Villagers resurrect almost-forgotten copy of The Bixby Letter; will seek authentication

The Bixby Letter, as Evelyn well knew, was a page-long piece of the fabric of America; a well-established piece of folk history shrouded in equal parts reverence and controversy.

The legend goes something like this: In 1864, Abraham Lincoln, fresh off his election to serve a second term as president, wrote an eloquent and remorseful letter to Lydia Bixby, a Boston native who had supposedly lost five sons in the Civil War.

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