The story goes that the wife of an Indiana governor received the hair as a gift, which was evidently common back in the day. Today, would have been Lincoln's 204th birthday and Shirley says he was one of America's best presidents.
"He's probably one of the two most important presidents we've ever had. First being George Washington, who put our country together, and Lincoln kept it from being torn apart," said Allen Shirley, Joplin Historian.
Shirley also has a lock of hair from Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd.