirety below the Works Cited section.
🎩 Want to know how Grace Bedell’s words reshaped Lincoln’s public image—and American politics? Read the story behind the beard. [Read: "The Young Lady Who Changed Lincoln’s Image—And American Politics" ]
🤠 Ever heard the frontier tale where a man loses a bet by shouting “Izzard by G—d!” in a frontier spelling contest? This is a lost Davy Crockett story—preserved only in a letter to Abraham Lincoln. Humor, history, and a forgotten alphabet quirk collide in one of the strangest gems tucked inside the Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress. 👉 Read the full tale here.
📚 Works Cited
[1] Chetwynd, Sally Morong. "Grace Bedell (1848-1936)". Brass Castle Arts website - November 1, 2010. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
Albion, Orleans Co., N.Y. Jan. 14, 1864
Pres Lincoln,
After a great deal of forethought on the subject, I have concluded to address you, asking your aid in obtaining a situation. Do you remember before your election receiving a letter from a little girl residing at Westfield in Chautauqua Co. advising the wearing of whiskers as an improvement to your face? I am that little girl grown to the size of a woman.
I believe in your answer to that letter you signed yourself “Your true friend and well-wisher.” Will you not show yourself my friend now?
My father, during the last few years, lost nearly all his property, and although we have never known want, I feel that I ought and could do something for myself. If I only knew what that “something” was. I have heard that a large number of girls are employed constantly and with good wages at Washington cutting Treasury notes and other things pertaining to that Department. Could I not obtain a situation there?
I know I could if you would exert your unbounded influence—a word from you would secure me a good-paying situation, which would at least enable me to support myself, if not to help my parents. This, at present, is my highest ambition.
My parents are ignorant of this application to you for assistance. If you require proof of my family's respectability, I can name persons here whose names may not be unknown to you.
We have always resided here, excepting the two years we were at Westfield. I have addressed one letter to you before, pertaining to this subject, but receiving no answer, I chose rather to think you had failed to receive it, not believing that your natural kindness of heart, of which I have heard so much, would prompt you to pass it by unanswered.
Direct to this place.
Grace G. Bedell
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