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Abraham Lincoln was born 200 years ago today. A Utah man has one of the most impressive private Lincoln collections around. It was on display at the Capitol today to honor our 16th president.
One of collector Brent Ashworth's prized possessions is an old law book of Abraham Lincoln's. Ashworth got it at a used-book store here in Utah. The store had no idea what it was worth.
"Lincoln is one of my favorite people," Ashworth said. For most of his life, Ashworth has been collecting anything and everything Lincoln.
"I love to bring people alive. To me it started as a hobby almost 49 years ago now," he explained.
Ashworth says Lincoln and President Barack Obama are a lot alike. "I think Lincoln was one who believed in giving everyone an equal chance. Certainly Obama has said similar things," Ashworth said.
Just down the hill at Washington Elementary School, the students learned about our former president from an Abe Lincoln look-alike. Ashworth would have enjoyed the assembly; he played Abe once. "I happened to be the tallest boy, so they let me play the part of Lincoln," he said.
The collection that Ashworth brought to the Capitol is worth up to $1 million. He doesn't bring it out often but thought on Lincoln's 200th birthday, it was worth it.
E-mail: abutterfield@ksl.com
