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In January 2021, a photograph of former first lady Mary Todd Lincoln garnered newfound attention. The picture appeared to show Abraham Lincoln's ghost situated behind her. The old glass-plate photograph was featured in a slideshow article that spanned 40 pages. The headline read: When This Photo of Lincoln’s Wife Was Developed, An Eerie Figure Could be Seen Looming Behind Her. The story was advertised: We Got Chills When We Realized Who Was in the Background. The story was about a picture captured by 19th-century photographer William Mumler. In February 1872, Mary Todd Lincoln visited his photography studio in Boston, Massachusetts. Mumler had previously developed glass plate photographs in New York. It had been around seven years since Mary Lincoln's husband was assassinated at Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth. The finished studio portrait appeared to show Abraham Lincoln's ghost standing behind his wife with his hands placed on her shoulders. However, Mumler did not magically capture a picture of Lincoln's ghost. The photographer made a living producing manipulated studio photographs with faded figures visible behind his subjects. This was not digital manipulation like we see in modern photography. The idea of doctoring photographs in the 19th century meant trickery in the exposure and development process of glass plate images. Still in question around a century and a half later was not whether Mumler captured photographs of ghosts. Rather, the question posed to this day was about which specific method he employed in the creation of such pictures. Christian McWhirter is a Lincoln historian with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. We asked him about the 40-page slideshow article, which looked to contain misleading information. One part of the long story made a specific claim about Mary Todd Lincoln. It said she was actually a firm believer in the paranormal by the time she tied the knot with Abraham in 1842. McWhirter told us this claim lacked evidence: McWhirter also told us that there isn't a consensus regarding how Mumler produced his mysterious photographs. That included the picture that purportedly showed Abraham Lincoln's ghost. However, he directed us to someone whose research delved deeply into the matter: author Peter Manseau. Manseau authored the book titled: The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln's Ghost. We asked him about the reality of Mumler's work. In our correspondence with Manseau, he told us that there was perhaps more at play than just manipulated pictures. Mumler's efforts came in the pioneering days of photography. Manseau said that there was perhaps 'something more' happening with the pictures on a couple levels: We were curious as to how the ghost picture with Mrs. Lincoln made it into the hands of the public. It was Mumler who publicized the picture. Mumler printed copies and sold them so it was known immediately, but then it seems it was forgotten, Manseau said. With everything related to Mumler it must be remembered it was a commercial venture. He wrote letters to newspapers about it and would’ve wanted to sell as many as he could. He provided a newspaper clipping with a letter Mumler wrote to The Boston Herald. At the end of the story, the newspaper referred to the likeness of the shadowy ghost figure to Lincoln as being unmistakable. We have transcribed the clipping below: Tad referred to Thomas Tad Lincoln III. He was one of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln's sons. He died at the age of 18 in 1871, months before Mumler captured his photograph. Three years prior to the picture that was said to show Lincoln's ghost, Mumler appeared before a judge in New York. He had been charged with fraud and larceny in relation to his spirit photographs. Years later, in 1888, the Waterbury Evening Democrat reported the history of Mumler's time in court: Manseau told us that many expert photographers spoke against Mumler. He said that they all were credible and proposed ways they could make spirit photographs but none proved conclusively how Mumler had made his. One expert photographer who spoke against Mumler was Oscar Mason. On April 26, 1869, he spoke of methods Mumler might have used to produce his spirit photographs. Mason was the secretary to the photographic section of the American Institute. He was questioned by the prosecution after creating his own spirit photography experiments just days prior. The New York Herald documented the court proceedings in New York. William W. Silver had also been arrested with Mumler. Silver was the original owner of the photography studio Mumler had used, located at 630 Broadway. According to Mason, one possible way that Mumler created the spirit photographs was by manipulating the positive image. Mason explained one of his own experiments to the court: Mason also described another method involving a positive glass plate. A third possibility involved half an inch of a lucifer match and a small piece of mica. A fourth method used a microscopic lens. The newspaper also said that while Mason answered questions, Mumler blushed occasionally and at some answers. The Herald reported: The blush would hurriedly beam his face as if the statements were deeply affecting him. As for what ended up happening to Mumler, Manseau told us that he's seen misleading accounts: We want to think of photographs as objective truth, but manipulation has been part of photography from the beginning, Manseau said. In sum, photographer William Mumler did not capture a picture of Abraham Lincoln's ghost. More than a century and a half later, we still don't know which specific method he used to create his spirit photography. We likely never will. For further reading, we previously reported on Abraham Lincoln's last words. Additional credits for Mumler's photograph of Mary Todd Lincoln are extended to The Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, Indiana State Museum, and the Allen County Public Library.
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