The College Fix

The lesson here — Go ahead and clean out your closet. You never know what you might find:

Retiring President James Douthat [of Lycoming College] was cleaning out a closet in his office last week when he stumbled on a rather uncommon historical document that had been lost for years — a certificate signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 that named the college’s founder a Civil War chaplain.

Displayed inside a slightly worn black frame, the certificate itself appears to be in good condition. Lincoln’s neat signature is clearly visible, just above an ornate, patriotic-themed imprint at the bottom of the commission certificate for Methodist clergy Benjamin Crever.

“In the back of my mind, I remember hearing about it,” Douthat said. But he never went looking for it and didn’t know what it looked like.

Douthat, who will retire at the end of the month after 24 years, was clearing out boxes from the top shelf when he noticed what he initially thought might be a black-framed access panel — the kind to get to interior plumbing, for instance.

“When I took it down, of course I recognized Lincoln’s signature immediately,” he said. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton also signed the document.

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