TidesNet—Online Collections Entry Detail

DescriptionA round wooden table with a series of coat of arms inlaid on its top. The top of the table is about 43 inches in diameter and the table stands about 29 inches tall. The table long resided in the historic Lincoln house in Dennysville, Maine, and likely dates to the early 19th century, but the actual date and origin of the table are still to be determined. The Lincoln house was built beginning in 1787 for Theodore Lincoln, son of American Revolutionary War general Benjamin Lincoln, who led a group of Massachusetts proprietors that had been granted thousands of acres in the area. Local lore claims that the table was one of four such tables presented by French general Lafayette to American general Washington’s top four generals including Benjamin Lincoln. In 1968, a photograph of the table was sent to a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to see what they might suggest about the table’s history. They thought the table belonged to the style of the period around 1840, but that the inlaid coat of arms on the top of the table might have been added much later, perhaps around 1900. They had no information about any presentation of such tables by Lafayette to Washington’s generals and they could not identify the coat of arms on the table other than to say they were not associated with Lafayette. The table was purchased in about 1950 from the last Lincoln family descendant to live in the Lincoln house by an individual who lived in nearby Eastport, Maine. This individual, in turn, gave it to their nephew who lived in New Jersey and there the table resided for nearly 50 years. The nephew promised the table to the Tides Institute upon his death and when he died in 2018 the table returned to the area and became part of the collections of the Tides Institute. Photo caption: Round wooden table with a series of coat of arms inlaid on its top. The table long resided in the historic Lincoln house in Dennysville, Maine, and likely dates to the early 19th century, but the actual date and origin of the table are still to be determined.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22268818/william-morang-emery William Morang Emery BIRTH 28 Nov 1878 DEATH 30 Aug 1964 (aged 85) BURIAL Hillside Cemetery Eastport, Washington County, Maine, USA From: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/135266620/anna-maxwell-lincoln Anna Maxwell Brown Lincoln BIRTH Jun 1857 Scotland DEATH 19 Mar 1951 (aged 93) Calais, Washington County, Maine, USA BURIAL Dennysville Cemetery Dennysville, Washington County, Maine, USA Show Map MEMORIAL ID 135266620 · View Source