The desk marked five was given by Henry Flagg French to his son William M.R. French presumably as an 1880 Christmas present.
Previous researchers have documented this desk to be in the possession of Frenches heirs in 1978. No images are known to exist.
Henry Flagg French who was an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in 1880 certainly played a significant role in the making and distributing of this series of reproductions. This is known because he is mentioned in period documentation including personal correspondence and congressional testimony.
He presented two other desks, an unnumbered example to his daughter and desk seven to the Concord Free Library.
These examples will be discussed in further posts but of interest is that Henry F. French apparently did not give an example to his other two children, namely his son Daniel Chester French
Recently while trying to make sense of Henry F. Frenches connection with the fac-similes I contacted Dana at Chester Wood, Daniel Chester Frenches studio, which is now a beautiful museum. She was far more helpful to my research than she may realize, Thank you Dana!
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