Lock of slain US President Lincoln's hair auctioned in Dallas, Texas

A lock of slain US President Abraham Lincoln's hair and items connected to his assassination were sold at auction for 803,889 US dollars on Saturday in Dallas, a city in the northern part of US state of Texas.

The lock of Lincoln's hair, which was removed by Surgeon General Joseph Barnes shortly after Lincoln was shot by actor and Confederacy supporter John Wilkes Booth in April 1865, went for 25,000 US dollars while a letter to a friend written and signed by Booth in 1861 fetched 30,000 US dollars, according to a report from the website of local English daily newspaper the Houston Chronicle.

The lock of Lincoln's hair was among about 300 items that belonged to Fort Worth, Texas history buff Donald Dow, who died in 2009, Heritage Auction officials said, adding that Saturday's auction came after Donald Dow's son Gred Dow believed that it was the right time for him to sell the collection.

Greg Dow said that his father was fascinated with President Lincoln and the assassination, but he now wanted other collectors to have a chance to enjoy it.

Lincoln, the 16th US president, was born on Feb. 12, 1809. He led the United States through its Civil War -- its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government and modernized the economy.