Sources and Footnotes

Sources

This section was written using The Beacon News archives, Chicago Tribune historical archives and Silent, White and Beautiful by Tod Robbins.

Footnotes

* Most of the information about Lincoln’s reappearance comes from the June 12 through June 16, 1924, editions of The Beacon News and Chicago Tribune.

*The Aurora Historical Society made available a copy of the book Silent White and Beautiful. The story was included in a 1920 book titled, Silent White and Beautiful and other stories by Tod Robbins. The same story was republished in Who Wants a Green Bottle? and Other Uneasy Tales, published in 1926. Robbins (1888-1949) also wrote the story Spurs, which became the inspiration for the cult movie, Freaks.

* A reporter from the Beacon, Wayne Miller, accompanied Michels on several trips to Chicago to search for Lincoln. He was in the room, taking notes, when police found Lincoln in the Grace Hotel, located on the corner of Jackson Boulevard and Clark Street. There is no mention of another reporter in the room, although the Tribune used direct quotes with slightly different wording than the Beacon. Only direct quotes from the Beacon stories were used.

* The quote, “I had just dozed off...” as well as the conversations between Michels and Lincoln come from June 12, 1923, Beacon.

* The note about Lincoln disappearing again comes from the Jan. 14, 1924, Beacon.

* The information about Lincoln’s return to Aurora comes from the June 14, 1923, Beacon. That same story mentions that hundreds flocked to the greenhouse to see Lincoln when he returned.

*The June 13, 1923, Beacon shows Lincoln shaking hands with neighbor Robert Kendall, who insisted Lincoln would be found alive.

* The June 13, 1923, Tribune describes Lincoln as “the eccentric horticulturist who disappeared.”

* Establishing Michel’s suspicions about Lincoln came from the Feb. 1, 1925, Beacon.