UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY MEMORIAL the Class of 1901 founded by HARLAN HOYT HORNER and HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER THE TRUE STORY OF MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://archive.org/details/truestoryofmarywOOhelm THE TRUE STORY OF MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN Containing the Recollections of Mary Lincoln's Sister Emilie {Mrs. Ben Hardin Helm), Extracts from Her War-Time Diary, Numerous Letters and Other Documents now First 'Published By Her Niecej Katherine Helm "Lady of Lincoln, They wreathed her head With thorns when living, With nettles though dead." Marion Mills Miller WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK AND LONDON HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS Mcmxxviii MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY KATHERINE HELM PRINTED IN THE U. S. A L-C .71 TO MRS. ROBERT TODD LINCOLN WHO LOVED Mary Todd Lincoln THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED *qp *c/3* CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I A VIVID LITTLE PERSON I II ROOT AND BRANCH 6 III A BLUE GRASS LASSIE 1 6 IV ILLINOIS BECKONS 58 V A KENTUCKY GIANT 7 1 VI PARTNERS 96 VII WASHINGTON LOOMS 131 VIII INTO THE MISTS 151 IX SHADOWS 193 X "SEND HER TO ME" 219 XI THE DEATH BLOW 234 XII WAITING 264 INDEX 301 ILLUSTRATIONS Mary Todd Lincoln Coat of Arms of the Todd Family "Ashland" "Helm Place" "Ellersly" Mary Todd's Birthplace Robert Smith Todd, Mary Todd's Father Mrs. Robert S. Todd Mrs. Alexander Humphreys Facsimile of Letters to Her Sister Seal Owned by Mrs. Alexander Humphreys Home of Robert S. Todd Mrs. Ninian Edwards Hon. John Todd Stuart Mrs. John Todd Stuart Mary Todd at the Time Lincoln Met Her Abraham Lincoln, About 1887-8 Judge David Todd Roger North Todd The Lincoln Home in Springfield, Illinois Ben Hardin Helm Mary Todd's Sister Elodie Thomas Lincoln (Tad) Robert Todd Lincoln William Wallace Lincoln Mary Todd Lincoln — 1860 David Todd Mrs. Charles Kellogg Alexander H. Todd Mrs. Ben Hardin Helm Frontispiece page xii Facing p 52 tt tt 53 tt i n the north of England and Scotland, is •*- "fox." It is surmised that the first man to whom the surname Todd was given was a keen sportsman who followed the hounds in the hue and cry of chasing a tod — was a tod hunter. Indeed, Toddhunter was an- other surname assumed by, or given to, one of these Nimrods — an amusing story told of a market gardener of Middlesex might indicate that the name had some- thing to do with the sly wit of a fox. The gardener being haled before a magistrate for not having painted on his cart, his name, his place of residence, and the words, "taxed cart," declared he had complied with the law in every particular and invited the Court to inspect his cart upon which was painted: "A most Odd Act on a taxed Cart" This did not mollify the Court until it was explained to him that it could be interpreted: "Amos Todd. Acton. A taxed Cart." Among the Todds whose names are well known are : James Henthorn Todd, one of the best known Irish scholars of his day (born 1805) ; he was consulted by 6 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 7 both statesmen and theologians. Henry John Todd edited Johnson's Dictionary to which he added several thousand words. He was also editor of Milton. Rob- ert Bentley Todd was a physician of great renown in the early part of the nineteenth century. His statue may be seen at King's College Hospital. David Todd, with a world-wide reputation as an astronomer. The "Mary" of Coleridge's verse was Mary Evans Todd, the mother of Elliott D'Arcy Todd of York- shire, the stronghold of the Todds for centuries. In the west riding of Yorkshire the town of Todmorden, dating back prior to the reign of Edward III, may have some connection with the family of that name. Among the Pilgrim Fathers from Yorkshire was Christopher Todd. He was the son of William Todd, who was the son of William Todd. He, with his wife Grace and several children, came over about 1639. He was an important personage in New Haven, of which he was one of the founders. Yale College now stands on the site of his home, and the college campus was part of Christopher's estate. Many of his descendants live in New Haven. He bore for arms three foxes' heads — showing the origin of the name. John Todd also came from Yorkshire. He and his wife Susannah and their six children settled in Rowley, Massachusetts, 1637. He was representative to the 8 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN General Court for many years. He bore for arms a fox rampant with a dove for crest, and the motto: "By cunning. Not by Craft." Adam Todd was born in the Highlands of Scotland. He made New York his home, and died in 1765. His wife Sarah was one of the "Women of the Revolution." Her house on Cliff Street in the city of New York was called "rebel headquarters" by the British, who said of her daughters, "They are the d rebels in New York." Some British soldiers in her house were drink- ing and asked her for a toast. "Why, we eat toast," she replied with so much simplicity that they supposed her ignorant of the meaning of the word. Mrs. Todd's grave is in St. Paul's churchyard, New York City. Her daughter Sarah married a Brevoort, one of the family whose name is perpetuated in many ways in the me- tropolis that family helped to build. Adam Todd, sec- ond, married Margaret Dodge, daughter of Jeremiah and Margaret Vanderbilt Dodge. The wife of John Jacob Astor, colonist, was Sarah Todd. They were married about the year 1785. Their son William mar- ried Margaret Armstrong. Vincent Astor is the fifth generation from John Jacob Astor and Sarah Todd Astor. Timothy Todd of Vermont, a surgeon, was at the MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 9 battle of Bennington and a member of the Governor's council. Eben Todd served through the War of the Revolu- tion. Thomas Todd was also a member of the Continental army. His son Charles was one of General Harrison's four aides and was afterwards minister to the Russian court. In the War of 181 2 George Todd was a lieutenant- colonel. His son David was governor of Ohio. John Todd of Vermont was a preacher, author and educator. His Students' Manual had a great vogue, and he helped to found Mt. Holyoke Seminary. The Todds patented lands in Gloucester county, Vir- ginia, in 1652, and "Toddsbury Manor" was their home. Thomas Todd w T as the builder of Toddsbury House in 1658 — and by his will it passed to his son Thomas. The house, built of brick, and the brick wall around the garden show extreme age. It is beautifully paneled on the inside. For generations it was the home of the Todds, who were noted for their lavish hospi- tality. There were a Christopher Todd and a Francis Todd in this family, as the tombstones show. Thomas Todd was not only justice of Gloucester county, but he held other offices. io MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN From Virginia and Pennsylvania some of the Todds came to Kentucky. Mary Todd's ancestry traces back to Scottish Cove- nanters who, loving honor above worldly possessions and holding their faith greater than life, stubbornly fought the King and defied the established Church of England. Of the Covenanters captured at Bothwell Bridge and sentenced to transportation to America, two hundred were drowned in a shipwreck off the Orkneys. Among those who died thus were two of the Todds, Robert of Fenwick and James of Dunbar. In the same year, 1679, m which these two were drowned, John Todd, their brother, fled from the persecutions of Cla- verhouse in Scotland to find refuge in the north of Ire- land. He is described as "Scottish laird," meaning simply that he owned land in fee simple and was a landlord, not that he was in any degree allied with the nobility. Two of his grandsons, Andrew and Robert Todd, came to America with their families in 1737 and located in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Robert Todd, born in Ireland in 1697, there married his first wife, Jean Smith. There were two sons of this marriage, David and John. David, born in Ireland, April 8, 1723, married Hannah Owen. Their third son, Levi Todd, married Jane, or Jean, Briggs. Their seventh child, Robert Smith Todd, married Eliza Ann MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN n Parker. Their fourth child, Mary Todd, married Abraham Lincoln. The genealogy of Mary Todd's mother, Eliza Ann Parker, traces back to the same Robert Todd, born in Ireland in 1697, the grandson of the John Todd, who fled from Scotland in 1679. Robert Todd's second wife was Isabella Bodley. Their second daughter, Elizabeth Todd, married William Parker. Their daughter, Elizabeth Parker, married General Andrew Porter. Their daughter, Elizabeth Porter, married her cousin, Major Robert Parker. Their fourth daugh- ter, Eliza Ann Parker, married Robert Smith Todd. Their fourth child, Mary Todd, married Abraham Lincoln. It will be seen that Mary Todd's mother and father had the same great-grandfather, Robert Smith Todd having descended through his great-grand- father's first marriage to Jean Smith", and Eliza Ann Parker having descended through their mutual great- grandfather's second marriage to Isabella Bodley. Mary Todd was related to many illustrious fami- lies in Pennsylvania: the Parkers, the Bodleys, Owens, McFarlands, Findlays, Majors, Porters. Her great- grandfather, General Andrew Porter, was the close friend of Washington. The Porters furnished Penn- sylvania with a governor, and two of them filled cabinet 12 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN positions. The Todds occupied positions of trust and honor and made the best of citizens wherever found. "The Todds have intermarried with the Wickliffs, the Shelbys, the Breckenridges, the Didlakes, the Brents, the Woodleys, the Craigs, the Swifts, the McDowells, the Parkers, and so on and on. These families have intermar- ried with the Prestons, the McCaws, the Paynes, the Kin- keads, the Woolfolks, so the interests of the Todds extend to most houses in this community." (Lexington Herald, February 7, 1908.) John Todd (Mary Todd's great-uncle), the brother of David Todd, was graduated at Princeton in 1749 and located in Louisa county, Virginia. He became so distinguished as a Presbyterian minister that it is said no history of the Presbyterian Church could be written without honorable mention of him. He was largely instrumental in establishing Transylvania Sem- inary (later Transylvania University), of Kentucky, and a gift of books from him formed the nucleus of the present fine library of the university. David Todd, John Todd's brother, and the great- grandfather of Mary Todd, in 1783 sold his land in Pennsylvania for $12,000 and moved to Kentucky, he and his wife Hannah Owen being so grieved at the loss of their distinguished son, Colonel John Todd, who had been killed two years before at the battle of Blue iMARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 13 Licks (said to have been the bloodiest battle between the whites and Indians ever fought on Kentucky soil), that they wished to be with their remaining sons, Rob- ert and Levi. David died the year after he moved to Kentucky. David Todd and Hannah Owen had four sons, one of whom, Owen, settled in Ohio and bore a brave part in Indian warfare. The other three, John, Robert, and Levi, were educated in a classical school in Virginia taught by their uncle, the Reverend John Todd. The eldest, Colonel John Todd, studied law and was appointed by Patrick Henry to be the first civil governor and lieutenant-commander of what is now the great State of Illinois. His record- or minute- book is now in the possession of the Chicago Historical Society and forms an interesting chapter in the history of that State, During the War of the Revolution, General George Rogers Clark numbered among his brave soldiers, three of the Todd brothers. In 1780 Kentucky was divided into three counties, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Fayette, and Thomas Jefferson, then governor of Virginia, appointed Colonel John Todd, colonel of Fayette county, Daniel Boone, as lieu- tenant, and Colonel Thomas Marshall, as Surveyor. Robert, second son of David Todd and Hannah Owen, married his cousin, a daughter of Parson John 14 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN Todd, studied law and settled in Virginia. Levi, third son of David Todd and Hannah Owen, was born in Pennsylvania in 1756, was educated by his uncle, Par- son John Todd, also studied law, and came early to Kentucky. He was purchaser of the first sale of lots in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1781, filled several offices of trust, became a brigadier- and then a major-general, both of which titles were won in actual service. He was a sensible, intelligent, well-educated man; "a solid, substantial and enterprising citizen; a consistent Presbyterian, a valuable and faithful public servant; a good soldier and greatly respected when such qualities meant so much to the building of a state." (T. M. Green.) General Levi Todd and Jane Briggs had eleven chil- dren. The seventh child, Robert Smith Todd (Mrs. Lincoln's father), was born February 25, 1791, in the house built by his father a few miles from Lexington on the Richmond Pike. He named the place "El- lersly" in honor of a small Scottish village once the home of the Todds. The house is still standing and is now owned by the Lexington Water Company. Robert Smith Todd held positions of trust and re- sponsibility. He was for many years clerk of the House of Representatives, was State senator and was the pres- ident of the Lexington branch of the Bank of Kentucky from its establishment in 1836 until his death. MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 15 "Not a man of brilliant talents, but one of clear strong mind, sound judgment, exemplary life and conduct, dignified and manly bearing, an influential and useful citizen." (T. M. Green, Historic Families of Kentucky.) He and Eliza Ann Parker were married at the home of her parents in Short Street, Lexington, Kentucky. The property is now used as a Baptist orphans' home. The young couple went to housekeeping in a house built by Mr. Todd on an adjoining lot to the Parker home. They had seven children: Levi; Elizabeth; Frances; Mary (born, December 13, 181 8) ; Ann; Rob- ert Parker Todd, who died when he was fourteen months old and was buried in a cemetery on Main Street. The body of this child and that of his mother who had died when George was born were later re- moved and buried together in the Todd lot in the Lex- ington cemetery. Mr. Todd had by his second marriage nine children: Robert Smith Todd, who lived only a few days; Sam- uel, killed in Confederate ranks at Shiloh; David, died from the effect of wounds received at Vicksburg — Confederate; Alexander, Confederate, killed at Baton Rouge; Margaret (Mrs. Kellogg); Martha (Mrs. White) ; Emilie (Mrs. Ben Hardin Helm) ; Elodie (Mrs. Dawson) ; and Katherine (Mrs. Herr). CHAPTER III A BLUE GRASS LASSIE A FTER the death of Mr. Todd's first wife in July, -^"^1825, and shortly after his second marriage, less than two years later, wishing to indulge his bride and himself in their passion for flowers, he bought a com- modious double brick house with a wide hall in the center. On the grounds at the back were stables and servants' quarters, and best of all, in fact, the chief in- ducement in buying this place, was a large formal flower garden beautifully planned and filled with bulbs and flowering shrubs. A conservatory at the left of the house opened from the library and led into the wide garden walk. A small stream which meandered through the lower end of the place, and in which the Todd youngsters waded and seined for minnows in and out of season, gave them much pleasure — in season, and out of season was the cause of many spankings when their wet clothes and croupy voices betrayed them. The Todd boys called this source of joy and sorrow the "blabbing brook." This stream has long since gone dry, the garden has been cut into building lots, and the house, though still 16 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 17 standing on Main Street in Lexington, Kentucky, has fallen sadly from its once desirable estate. Mary Todd was eight years old when her father took, for his second bride, Miss Elizabeth Humphreys (daughter of Dr. Alexander Humphreys of Staunton, Virginia). Mrs. Todd's ancestry boasted men and women of scholarly attainments and high ideals. She often repeated the familiar saying, and believed it, too, that it took seven generations to make a lady. Very calmly and competently she undertook the care and training of the six stepchildren, ranging in age from eighteen months to fourteen years. Elizabeth at fourteen had already engaged in a ro- mance with Ninian Wirt Edwards, a student at Tran- sylvania University, and at about sixteen she married him and went to Springfield, Illinois, to preside over the governor's mansion, her father-in-law, Governor Ninian Edwards, being a widower. Mary's grandmother, Mrs. Parker, bitterly resented the coming of a stepmother for her grandchildren, and never became reconciled with the second Mrs. Todd. Whether she influenced Mary, I do not know, but Mary was a bundle of nervous activity, wilful and original in planning mischief, and so the inevitable clashes with her very conventional young stepmother. However, in later years they became very good friends 1 8 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN as they had many tastes in common. They both loved people, flowers, and books. The Todd library was well stocked with many standard works. Mr. and Mrs. Todd were social favorites and they entertained in the lavish way then in vogue among their friends. As far back as 1816, Lexington was considered the leading city of fashion in the West. A visitor at that time said: "Lexington is as large as Cincinnati. The inhab- itants are as polished and, I regret to add, as luxurious as those of Boston, New York or Baltimore, and their assemblies and parties are conducted with as much ease and grace as in the oldest towns in the Union." Such a number of carriages filled the streets that a writer gave it the name of "The city that goes on wheels." In other and more solid respects Lexington was also quite exceptional : the literary culture and edu- cational advantages had become such that in 1824 the city was spoken of far and wide as the "Athens of the West." Able and eloquent men filled the city's pulpits. Transylvania University had attained professors of Eu- ropean celebrity, and the town was filled to overflowing with academical, medical, and law students drawn from all over the Middle West and South. The local newspapers were leaders of the State press, and the MARY, WIFE OK LINCOLN 19 Lexington bar was probably the strongest in the United States. Mrs. Todd's niece, Elizabeth Humphreys (after- wards married to Judge Norris of Batavia, Ohio) came to live in Mr. Todd's home to enjoy the superior ad- vantages of the Lexington schools. Mary Todd and Elizabeth Humphreys became the most intimate and devoted of friends. They shared the same room, had the same friends and the same interests. They strolled, arms around each other, in the garden, sometimes read and studied there, breathing luxuriously the perfume of the lilac hedge and the arbor of roses, fragrant whiffs of spicy buster-pinks, heliotrope and lemon-verbena wafted from the borders. Sometimes Mary, bubbling over with fun, would plan some prank to be played next day with Elizabeth's enthusiastic connivance. Mammy (the negro nurse) was suspicious of these moods in the children and would say "The debil been whisperin' 'round 'mong these chil'en." Then it was that she tasted her coffee with misgiving, expecting to find it salted or peppered. When summoned from the garden to supper, Mary and Elizabeth would have a rose tucked coquettishly over one ear, "for [Elizabeth wrote] Mary even as a child always loved to wear flowers in her hair. One spring morning, hearing the peep of a little turkey, Mary and 20 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN I flew out to the garden to find the little fellow. After hunting for some time we discovered the sound came from the honeysuckle vines which covered the latticed summer house at the end of the garden walk, the gen- tle little peep suddenly turned to the harsh note of the jay bird, and we saw the quick flicker of white in the wing of that masquerader, the mocking bird. The lit- tle rascal never tired of pretending to be some other feathered creature, now a field lark, now a cardinal, now the gentle peep of a little turkey. We had hunted half an hour for that little turkey." Another day, there was great excitement over the expanding of a bud of the night-blooming cereus. Mes- sengers were dispatched in every direction with notes inviting friends to witness the opening of this rare flower. It was said to bloom only once in a hundred years. The children, who for this occasion were al- lowed to remain out of bed until twelve o'clock, looked on in awed silence, while the delicate white petals slowly uncurled. Mary and Elizabeth were very studious. With in- tent little faces they pored over their books every night, one on each side of a study table, a candle flickering between them. Now and then one or the other would stop long enough to pinch off with the snuffers a piece of the charred wick for a steadier light. MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 21 "Mary [Elizabeth wrote afterwards] was far in advance over girls of her age in education; she had a retentive memory and a mind that enabled her to grasp and thoroughly understand the lesson she was required to learn. Ours was a hard task, but long before I was through mine she had finished hers and was plying her knitting needles. We were required to knit ten rounds of sock every evening." Mary was a pupil of the celebrated Mr. Ward, a man of unusual ability as an educator, also a regular martinet. His requirements and rules were very strict and woe to her who did not conform to the letter. Mary accepted the conditions cheerfully, even eagerly, and never came under his censure. Mr. Ward required his pupils to recite some of their lessons before breakfast. On bright summer mornings this was no hardship and Mary skipped blithely to her recitations, but she never murmured if conditions were not so pleasant, and when she had to get up out of her warm bed and dress by candle light, she and Elizabeth smiled and trudged sturdily through snow and sleet to school which was several city blocks from their home. Mary and Eliza- beth had many good times together despite the fact that children were allowed but few privileges. Sun- day school was a demure recreation, but looked forward to with pleasure as an opportunity to recite glibly, and 22 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN a little more accurately than some other child, the Shorter Catechism. Christmas was a time of great joy, and on Christmas day the children, who had sprung early out of bed to empty mother's long stockings, borrowed for the occa- sion to give Santa Claus more room in which to store their few and simple toys, were allowed to run around to their young friends in the neighborhood to wish "Happy Christmas" and "catch" them by screaming "Christmas gift" first out of excited lips. There was always church followed by a big Christmas dinner, a house full of company, and freedom from school tasks for a few days, so they were happy and satisfied. Elizabeth writes to Mrs. Ben Hardin Helm (Mary's sister) : "I love to think of the years I spent in your father's home. He was a man of unfailing courtesy and was remarkably kind to me. It was a charming home. Some very distinguished men came to Lexington in those days, and many of them were entertained at your father's home. Aunt was very delicate and I often wonder how she lived through some of those years. "Jane Sanders, a negro slave, was a treasure. She was brought up and trained by Aunt's mother. She was our stand-by, especially as some of the other slaves were very trifling. Old Chaney was a delightful cook but MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 23 very cross and ill-tempered. Nelson, next to Jane in dependability, serving very well in the dining room. He did the marketing and was a good financier as he managed to save enough out of the market money to buy himself a horse. Sally was a jewel of a black mammy. She alternately spoiled and scolded the children, but they loved her and never rebelled against her author- ity. Dear Old Mammy Sally was very pious and loved to go to the 'white folks' church and sit in the gallery reserved for negroes, she took turn about in church- going with Judy (a young assistant nurse owned by Mrs. Todd's mother) though the latter had decidedly the advantage in that regard, as Mammy would never trust a sick child or very young baby to Judy — Judy, who was so good, and reliable, and versatile that all of us called on her for everything — but Mammy was very zealous and no less jealous in her care of 'my chil'en' as she called the little Todds. "Mammy never seemed to come home from church in a very good humor and always chided Judy for some fancied neglect of the children. We also came in for our share of the scolding. Such occasions af- forded Mammy a fine opportunity to preach the gospel to us with impassioned oratory and great dramatic effect, and our youthful escapades called down upon our devoted heads such dire punishments in the future 24 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN that we shivered with half-believing fear and stopped our ears with our fingers. Mary was so fascinated with Mammy's description of his Satanic majesty that she made her repeat it time and time again, although we knew it by heart. We realized, of course, that Mammy mixed th O X •-co S^ O '5a t/5 O SI ►l -* -a 2 ^ c 2 j. -> o £ a > G u o G £ o o MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 117 firmed in the Episcopal church at the time of her mar- riage to Ninian Edwards, who was an Episcopalian. Mary, having formed her church affiliations which were the same as those of her sister, continued to attend service in the Episcopal church until after the death of her little son, Edward Baker, February 20, 1850. At that time, to quote a letter from Mary's cousin John Todd Stuart to the Reverend J. A. Reed : "Dr. Smith, then pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, at the suggestion of a lady friend of theirs, called upon Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln and that first visit re- sulted in great intimacy and friendship between them, last- ing until the death of Mr. Lincoln and continuing with Mrs. Lincoln until the death of Dr. Smith. ... I stated however that it was certainly true that up to that time Mr. Lincoln had never regularly attended any place of religious worship, but that after that he rented a pew in the First Presbyterian Church, and that his family constantly at- tended the worship in that church until he went to Washing- ton as President. This much I said at that time and can now add that the Hon. Ninian Edwards, the brother-in-law of Mr. Lincoln, had within a few days informed me that when Mr. Lincoln commenced attending the Presbyterian Church, he admitted to him that his views had undergone the change claimed by Dr. Smith. I would further say that Dr. Smith was a man of very great ability and that on theo- logical and metaphysical subjects, had few superiors and not many equals. Truthfulness was a prominent trait in n8 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN Mr. Lincoln's character and it would be impossible for any intimate friend of his to believe that he ever aimed to de- ceive either by his words or conduct. "Yours truly, John T. Stuart." Mary kept up her French. Mr. Rankin says, in Personal Recollections of Lincoln, that in 1856, while sorting over magazines and pamphlets in Lincoln and Herndon's office, he came across in the Southern Liter- ary Messenger a letter from their Paris correspondent giving a full translation of Victor Hugo's address on Capital Punishment. Knowing Mrs. Lincoln's fond- ness for French literature, he called at the Lincoln home with the magazine that she might read it. The address was Victor Hugo's defense of his son. The translation did not entirely satisfy Mrs. Lincoln and she insisted that a copy of the speech in French should be sent for. She thought some of the fire and feeling might have been lost in the English translation. As soon as the French copy came Mr. Rankin took it to her together with the translation of the Paris corre- spondent that he might follow the thought, while she read aloud the speech as delivered in French. "She read with such sympathy that instead of follow- ing the English translation, I could only sit entranced by the force and effect of her tones as she translated or MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 119 at times read Hugo's inspiring oration in his native lan- guage. She was an excellent reader and her sympathy with French was perfect." This incident occurred fourteen years after her marriage. She did not neglect her social duties — pleasures would be a more descrip- tive word, — for she loved parties. Amid brilliant lights, colorful costumes, flowers, music, and dancing, laughter and gay witty speech, she was in her element, charmed and charming. She sympathized warmly with Mr. Lincoln in his fondness for the theater, and they rarely missed a good company playing in Springfield. Her schoolmate Miss Bodley (afterwards Mrs. Owsley), who was with her for four years at Madame Mentelle's, says: "Mary took a great interest in school theatricals and always took a prominent part in them." "That reminds me of my first thought when I heard that Mary had married a poor young lawyer in Spring- field. Of course we girls at Madame Mentelle's used to discuss our future husbands, laying down the law pretty explicitly as to what they would have to be and what we should expect of them. Mary Todd stipulated that her choice should be willing and able to let her see as much of the theater as she wanted, and beyond that she did not expect to be too particular. So when I heard she had chosen a struggling young lawyer (the plainest looking man in Springfield, her sister wrote 120 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN me), I wondered how she was going to manage about the theater-going." While Mary was courageous and daring about most things, a thunderstorm was terrifying to her. Mr. Lincoln, knowing this, at the first muttering of thunder would leave his law office and hurry home to quiet her fears and comfort her until the storm was over. Emilie Todd, Mary's sister, was now married to Ben Hardin Helm (son of Governor Helm of Kentucky), and Mary kept up a desultory correspondence with her. Mary was eighteen years older than Emilie, so in these letters she dwells on the gossip of the younger set, the parties and balls, the beaux and belles, the news that she thinks will be of greatest interest to her young sister, interspersed with family gossip and politics always interesting to Kentucky women from the cradle to the grave. These letters are not dated except in respect to the day of the month, but they probably came in the order named and were written in 1856 and 1857. "Springfield, February 16. "Think not, dear Emilie, altho' weeks have passed since your welcome letter was received that you had been for- gotten or that I have not daily proposed writing you, yet something has always occurred to oppose my good resolu- tions. This winter has certainly passed most rapidly. MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 121 Spring, if we can call the month of March such, is nearly here. The first part of the winter was unusually quiet owing to so much sickness among children. With scarlet fever in several families some two or three children were swept away. "Within the last three weeks there has been a party almost every night and some two or three grand fetes are coming off this week. I may perhaps surprise you when I mention that I am recovering from the slight fatigue of a very large and I really believe a very handsome enter- tainment, at least our friends flatter us by saying so. About five hundred were invited, yet owing to an unlucky rain three hundred only favored us by their presence and the same evening in Jacksonville, Colonel Warren gave a bridal party to his son who married Miss Birchall of this place which occasion robbed us of some of our friends. You will think we have enlarged our borders since you were here. Three evenings since, Governor Bissell gave a very large party, I thought of you frequently that evening when I saw so many of your acquaintances beautifully dressed and dancing away very happily and as enquiries were made about you during the evening by both beaux and belles you could not fail to be remembered. I wish you would write me more frequently and tell me all about yourself. You have so much leisure and such a literary husband that you will become a regular blue. Your old laugh will soften the solemnity of such a character and the old Emilie of former times will show herself. Miss Dunlap is spending 122 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN the winter with her sister Mrs. Mc looking very pretty but the beaux do not appear so numerous as the winter you passed here. Within the last two or three weeks I have often wished that Dedee x was here, yet the first part of the winter was so quiet that I feared she would not have en- joyed herself. I hope another winter both Kitty 2 and Dedee will come out and we will endeavor to make it as pleasant as possible for them. "Dr. and Mrs. Brown also Mr. Dwight Brown and his wife, are residing here. The former has charge of the First Church, whether the arrangement will suit all around remains to be proven. I must hasten to conclude as I am interrupted by company. Hoping to be remembered to your husband, I remain Yours truly, Mary Lincoln." "Springfield, September 20. "My dear Emilie: "So long a time has passed since your last letter that I scarcely know how to ask you to excuse my silence . . . I only pray you to return good for evil and let me hear from you more frequently. Do write me all the news, I feel anxious to hear from you. The summer has so strangely and rapidly passed away. Some portion of it was spent most pleasantly in traveling East. We visited Niagara, 1 Elodie Todd, younger sister. 2 Katherine Bodley Todd, youngest of the Todd sisters. ATS/ y— tfystr-i*/ ^i^c^~€^ &--c^c<- trz&4<^ _ Facsimile of Letter to Her Sister '&*<>■ /ou LAP/ ■U^^A.yffi , J*^J*<-*~* -L^^C a,4*^.£ZT S C*^C^*u^ *Cti£ B&t ^ < ^z^- ^ /£*/ aZZZ rt^t^. *— y> er-a jo£ £***-# &&& Facsimile of Letter to Her Sister MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 123 Canada, New York and other points of interest. When I saw the large steamers at the New York landings I felt in my heart inclined to sigh that poverty was my portion. How I long to go to Europe I often laugh and tell Mr. Lincoln that I am determined my next husband shall be rich. u You can scarcely imagine a place improving more rapidly than ours. Almost palaces of homes have been reared since you were here, hundreds of houses have been going up this season and some of them very elegant. Gov- ernor Matteson's house is just being completed, the whole place has cost him, he says, $100,000. but he is now worth a million. I saw Elizabeth 1 this afternoon. Julia and Mr. Baker 2 are in Peoria at the fair, from thence go to St. Louis. At the County fair here last week Julia's last quilt (which makes her third one) is a very handsome silk one, took the premium. She trusts for the like fate at Peoria and St. Louis. She has nothing but her dear hus- band and silk quilts to occupy her time. How different the daily routine of some of our lives. It is getting very late dear Emilie and I must close my little billet. Shall I apolo- gize for this scrawl? I know I ought to be ashamed of it. When you read this sit down and like a good little sister write me a good long letter all about yourself. Mr. Lincoln is not at home. This makes the third week he has been in Chicago. "Yours affectionately, Mary L." 1 Her sister Mrs. Ninian Edwards. 2 Mrs. Edwards' daughter and son-in-law. 124 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN "Springfield, November 23. With much pleasure, my dear Emilie, I acknowledge the receipt of one of your ever acceptable letters, and notwith- standing many weeks have passed since writing you, I have frequently intended doing so and you have been often in my thoughts. Mr. Edwards 1 expressed great pleasure at meeting you last summer. You know you have a very warm place in his heart. You have been such a wanderer around with your good husband and a letter might have failed to reach you. I must try to devise some excuses for my past silence, forgetfulness you know it could not be. Besides there is a great deal in getting out of the habit of letter writing; once I was very fond of it. Nothing pleases me better than to receive a letter from an absent friend, so remember dear Emilie, when you desire to be particularly acceptable, write me one of your agreeable missives and do not wait for a return of each from a staid matron and moreover the mother of three noisy boys. Your husband like some of the rest of ours has a great taste for politics and has taken much interest in the late contest which has resulted very much as I expected, not hoped, although Mr. Lincoln is or was a Fremont man, you must not include him with so many of those who belong to that party, an Abolitionist. In principle he is far from it, all he desires is that slavery shall not be extended, let it remain where it is. My weak woman's heart was too Southern in feeling to sympathize with any but Filmore. I have always been 1 Ninian Edwards, brother-in-law. MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 125 his great admirer; he made so good a President and is so just a man and feels the necessity of keeping the foreigners within bounds. If some of you Kentuckians had to deal with the "Wild Irish" as we housekeepers are some times called upon to do, the South would certainly elect Mr. Filmore next time. The Democrats in our State have been defeated in their Governor so there is a crumb of comfort for each and all. What day is so dark that there is no ray of sunshine to penetrate the gloom? Speaking of politics, Governors, etc., reminds me of your questions rela- tive to Lydia M. The hour of her patient lover's deliver- ance is at hand, they are to be married privately I expect. Some of us who had a handsome dress for the season thought it would be in good taste for Mrs. Matteson in consideration of their being about to leave their present habitation to give a general reception. Lydia has always been so retiring that she would be very averse to a public display. This fall in visiting Mrs. M. I met a sister of Mrs. McGinnis, a very pretty well bred woman from Joliet, she spoke of having met Margaret Kellogg * in Ken- tucky. Frances Wallace 2 returned two or three days ago from her visit to Pennsylvania where she has been spending the fall. Mr. Edwards' family are well. Mr. Baker and Julia 3 are still with them. Miss lies was married some three weeks since (I expect you do not remember her) which gave rise to some two or three parties. Mr. Scott is fre- 1 Margaret Todd Kellogg, sister of Mrs. Lincoln. 2 Frances Todd, another sister. 8 Julia Edwards Baker, daughter of Ninian Edwards. 126 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN quently here rather playing the devoted to Julia. 1 I suspect, whether anything serious I do not know, the family would not be averse to him. Charley R. was on a visit to him in Lexington. He, it is said, is to be married this winter to Jennie Barrett, a lovely girl, you remember her. "I am sorry to hear that dear mother is frequently indis- posed. I hope she has recovered from her lameness. Tell her when you see her that our old acquaintance Mr. took tea with us an evening or two since and made par- ticular enquiries about her. Still as rough and uncultivated as ever although some years since married an accomplished Georgia belle with the advantages of some winters in Washington. Mother and I when last together spoke of our Minister, Mr. Smith, who finding his salary of some $1600 inadequate has resigned the Church. Uncle and some few others are desirous of getting Dr. Brown your former pastor in Lexington. Within the last year both he and his wife have been a great deal here. He has purchased land and appears rather identified with the Country. "But I am speaking of things that will not interest you in the least. If you do not bring yourself and your husband to see us very soon we will think you are not as proud of him as rumor says you should be. Do write soon in return for this long and I fear dull letter from yours truly, Mary Lincoln." In 1857 Ben Hardin Helm (Mary Lincoln's brother- in-law) had occasion to go to Springfield to argue a 1 Do not know what Julia she refers to, but not a member of her family. MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 127 law case. He promptly called on the Lincolns with many messages from "Little Sister." Mary, with warm cordiality, held out both hands to him, and turning impulsively to Mr. Lincoln, said, "So this tall young Kentuckian is Little Sister's husband; he shall have a double welcome as a Kentuckian and as a brother." "And also as the grandson of the Kitchen Knife Whetted on a Brick," added Mr. Lincoln. "Well," said Mary to Helm, "in spite of the fact that the speech in Congress which fastened that soubriquet on your grandfather, Mr. Ben Hardin, was made against our political idol, Mr. Clay, I have always had a sincere admiration for your grandfather's ability to cut roughly but cut deep." Mr. Lincoln quietly slipped out of the room and sent to the hotel for Helm's luggage, insisting that he must make their house his home while in Springfield. Helm spent a delightful week with them and he and his brother-in-law formed a friendship which was more like the affection of brothers than the ordinary liking of men. Lincoln and his young brother-in-law had much of mutual interest to talk about. Lincoln's father (Thomas Lincoln) had settled in Elizabethtown, Hardin county, Kentucky, and there had plied his trade of cabinet-maker and carpenter before he bought his farm near Hodgenville, about ten miles from Eliza- 128 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN bethtown, where Lincoln was born. Helm's father owned a large body of land one mile from Elizabeth- town. While Helm was twenty-three years younger than Lincoln, he had all of the traditions of Hardin county at his finger tips and could answer Lincoln's interested questions. Lincoln, Helm, and Mary animatedly discussed the political situation. Both Helm and Mary came of slave-owning people who personally had never seen cruelty practiced, who both had been nursed by loving black mammies whose word was law and must be obeyed implicitly by the children under her charge. Helm feared the freeing of the slaves would ruin the South. Mary agreed with her husband that the institu- tion of slavery was a blot on the country. Neither at that time dreamed of sudden emancipation. Lincoln and Helm realized and deeply deplored the bitter- ness and hatred growing up between the two sections of the country. While Lincoln was a Republican and Helm a Southern-rights Democrat, they were thought- ful, conservative men; both were born in the same State, within a few miles of each other; both had a full understanding of the conditions and prejudices of the Southern people. Lincoln declared, "They are just what we would be in their situation. If slavery did not exist among them, MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 129 they would not introduce it. If it did now exist among us, we should not instantly give it up. I surely will not blame them for not doing what I should not know how to do myself. If all earthly power were given me, I should not know what to do as to the existing insti- tution. My first impulse would be to free all the slaves and send them to Liberia to their own native land. But a moment's reflection would convince me that ... its sudden execution is impossible, etc." "I regret as you do," said Helm to Lincoln, "that the importation of slaves into the South was ever allowed but we must realize that under the guarantees of the Constitution an immense amount of wealth in the Southern States has been wrapt up in slaves, indeed, slaves must constitute nearly half of all the property owned in the South." "But," cried Mary, "this rich government would compensate the owners for their slaves and in time send the negroes back to their native land." "No," said Helm, "the Northern Abolitionists will never consent to that plan. They have already declared it would be a disgrace to the nation to pay for emancipated slaves. The South bought the slaves in good faith," — he laughed, "most people have a fancy for holding on to their property even," he added gravely, "if much trouble comes of it." Lincoln reminded Helm that the Abolitionists were 130 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN a comparatively small body of extremists and so did not represent Northern opinion. He believed that compensated emancipation would be accepted at least by the Border States. "Never by the Cotton States," cried Helm, who had traveled among them. "They insist upon their Constitutional rights and indepen- dence of Federal power where they are concerned." Helm and Mr. Lincoln were very congenial; though differing in politics, their ideas of law, philosophy, and serious aims in life brought them very close together. Mary and Mr. Lincoln treated their young brother-in- law with so much kindness and affection and considera- tion that he felt they had indeed accepted him as a brother. And for Mary, who had taken him so warm- heartedly into her home and heart on his own account, as well as Emilie's, he had nothing but praise. It was a visit that he constantly recalled to his wife with the greatest pleasure. Mrs. Lincoln was his ideal of a hostess, and Mr. Lincoln an earnest, high-minded statesman. Helm often spoke of Mr. Lincoln's seri- ousness, saying that in their talks together he had not told a single anecdote or joke such as he was credited with uttering on almost every occasion. CHAPTER VII WASHINGTON LOOMS AT THE end of his single term in Congress in 1849, * ^ Abraham Lincoln retired permanently, as he thought, from politics; for five years thereafter he de- voted his time and talents to the practice of law. He and Mary during this time read and studied much together. They were both fully abreast of the times in the world of politics. Newspapers and edi- torials were alive and exciting. The repeal of the Missouri Compromise in May, 1854, P ut through by the Democrats under the leadership of Lincoln's in- veterate political rival Stephen A. Douglas, stirred Lincoln and Mary to the very core, and Lincoln was spurred into immediate action. He returned to polit- ical life and helped to form the Republican party. The old Whig party, which had avoided making an issue of the slavery question, now gave a last expiring gasp and the former Whigs in the North united with those Democrats and Free Soilers having anti-slavery principles. Many of them were not Abolitionists. They were united on the firm platform that slavery should not be extended. Hot heads now, both North and South, were threat- 131 132 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN ening the country with disunion. There was no epithet too insulting for the North to fling at the South, and the South flamed with answering vituperation of the North; each section inflaming the passions of the other day by day with more bitter hatred. The founders of the Republic and the Holy Scriptures were appealed to by ardent partisans on both sides of the question. The press, politicians, authors, ministers of the gospel, all played their part. To quote a few: The Boston Liberator, January 11, 1855, contained this statement: "Mr. Giddings 1 says truly that the dis- solution of the Union has long been held up as a scare- crow by the South ; but when he adds that the friends of liberty have never demanded it, his statement is un- true unless he means to confine it to his political associ- ates who are but compromisers at best. We demand nothing short of a dissolution, absolute and immedi- ate. ... At the twenty-third annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, which convened at Boston on the 24th of January, 1856, it was "Resolved, that the one great issue before the country is the dissolution of the Union in comparison with which all other issues with the slave power are as dust in the balance. Therefore, we will give ourselves to the work of annulling this covenant with death, as 1 Joshua R. Giddings of Ohio. Seal Owned and U:ed by Mrs. Alexander Humphreys, Mary Todd's Stepgrandmother The handle is amethyst, the wheel gold, containing six seals — congratula- tion, greeting, farewell, condolence, friendship neglected, and monogram Home of Robert S. Todd on Main Street, Lexington, Kentucky Long since given up to commercial uses, it has fallen sadly from its once desirable estate. At the left of the house there was a conservatory opening from the library into a large formal flower garden covering the entire block. There for eight years of Mary Todd's life she played and studied and gathered roses to tuck coquettishly in her chestnut curls Mrs. Ninian Edwards Mary Todd's sister Elizabeth, at whose home in Springfield, Illinois, she was married to Abraham Lincoln; from the same home she was borne to her last resting-place by the side of her husband MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 133 essential to our own innocency and the speedy and ever- lasting overthrow of the slave system." Wendell Philips, on that occasion, spoke in favor of disunion: "I entirely accord with the sentiment of the last resolution. I think all we have to do is to pre- pare the public mind by the daily and hourly presenta- tion of the doctrine of disunion." On the Fourth of July, 1856, at a mass meeting held at Farmington, Massachusetts, several disunion speeches were made. William Lloyd Garrison said, "Let us then to-day, rejecting as wild and chimerical all suggestions and contrivances and propositions for restraining slavery in its present limits, while extend- ing protection to it in fifteen of the thirty-one States, register our pledge anew before Heaven and the World that we will do what in us lies to effect the eternal overthrow of this blood-stained Union, that our en- slaved countrymen may find a sure deliverance, and we may no longer be answerable for their blood." J. B. Swansey then addressed the meeting and wound up his speech by saying, "I believe that the duty of every true man is now to take the ground of secession." Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune and as such, one of the leaders of the disunion party in the North, said, "The Union is not worth supporting in connection with the South." i 3 4 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN N. P. Banks, governor of Massachusetts, said, "I am willing in a certain state of circumstances to let the Union slide." Rufus Spaulding declared, "In the case of the alter- native being presented, of the continuance of slavery or a dissolution of the Union, I am for dissolution and I care not how soon it comes." A leading Republican newspaper during the cam- paign of 1856 when John C. Fremont was the standard bearer, of the new party, bore the motto in headlines, "No Union with slave holders! The United States Constitution is a covenant with death and an agreement with Hell!" Joshua R. Giddings, member of Congress, said: "I look forward to the day when there shall be a servile insurrection in the South; when the black man armed with British bayonets and led by British officers shall assert his freedom, and wage a war of extermination against his master. When the torch of the incendiary shall light up the towns and cities of the South and blot out the last vestige of slavery. And though I may not laugh at their calamity, nor mock when their fear cometh, yet, I shall hail it as the dawn of a political millennium." And while hatred flourished in the North and it was no better in the South, the South asserted, "Garrison MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 135 and Phillips are undoubtedly right, and as honest as they are right when they pronounce the Constitution 'pro-slavery' ; it is pro-slavery and, therefore, they curse it, and curse the Union of which it is the bond." The South claimed that the North, after finding slave labor unsuited to the Northern climate, had dis- posed of her slaves to the South, instead of freeing them ; that now, no longer burdened with slaves, North- erners had a suddenly awakened conscience as to the iniquity of the slave-owning tyrants to whom they had sold their slaves, and whose money they were jingling in their pockets from their profitable trade. The South claimed that the North feared that by the extension of slavery into newly admitted territory the South would have a preponderance of votes in Congress and the Senate, and therefore the balance of power in the Union. The Northern fanatics quoted the Bible in support of their arguments against slavery. The Southern fan- atics found just as many passages in the Bible to justify them in the possession of slaves. There were, how- ever, conservative men on both sides who were willing and anxious to make compromises to save the Union intact. Horatio Seymour, of New York, said : "When our fathers, on common battlefields were struggling for 136 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN common rights, slavery existed in all our colonies; there was no exception ; it was on every rood of ground. We had no difficulty on account of slavery, then, in achiev- ing our independence, but since then slavery has been abolished over more than one-half of this land of ours. It is now in comparatively contracted limits, and now we hear that it must lead to alienation, or the disrup- tion of this great confederacy. I fear we of the North are unjust, and not altogether courageous, in our treat- ment of our brethren of the South. How came slavery in these United States? Who brought the Negro from Africa? The South never had ships. The men of New York, where I came from, the men of Massa- chusetts and the men of Rhode Island were those who stole them from their homes and brought them over to the shambles here. . . . "When the Constitution of the United States was formed and when the delegates from the different States met in convention, the question of slavery was there and it was asked when shall the slave trade be put an end to? Georgia said, Now. Virginia said, Now. South Carolina said, Not yet. Connecticut, Not yet, Rhode Island, Not yet, Massachusetts, Not yet, New Hampshire said, Not yet, the slave trade is profitable. If you will read Minor's History of Massachusetts you will learn that the great business of New England was MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 137 at one time the manufacture of rum, pure rum, and when they made rum, they took it to the coast of Africa and exchanged it for slaves. The slavers landed their cargoes on some unfrequented shores of the Southern coast, and forthwith the entire South was charged with complicity in the slave trade." Lincoln was called half-hearted in the North because he persisted in his belief in the rights of the Slave States guaranteed by the Constitution. His principal aim in life now was to save the Union if he could. "If I could save the Union by emancipating all the slaves, I would do so; if I could save it by emancipating none of them, I would do it; if I could save it by emancipat- ing some and not others, I would do that too." Few men were as single in purpose and as unswerving as Lincoln to effect the preservation of the Union. In 1857 the Republican party had, shortly after the inauguration of President Buchanan, received a stag- gering blow from a totally unexpected quarter when it was decided by Chief Justice Taney and a majority of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States that the exclusion of slavery from any part of the terri- tories was unconstitutional, and in the Dred Scott case the Chief Justice and his associates decided that the negro, Dred Scott, was not a citizen and also not free, because the Missouri Compromise had always been 138 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN void and unconstitutional. Chief Justice Taney de- clared that the makers of the Constitution and the authors of the Declaration of Independence had not meant the negro when they used the words "man," "persons," "citizens." (In several states at that time, free negroes were exercising the right to vote.) While this opinion, coming as it did from the highest tribunal in the land, confirmed the South in the legality of their policy of slave-holding, it raised an angry storm of pro- test in the North. To be assured by the Supreme Court of the United States that the platform of the Republi- can party was unconstitutional, filled them with furious indignation. The Republicans were embarrassed and deeply depressed. The South jubilant that States' Rights had been vin- dicated. The South had always feared a centralization of government in the North as being sectional, and last, but not least, property (slave or otherwise) owned under the guarantees of the Constitution could not legally be taken away without compensation and the consent of the owner. Mr. Lincoln, thoughtful and conservative, declared, "And no matter what our grievance, even though Kansas shall come in as a Slave State; and no matter what theirs, even if we shall restore the Compromise we will say to the Southern disunionists, we won't go MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 139 out of the Union and you shan't." This "you shan't" the hot headed Southerners took to be a challenge. Calmer Southerners, who were for preserving the Union by some sort of compromise, were insulted and called Abolitionists. The storm of protest raised in the North by this decision of the Supreme Court caused Judge Douglas to hasten to Illinois to calm his con- stituents. Douglas was handsome, an orator, and had great personal magnetism; he was already a brilliant success and his party thought of him as good timber for President of the United States, at no distant time. "What," exclaimed Douglas, "oppose the Supreme Court! Is it not sacred? To resist it is anarchy." Mr. Lincoln answered this speech of Douglas with such forcible arguments against the decision of the Judges in the Dred Scott case that he appealed to the common sense and fairness of his audiences and won the praise of even the most radical leaders in the Republican party. Lincoln was growing more and more popular with his party. In 1858 he and Douglas were opposing candidates for United States senator from Illinois and, as Douglas was rather evading the question of slavery which was uppermost in Lincoln's mind, he challenged Douglas to a series of joint debates in which he pro- posed to make Douglas come out in the open and de- HO MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN clare his real sentiments. Those debates are now famous in history. Mary Lincoln urged her husband to pit his strength against Douglas, and when Lincoln was rather de- spondent and felt that the race of ambition had been a failure — a flat failure for him, and a splendid success for Douglas — Mary said with spirit, her head thrown back and her eyes shining with pride, "Mr. Douglas is a very little, little giant by the side of my tall Kentuck- ian, and intellectually my husband towers above Douglas just as he does physically." Mary's faith in her husband encouraged him and gave him more con- fidence in his own strength; for Mary had a wonderful and peculiar influence over this great man, and his confidence in her judgment was seldom at fault. Mary was filled with indignation when anyone presumed to say her husband was an Abolitionist, especially after Lincoln himself had repudiated such an idea. She read and applauded all of Lincoln's speeches in this debate. "How foolish," she cried, "for Douglas to think that because you demand justice for the negro you are in favor of abolition or that you would ever, in any event, countenance social equality with a race so far inferior to your own. He is insolent," she cried. "There are many free negroes in the South and no thought in the minds of whites or blacks of social equal- MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 141 ity. Indeed," she laughed, "you should see the scorn with which our servants speak of 'f ree niggers.' They call themselves 'niggers'," she said, "but mother would have punished any one of us for using that term." Mary laughed as she quoted her stepmother: " 'A mode of speaking of the negro at once scornful and inelegant.' Social equality, indeed!" she laughed. "There is a natural disgust in the minds of nearly all white people at the idea of an indiscriminate amalga- mation of the white and black men," said Mr. Lincoln. And in their political discussions he did not think it must necessarily follow that in the event of emancipa- tion, the negro must have full and equal political rights with white men. During the debates, the progress of Mr. Douglas was like the triumphal procession of a conquering hero. His special train of cars with flags flying, his band of music, his bodyguard of devoted friends — he even had a cannon to boom announcement of his approach to a town where he was scheduled to speak. Mr. Douglas was accompanied throughout this campaign by his wife, a brilliant, beautiful woman. It is said that Douglas spent no less than $50,000 in this canvass. Mr. Lincoln, who thought that he had been extravagant to spend five hundred dollars, trav- eled modestly, sometimes even on a caboose or freight H2 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN train, but as he hated "fireworks, fizzle gigs," this mode of travel suited him better. Mrs. Lincoln stayed quietly at home and kept the home fires burning, trained her children, and read accounts of the speeches in the papers. In the Freeport debate, Mr. Lincoln, against the advice of his friends, asked Mr. Douglas, "Can the people of a United States territory in any lawful way, against the wish of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery from its limits prior to the formation of a State constitution?" Douglas answered, "It mat- ters not which way the Supreme Court may hereafter decide as to the abstract question whether slavery may or may not go into a territory under the Constitution, the people have the lawful means to introduce it or ex- clude it as they please, for the reason that slavery can- not exist a day or an hour anywhere unless it is sup- ported by local police regulations. Those police regu- lations can only be established by the local legislature, and if the people are opposed to slavery, they will elect representatives to that body who will, by unfriendly legislation, effectually prevent the introduction of it in their midst. If on the contrary they are for it, their legislature will favor its extension." Douglas thought he had by this answer satisfied all parties, and the Democrats congratulated him on his MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 143 cleverness. But Lincoln, an astute politician, smiled and waited for the Southern press. The verdict came with no uncertain sound: Douglas was a traitor; he had repudiated the verdict of the Supreme Court. Douglas was now an impossible candidate, in the South, for the Presidency in i860, although he had won the Sena- torship. Mr. Lincoln came home one evening looking rather disturbed. In reply to Mary's "What is worrying you?" (for she was quick to note his moods), he told her he had just had a conversation with his friend Mr. Fell, who wished him to be a candidate for Presi- dent of the United States. Mary's little crooked smile deepened into a dimple. "Is that anything to worry about?" she asked. "What is the use of talking of me for the Presidency?" said Mr. Lincoln impatiently, "Whilst we have such men as Seward, Chase, and others, who are so much better known to the people, and whose names are so intimately associated with the principles of the Republican party. Everybody knows them ; nobody scarcely, outside of Illinois, knows me." "They soon will," said Mary. Her husband smiled at her persistence. "Besides," he continued, "is it not, as a matter of justice, due to such men, who have carried this move- ment forward to its present status, in spite of fearful 144 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN opposition, personal abuse, and hard names? I really think so." "Oh," smiled Mary, "if abuse is all that is needed to earn the Presidency I think you have earned part of the price already." Mr. Lincoln was amused — what an ambitious little wife he had! — but he shook his head, there was no chance. Why force himself? But Mary's inherited instinct from her Indian-fighting ancestors was fired at the prospect of battle, and battle was chance. Why not take the chance? There was everything to gain and nothing to lose. "I admit," said her husband, "that I am ambitious and would like to be President, but there is no such good luck in store for me as the Presi- dency of these United States." "Oh," cried Mary, "how you underrate yourself! But," — with a knowing little smile, she added — "you are the only person in the world who does. You often quote Burns. 'Oh wad some power the giftie gie you to see yourseP as ithers see you,' " she paraphrased. Mr. Lincoln persisted in his modest estimate of him- self. "I must in all candor say I do not think myself fit for the Presidency." Mary laughed at him for thinking himself "not fit." "YouVe no equal in the United States," she declared. She really thought he had no equal in the world. MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 145 Politics became more engrossing to Mr. Lincoln, and more and more in Mary's heart grew the tri- umphant conviction of his strength. On February 27, i860, Mr. Lincoln made the famous Cooper Insti- tute speech in New York that electrified his party. Two months later, in April, at Springfield, it was "Resolved" by his fellow citizens that "Abraham Lin- coln is our first choice for President of the United States. * * * We deem ourselves honored to be per- mitted to testify our personal knowledge in everyday life as friend and neighbors of his inestimable worth as a private citizen, his faithful and able discharge of every public trust committed to his care, and the ex- traordinary gifts and brilliant attainments which have not only made his name a household word in the Prairie State but also made him the proud peer of the ablest jurists, the wisest statesman, and the most eloquent ora- tor in the Union." Letters now came in a steady stream, some from totally unexpected quarters. Mary with quickened pulses realized what it meant. "Fit or not," she ex- claimed, "you are in the field." Then with lowered voice solemn with prophecy, she declared, "You will be President of the United States." Her husband smilingly shook his head ; of course, he did not attach any importance to this prophecy, which was the expres- 146 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN sion of Mary's unbounded love and ambition for him, and yet, it was strange how often Mary could see far into the political future — strange and unexpected things did happen — perhaps Mr. Lincoln was passively ambitious; Mary, keen for battle on the front line, feared no defeat in this conflict, had no thought that her man might, even with flying colors, go down in defeat. The State Convention met at Decatur, May 9 and 10, i860, and with wild enthusiasm unanimously declared for Lincoln as President. On May 16, the Republican Convention was formally opened in Chicago. When Mr. Norman B. Judd, of Illinois, nominated Lincoln, there was a great demonstration, the crowd cheered and clapped, the women waved handkerchiefs and flags. A moment later the seconding of William H. Seward's nomination was the signal for a still greater demon- stration. But when Caleb Smith, of Indiana, seconded the nomination of Lincoln such pandemonium was let loose as made the preceding noise seem a gentle murmur in comparison. In the first lull, Mary Lincoln's cousin, Stephen T. Logan, hoarse with screaming and beside himself with excitement, called out, "Mr. President, in order or out of order, I propose this convention and MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 147 audience give three cheers for the man who is evi- dently their nominee." The balloting was another strain. Illinois men thought they had a hundred votes ; counting, they found they had 102. Pennsylvania had fifty and one-half votes; Chase, forty-nine; Greeley's men, forty-eight; McLean, Pennsylvania's second choice, twelve. It was for Pennsylvania to say whether Seward was to be de- feated. The Pennsylvania delegation moved that on the second ballot Pennsylvania's vote be cast solidly for Lincoln. When Pennsylvania's name was called amid a profound silence, the multitude in the Wigwam heard the answer, "Pennsylvania casts her fifty-two votes for Abraham Lincoln." The third ballot Lincoln was dis- tancing Seward — only two and a half more votes and Lincoln would have the nomination; there was an in- stant of breathless silence, and the chairman of the Ohio delegation, springing upon his chair cried, "I rise to change four votes from Mr. Chase to Mr. Lincoln." The scene which followed baffles description. Men wept and sobbed on each other's shoulders, they threw hats, handkerchiefs, and canes in the air. It seemed as though they could not cease their expressions of joy; the tension had been so great and had lasted so long that these outbursts gave relief to pent up anxiety. Mr. Lincoln and Mary all this time were in Spring- 148 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN field. They were feeling the tension and strain even more than their political friends in Chicago. Mr. Lincoln was restless and spent the weary waiting of this week drifting between the telegraph office and home, for Mary was anxious for every scrap of news. Mr. Lincoln was not as hopeful of the result as Mary. "Well," he said wearily, "I guess I'll go back to prac- ticing law." "Why, of course," said Mary soothingly, "President Lincoln will return to Springfield and his law office in a few years, but he and Mrs. President are going to travel a little bit before they settle down to a quiet, humdrum life." How often they had talked and would still talk of their belated honeymoon trip! Friday morning both Mr. Lincoln and Mary had dark rings of fatigue and sleeplessness under their eyes, the suspense was almost unbearable, even their voices were strained and sounded unnatural as they tried to speak calmly and reassuringly to each other. Mr. Lincoln went to his office, but soon joined the excited throng around the telegraph office. His nomination came over the wire, then the balloting. The strain was too great, he would not wait. Remembering a commission Mary had given him that morning, he started across the square and was standing in the door of the shop when a shout went up from the group in front of the tele- graph office. MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 149 "Lincoln is nominated!" He was surrounded in an instant by an exultant crowd of half-hysterical friends bent on shaking his hand and shouting congratulations. The happy excite- ment of his friends was instantly reflected in Mr. Lin- coln's beaming countenance, but realizing in a moment what it all meant, his face became very grave and thoughtful. He knew how serious was the crisis through which the country was passing and how great a responsibility the next President would have to assume. "My friends," he said, "I am glad to receive your congratulations, and as there is a little woman on Eighth Street who will be glad to hear the news, you must excuse me until I inform her." He turned to Mary first for encouragement and for the triumphant love he knew he would find in her eyes. It does not take a very vivid imagination to picture their meeting: Lincoln proud of his wife and that he had realized her faith in his star, and Mary, her heart singing with joy over the honor that had come to her man — the father of her four sons, — her heart nearly bursting with the pride she felt in him. There was not much sleep in Springfield that night for anyone, particularly Mary. The shouting and sing- ing of campaign songs was sweet music, and the glow- 150 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN ing, flaming bonfires and parades a beautiful sight, thrilling every nerve with exultation over the triumph of her loved one. Mary was not the only one exultant and happy. Her cousin Judge Stephen T. Logan, a grave and staid judge at all other times, had gone wild with excitement at Chicago, where he had headed the Convention. He had gone clad in the finest suit he had ever worn and "crowned with a tall new shiny silk hat." When he came back this suit, which he had not taken off since he left Springfield, was wrinkled and dusty and he was wearing a little Scotch cap — the tall silk hat having been beaten into a shapeless wreck over the shoulders of his happy fellow citizens. (From Rankin's History.) CHAPTER VIII INTO THE MISTS TpROM Friday, May 18, i860, when Mr. Lincoln ■**" was nominated for President of the United States by the Republican party, until the day of the election, November 6, he remained quietly at home. The strong men of his party were ardently and harmoniously at work; the speeches of Sumner, Chase, Cassius M. Clay, and other eminent orators reported in the newspapers were read by Mr. Lincoln and Mary. All day long visitors thronged the house or crowded Lincoln's office ; some of them were interested friends, others were strangers impelled by mere curiosity. One day an old woman who had known him in New Salem brought him a pair of woolen socks. She said, "I spun the yarn and knit them socks myself." Many other gifts of wearing apparel were sent, some from distant parts of the country, which amused Mr. Lincoln very much. Laughing heartily, he said, "Well, wife, if nothing else comes out of this scrape, we are going to have some new clothes." Mary's relatives in Springfield were deeply interested and came every day to report any letters or news received by them bearing on the campaign and to hear any important information re- 151 152 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN ceived by the Lincolns. The mails flooded Mr. Lincoln with newspapers, some of them marked for his especial perusal; his tables were stacked with letters, few of which he had time to open and answer. The campaign of i860 was excitingly under way. Mary Lincoln had no misgivings. She encouraged and stimulated her husband when he became despondent and rejoiced whole-heartedly at any good news. On election day, November 6, Springfield was wide awake before daylight, and as Mary at the head of her table poured the breakfast coffee for Mr. Lincoln, she said with a light little laugh, "It is well that the strain will soon be over, my hand is trembling so that I nearly spilled your coffee." She was rejoiced to see that her husband was as calm and cool as though this were a colorless day instead of a red-letter one in their lives. Mr. Lincoln, as usual, went to the room reserved for him at the State House about eight o'clock and his friends thronged about him all day. Mary at home was anxiously waiting for news though no returns were ex- pected until after seven o'clock. As the telegrams announcing one Lincoln majority after another came in, there was more and more excitement and enthusi- asm throughout the city. Mr. Lincoln, who in the afternoon had gone to the hall where the ladies of Springfield had prepared re- MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 153 freshments for the Republican politicians, later with- drew to a telegraph office where returns could be received more quietly: he was now uneasy only about the vote in Springfield. Before daylight the welcome announcement came that he had a majority in his own precinct; turning to his friends, he said cheerfully, "I guess I'll go home now." Mary, who had not gone to bed at all, met him at the door ; the strain had been too great for her nerves, and she threw herself into her husband's arms in a passion of tears. "There, there, little woman," said Lincoln, patting her shoulder, "I thought you wanted me to be President." "I do," sobbed Mary, "and I am very happy — that is why I am crying," she said smiling up through her tears. Two weeks after the election Mrs. Lincoln spent several days in Chicago with her husband, where he was to meet Hannibal Hamlin, the Vice President elect. There was a large reception at the Tremont House and a line of visitors passed for two hours and a half shaking hands with Mr. Lincoln, who stood with Mrs. Lincoln and Mr. Hamlin at his right. On Jan. 10, 1861, Mrs. Lincoln, accompanied by her brother-in-law, Mr. C. M. Smith, and the Hon. Amos Tuck of New Hampshire, went to New York to make purchases for the White House. After spending a few 154 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN days in New York, they went to Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, to visit Mrs. Lincoln's son Robert. A letter from this young man written to Mary in the preceding month will show how calmly and sensibly he conducted himself during this exciting period. "Phillips Exeter Academy. December 2, i860. "Dear Mother: "You see I am back at Exeter and I feel very much at home. I am here with Dick McConkey. We have been in a constant round of dissipation since we came. On Thursday we were at dinner at Miss Gales, on Friday Mr. Tuck gave a large party which passed off very finely. Mr. Tuck thinks of going to Chicago in about three weeks and thence to St. Louis, so look out for him. To-night we are invited out to tea which will wind up our fun, as we have to commence study again tomorrow. We have only about six weeks more before going home. I see by the papers that you have been to Chicago. Aren't you beginning to get a little tired of this constant uproar? I have a couple of friends, who are going to the inauguration after vacation is over and I have invited them to stop at our house on their road. They are nice fellows and have been with me for the last year. You will remember that I wrote to father about a fellow who is boring me considerably. He capped the climax lately. There was a Republican levee and supper at Cambridge to which I was invited. I did not go for I anticipated what really happened. I was sitting in my room about 6 130 when MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 155 two boys came in and handed me an admission ticket, on the back of which the fellow had written asking me to come over as they were calling for me. I wrote him a note excusing myself. He must be the biggest fool in the world not to know I did not want to go over, when if I did I would be expected to make a speech! Just phancy my phelinks mounted on the rostrum holding 'a vast sea of human faces, etc/ I stop overwhelmed. Yours affectionately, R. T. Lincoln." Returning to Springfield Mary prepared for the social events connected with the coming departure to the national capitol. In the accepted style of the society reporter, a Springfield correspondent of the Missouri Democrat writes, on February 6, 1861 : "The first levee given by the President elect took place last evening at his own residence in this City and it was a grand outpouring of citizens and strangers together with the members of the Legislature. Your humble servant was invited to attend. Mr. Lincoln threw open his house for a general reception of all the people who felt disposed to give him and his Lady a parting call. The levee lasted from seven until twelve o'clock in the evening, and the house was thronged by thousands up to the latest hour. Mr. Lincoln received the guests as they entered and were made known. They then passed on and were introduced to Mrs. Lincoln who stood near the center of the parlor and who I must say acquitted herself most gracefully and ad- 156 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN mirably. She was dressed plainly but richly. She wore a beautiful full trail, white moire-antique silk, with a small French lace collar. Her neck was ornamented with a string of pearls. Her head dress was a simple and delicate vine arranged with much taste. She displayed but little jewelry and this was well and appropriately adjusted. She is a lady of fine figure and accomplished address and is well calculated to grace and do honor at the White House. She was on this occasion accompanied by four of her sisters, — Mrs. W. S. Wallace, Mrs. C. M. Smith of Springfield, Mrs. Charles Kellogg of Cincinnati, and a Miss Todd of Ken- tucky. They all appeared to be extremely happy and I hope there will be nothing thrown in their way to hinder them from experiencing in full all the pleasures which they now anticipate in coming events. I thought, when looking upon the lovely group of the Todd family, how proud old Kentucky would have felt if she could have been present to witness the position in which her son and daughters were placed. (T. W.)" For four anxious months after the election of No- vember 6, Mary had seen, with a sinking heart, the Southern States, one by one, withdraw from the Union; there was no doubt in the minds of the large majority of the Southern people that they had a Constitutional right to secede from the Union. Many in the North held the same opinion and had wished to secede from the South on account of their abhorrence of slavery. On November 10 the United States senators from South MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 157 Carolina resigned their seats at Washington, a few weeks later their State seceded and under the Palmetto Flag formed an independent government. The Stars and Stripes, however, still floated over Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, garrisoned by Fed- eral troops under command of Colonel Robert Ander- son of Kentucky. In January, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana adopted ordinances of secession. Mary had two sisters living in Selma, Alabama — Martha Todd married to Mr. Clement White, and Elodie Todd married to Colonel N. H. R. Dawson — and three of her brothers were living in New Orleans. Living on a Louisiana plantation was her stepmother's brother James Humphreys, who had married a charming New Orleans woman of French extraction. Her beauty and grace were inherited by their two attractive daughters, who in girlhood had often visited at her father's home in Lexington. So patriotic indignation at seeing these States go out of the Union was mingled with personal sadness over a separation in sympathy and opinion of dear relatives and friends. And all her thoughts were tinctured with a feeling of undefined fear. She dreaded — she knew not what. War was unthinkable, yet in February, when a General Confederate Convention was held in Mont- gomery, Alabama, Mary with her political acumen 158 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN began to sense hostilities of some sort, seeing how promptly and intelligently the seceding States were forming the Southern Confederacy and how resolutely they were seizing forts and arsenals and making every preparation to defend the newly formed nation. "Oh, will it never stop?" cried Mary to her husband. "Will inauguration day never come?" Buchanan, the President in power, seemed to be a passive onlooker. Mary had known, of course, that the South would be dissatisfied with a Republican Presi- dent, but she was filled with dismay when a furious clamor rose in influential quarters of the North, an insistent demand that Mr. Lincoln should declare him- self and promise some concession which would quiet the unrest of the South and stop secession. The New York Herald declared Lincoln was a "sec- tional President whom the South had no part in elect- ing. If he comes out and tells the people that he will govern the country according to the views of the ma- jority and not to serve the purpose of the minority, all may yet be well. Mr. Lincoln must throw his pledges to the wind, let his own party go to perdition in its own way, and devote himself to the service of the whole country. It is Mr. Lincoln's bounden duty to come out now and declare his views." Many of the "Republi- can" newspapers were urging Mr. Lincoln to make MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 159 some sort of compromise; the Unionists of the South were urging him to say plainly that the South would have nothing to fear from his election. Mr. Lincoln had already expressed himself repeatedly on all these questions, and now declared, "Self-respect demands of me and of the party which has elected me that when threatened I should be silent." His old friend and fellow Congressman Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, now Vice President of the Southern Confederacy, at this time wrote him: "The country is certainly in great peril; and no man ever had heavier or graver responsibilities resting upon him than you have in the present momentous crisis." Lincoln replied: "I fully appreciate the present peril the country is in and the weight of responsibility on me. Do the people of the South really entertain fears that a Republican administration would directly or in- directly interfere with the slaves or with them about the slaves? If they do I wish to assure you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears. The South would be in no more danger in this respect than it was in the days of Wash- ington. I suppose, however, this does not meet the case. You think slavery is right and ought to be extended, while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. 160 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only sub- stantial difference between us." There was to Mary one crumb of comfort in the fact that Kentucky showed no sign of seceding. She and Mr. Lincoln pored over the Lexington, Kentucky, paper, for which they had subscribed every year since Mary's marriage, for news of the political bias of the State of their birth, of their relatives and friends. There were so many Unionists in Kentucky that Mary and Mr. Lincoln hoped the sentiment would spread. Mary knew that her own people were in favor of grad- ual emancipation, not merely in theory, but carried out in actual practice as already stated in the case of her step-grandmother. She knew too how her own people felt about the selling of slaves; in their opinion only the direst poverty could justify this and even then the stigma of disgrace would cling to the seller of a slave though not to the buyer of one. Not only did Mary read Kentucky papers, she scanned the news of the whole country. The press both North and South teemed with advice to the President elect; with prophecies of evil times. Private mail was overflowing with the same kind of advice, with con- demnation of Mr. Lincoln, and even with threats of his assassination. All this told fearfully on Mr. Lin- coln and Mary. Superstition in the nature of both was MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 161 aroused by a vision Mr. Lincoln had when, wearied by a day of distraction, he threw himself down on a lounge in his room and saw in a swinging mirror over a bureau, the image of himself reflected with two faces, one much paler than the other. Mary, with wide eyes, the color drained out of her face, feared the vision might mean that Mr. Lincoln would be elected twice as President, but would not live to finish out his second term and he was so deeply impressed by this vision that he told the incident some years later to Noah Brooks, the author. Mr. Lincoln was feeling the terrible responsibility and difficulties of his situation and yet was forced to a policy of inaction, until after the inauguration. He was often filled with gloom and despondency which it took all of Mary's adroitness to dispel; he declared that he would willingly take out of his life "a period of years equal to the two months which intervenes between now and my inauguration, to take the oath of office now," because every hour was adding to his difficulties, and the outlook each day grew more gloomy. Mary was alternately filled with elation over her husband's com- ing inauguration as President and with fear lest some assassin might make good his threat. She breathed a sigh of relief when at last, on Monday, February n, at eight o'clock in the morning the Presidential party was starting for Washington. All was bustle and ex- 1 62* MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN citement, but as Mr. Lincoln from the car platform made his farewell speech to the sea of friendly faces come to wish them Godspeed, a wave of sadness passed over Mary; she was leaving for years, perhaps forever, her home made dear by the one and great love of her life; the little grave of her baby; old and faithful friends — for a life new and untried, full of glorious possibilities, it is true, but of great uncertainty, and emotion gripped her throat and fear clutched her heart as she heard her husband say with a trembling voice, "Here my children have been born and one is buried. I now leave not knowing when or whether ever I may return." Eight o'clock in the morning being an inconvenient hour, Mrs. Lincoln had decided to take a later train and join the Presidential party at Indianapolis, where they were to stay all night. As the special train con- veying the President elect pulled out of Springfield, Mary Lincoln was standing on the platform, in the midst of their friends, waving him a farewell. Accompanying Mary Lincoln from Springfield, to be present at the inauguration and to be her guests at the White House, were her sister Mrs. Ninian Edwards (Elizabeth Todd) with her two daughters, Mrs. Baker and Miss Edwards, and the daughter of her Uncle John, Mrs. Grimsley (Elizabeth Todd). Mrs. Ed- MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 163 wards was a woman of great poise and dignity and a real help in any social dilemma; she had started her social career very early at the governor's mansion in Illinois when she was a young bride still in her teens. At Indianapolis, Mary, somewhat dazed, had to sum- mon up her social resources for the public ordeal which awaited her, and which was to be repeated in other cities. A huge public reception in the evening, elaborate in its preparations, a breakfast next morning with the governor of the State, and a reception at the hotel. At ten o'clock Tuesday morning Mr. Lincoln's party left Indianapolis for Cincinnati. "The train under way, all grew composed and even merry as the enthusiasm all along the line cheered them. Mary forgot her fear in her pride of her great husband. Everybody wanted to shake hands with him. Democrats as well as Repub- licans called out, "Good-bye, Abe, stick to the Consti- tution and we will stick to you." Mary had recovered her spirits fully by this time. The towns through which they passed were decorated with flags, cheering men were eager to see Mr. Lincoln. A magnificent reception was given him in Cincinnati, and Mary with a little pressure on his arm reminded him that it was his birthday, which she and Mr. Lin- coln, just the two of them, could celebrate with nods 1 64 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN and shy coquettish glances from under Mary's long lashes, replied to by his grave and tender regard. They both thought of the modest little dinners of other birth- days on the 1 2th of February when they were at home with a few chosen and congenial friends come to wish Mr. Lincoln many happy returns, and when she would repeat the little speech she had made on his first birth- day after their marriage which ended: "I am so glad you have a birthday. I feel so grateful to your mother." Mr. Lincoln made two brief speeches in Cincinnati; he said that he had made but one speech before in that city and then much of what he said had been addressed to the Kentuckians. "Fellow citizens of Kentucky! friends! brethren! may I call you in my new position? I see no occasion, and feel no inclination, to retract a word of this. If it shall not be made good, be assured the fault shall not be mine." Mr. Lincoln and Mary had a tender feeling for the State of their birth. Mr. Lincoln's three law partners were all born in Kentucky. After leaving Cincinnati for Columbus on Wednes- day morning, few stops were made. Another brilliant reception at Columbus, and on Thursday morning, February 14, the Presidential party was again on its way, and Lincoln that night spoke to an immense crowd at Pittsburgh. It is refreshing to note that the Hon. John Todd Stuart, Mary Todd's Cousin and Abraham Lincoln's First Law Partner Mrs. John Todd Stuart MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 165 Pennsylvanians were not alarmed over the threatened dissolution of the Union but demanded a speech on the tariff. At Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, New York, crowds of cheering people, flowers, receptions, dinners, lunch- eons, flags floating, cannon booming- The journey through the State of New York occupied three days. Mary was in high spirits all the way. She remained with a party of eighteen or twenty relatives and friends in New York. On February 23, at six o'clock in the morning, Mr. Lincoln was in Washington, safe in spite of rumors of plots to abduct him and threats of assassination. While his friends took these threats seriously, Mr. Lincoln was inclined to think their fears groundless. Rooms had been reserved for the Presidential party at Willard's Hotel. Mrs. Lincoln and her party were still in New York at the comfortable old Metropolitan Hotel and did not join Mr. Lincoln until the evening of March 2. From Saturday evening until Monday morning, the day of the inauguration, Mary Lincoln could not shake off a feeling of apprehension. If she forgot her fear for a moment, the soldiers thronging the streets and the guards stationed to protect her husband would remind her that her loved one was not yet out of danger; but, she would argue to herself, what ill could happen to 1 66 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN him surrounded by all these loyal men, under all this watchful care? At that consoling thought her buoyant nature would reassert itself. Senator James Harlan, of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, met Mr. Lincoln for the first time a few days before the inauguration, and this meeting developed later into a warm friendship between the two families. He de- scribes his impressions of the Lincolns thus : "Abraham Lincoln was an unusually tall man, though he did not seem slender. He appeared to be as lean and his muscles as hard as those of a prize- fighter. He was obviously a very strong, powerful man, physically capable of immense endurance. His eyes slightly receded, were about normal in size and, ac- cording to my recollection gray in color — with no marked expression, except pensiveness and truthfulness. His head was large, both longitudinally and perpen- dicularly, with a tall and ample forehead. His hair was dark brown, without any tendency to baldness. His head, when he was in repose, drooped slightly for- ward, and his whole countenance was pensive to sad- ness. In conversation it would kindle into brightness ; and with increased earnestness become luminous. He impressed everyone with his frankness and manifest candor, and conscious manly strength, free from the slightest manifestation of egotism. No one could look MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 167 at him and doubt his perfect honesty, sincerity, and kindness. "As I have sometimes heretofore said, and continue to think, no one can know a married man thoroughly, who does not also know his wife. I must add a few descriptive words of Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln. "She was fair, of about medium height, but standing near her husband, by comparison seemed short. Her quiet, gentle manners and firm womanly bearing im- pressed everyone with the conviction that she was a well-educated, cultured lady, accustomed to the usages of society and with ability to take care of herself. She was a Kentuckian. "Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln were, at that date, the par- ents of three living children about whom, perhaps, I ought to say a word or two; because the children brought up in a family usually reflect, like a mirror, the character of their parents. "The oldest, Robert Todd Lincoln, was a youth of seventeen or eighteen years; — well developed physi- cally, a strong, healthy, resolute, sensible-looking fel- low; without the slightest appearance of ostentation or family pride on account of his father's election to the Presidency. "The second child, William Lincoln, was probably 1 68 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN about twelve years of age. He was a beautiful boy; intelligent, polite, observant, careful of the comfort of others and courtly in his manners; so much so as to attract the attention and affection of everybody with whom he came in contact. "The third child, Thomas Lincoln — usually called "Tad" — was a small boy, probably not more than seven or eight years old. He was apparently under little restraint, overflowing with the joys of his young life and almost constantly near and clinging to his father who never appeared to be annoyed by his freaks and capers." On the 4th of March, Washington was stirring at the break of day. Mary Lincoln, sleepless and excited, saw from her window scores of people, who had been un- able to find beds the night before on account of the crowded condition of hotels and boarding-houses, restlessly walking the streets; incoming trains were bringing fresh crowds to see the inauguration of the first Republican President; the tramp, tramp of sol- diers, the rumble and clatter and clash of artillery, the shrill screams of newsboys all added to the general noise and confusion. Mr. Lincoln, at his rooms at Willard's Hotel, had from a very early hour been at work. At noon Mr. Buchanan, the President of the United States, came to escort the President elect to the MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 169 Capitol. They passed through lines of guards, platoons of soldiers, cavalry, infantry, artillery, for General Winfleld Scott was determined that no harm should befall the incoming President. Mrs. Lincoln and her party occupied the diplomatic gallery. Mary Lincoln had no eyes for the brilliant scene: the diplomatic corps glittering with decorations, the women in their beautiful gowns, had at this time no interest for her; with her soul in her eyes she saw only one loved face that meant home and all that was dear to her in the world. After the oath of office had been administered to Vice President elect Hannibal Hamlin, who made a short speech, there was a con- certed movement in the direction of the east portico where a wooden platform had been erected for this occasion. The procession was headed by the Justices of the Supreme Court in their caps and silk gowns. Upon the front of the platform were the Senate Com- mittee, President Buchanan, Chief Justice Taney and Mr. Lincoln; just back were seated Mrs. Lincoln, her three sons, Mrs. Grimsley and other relatives; the rest of the platform was filled with judges, senators, and other distinguished guests. As Mr. Lincoln came to a table containing a Bible, a pitcher and a glass of water, he placed a manuscript on the table and his cane upon it as a paper weight; 170 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN lifting his hat he looked around for a place to put it when a hand reached over and took the hat, and Judge Stephen A. Douglas whispered to Mrs. Grimsley, "If I cannot be President, I can at least be his hat bearer." Mary Lincoln's heart warmed to the friend of her girl- hood as she saw this graceful act of courtesy. She saw her husband, tall, dignified, unexcited, very grave. His self-possession was perfect. His resonant voice, a little high-pitched, reached the outer fringes of the vast crowd in front of him. Mary listened dreamily to the Inaugural Address, which Mr. Lincoln had read to her the day before and which he was now delivering with as much ease as if such an address were an everyday occurrence. Mary tried to realize that she and her husband had reached the crowning point of their ambition — would it mean joy or sorrow? Would they have to see the bitter animosities of North and South culminate in war or She started from her reverie to nod a hopeful assent to the closing sentences of the address: "I am loath to close. We are not enemies but friends." (And dear kindred, thought Mary.) "We must not be ene- mies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 171 broad land will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." The oath prescribed by the Constitution was administered by Chief Justice Taney, and Abraham Lincoln was President of the United States. Mary had a feeling of intense relief when, the cere- monies over and unmarred by any unfriendly demon- stration, her husband was safe in what was to be their home, God willing, for the next four years. At the entrance of the executive mansion, "Old Edwards," the doorkeeper through many administrations, ushered them into a mansion swept and garnished, to be sure, but looking dull and shabby with its old and worn furnishings. The East, the Blue and the Red rooms were not quite so dingy, as all the elegance of the man- sion seemed concentrated in these three rooms; now, however, there was too much excitement for Mary to have more than a fleeting thought that just as soon as possible she must brighten all this dinginess. After a gay company of seventeen or eighteen people had finished dinner, all separated to rest and prepare for the Grand Inaugural Ball, which would usher in the first Republican President (and many people thought the last one). Mary Lincoln, whose task it would be to uphold the social end of the administra- 172 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN tion, assumed her new position with self-confidence and poise and, socially, a joyous fearlessness, meeting the public with unaffected cordiality. With a direct and searching glance, she could distinguish between enemies and friends. At first she was undismayed by the number of hostile critics, hoping, no doubt, by her own friendly attitude to disarm them ; but as the weeks went by she felt the enmity was deeper than personality or any amount of friendliness could dissipate, and a woman even less high-spirited and sensitive than Mary Todd Lincoln would have been irritated by the attitude of some of the erstwhile leaders of society at the Capitol. Southern women, especially those from Virginia and Maryland, boasting long lines of distinguished an- cestry, had for many years held sway as social leaders in Washington. They represented a clique of wealth and social prestige, of refinement and good breeding, and had Mary Lincoln been the wife of a Southern or Democratic President, she would have had no dif- ficulty in being recognized as one of them and easily could have become socially popular as First Lady. But President Lincoln as leader of the Republican party had aroused bitter resentment in the hearts of the Southern people; they declared he was an odious, tyrannical monster and his wife a renegade Southerner MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 173 with no heart and no principles, they would have noth- ing to do with such a traitor! Southerners had no wish to overcome their prejudice against the wife of an Abolitionist, a word abhorrent to the South and, indeed, to a large faction in the North and East. Leslie Perry some years since said in an article writ- ten for Harper's Magazine: "Every ingenuity of malice was resorted to to discredit the new regime. Both the President and his wife were mercilessly lam- pooned, and yet Mrs. Lincoln was the peer of any woman in Washington in education and character, as well as the 'barren ideality' of birth." And W. O. Stoddard declares she was bright, cheerful, almost merry sometimes — "as you look at her and talk with her the fact that she has so many enemies strikes you as one of the moral curiosities of this venomous time." Whether through some misunderstanding or by order of General Beauregard, the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and the war between the North and South was on in deadly earnest. As Wash- ington received the news of other States seceding, of riots and bloodshed in Baltimore, of bridges burned and railway communication with the North being cut off, the gloom and apprehension increased. Public buildings were barricaded, guards were camped in the East room and corridors of the White House. General 174 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN Cassius M. Clay (of Kentucky) with his Home Battal- ion was stationed in Willard's Hall. Patriotic fervor for the Union was intensified in the North, and higher and higher flamed the spirit of undying allegiance to the new-born league of independent States, the South- ern Confederacy. For years the North and South had been stinging each other into uncontrollable madness. The North was singing, "We'll hang Jeff Davis on a Sour Apple Tree," and the South was substituting the name of Lincoln in the same song. When a Southern girl in Washington at that hate- filled time saw Mrs. Lincoln's carriage approaching, she would run to the piano, fling wide the windows and sing "Dixie," "Maryland, My Maryland," or "Bonnie Blue Flag," and Mary's eyes would fill with tears for she knew this was done to hurt her. Neither did she fare better at the hands of the Northerners; she was accused, on account of her Southern birth, of being a Rebel at heart, of not sympathizing with her husband's views and principles. She was watched and spied upon for some clue upon which to hang a suspicion of her treachery to the Union — an unguarded word would have meant a volume of abuse or slander. With rare tact, following her husband's policy of conciliation, she tried to make friends of the opposition. In this social chaos and disruption she naturally turned first, for sup- MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 175 port, to women from her own State ; among others, Mrs. John J. Crittenden, a handsome matron whose husband had left the Senate to become a representative and as such was the mover of the Crittenden Compromises cal- culated to restore the South to the Union by peaceful measures. Also the wife of her old friend Stephen A. Douglas, the Democratic leader, was frequently asked to receive with Mrs. Lincoln. Mrs. Douglas, who combined w T it and beauty with sweet gentle manners, was one of the belles of the White House. That Mrs. Lincoln should select for her receiving line the wives and daughters of Democrats gave great offense to many Republican women. Into this chaos of jealousies, animosities, private and public rancors, it would have been impos- sible to inject any of the beautiful quiet amenities of normal society. Ignoring this unpleasantness as much as possible, Mary Lincoln took her place as First Lady with simple, easy grace and dignity. She was sought by people of intellect who were charmed by her anima- tion and originality of thought and her fearlessness in expressing herself. She was still strikingly youthful and attractive in appearance; she was "fair and forty," but not fat, as she weighed only a hundred and thirty- pounds. Her hair, a lovely light chestnut with glints of bronze, had as yet not a gray thread. Her eyes 176 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN sparkled youthfully with the zest of living, and the fashion of the day favored her mightily as her beautiful shoulders and arms gleamed like pearls in her low-cut short-sleeved evening gowns. She had individuality and distinction and an intellect and personality that caused her to be here admired, there envied, loved greatly by her friends, and deeply disliked by many outside her circle. Her enthusiasms were so inspiring that a forlorn hope revived and blossomed in the down-hearted. Hence, her husband and friends brought to her many troubles and problems. She held her head high, slightly tilted back, possibly because she had so tall a husband to look up to. She was not tall, but seemed shorter than she really was by the side of her towering husband. More than merely pretty, she was both bril- liant and fascinating, but, already prejudiced, nothing could mollify her critics. As they could not find any glaring faults in her behavior, they criticized her ex- travagance in dress. Mary Lincoln, full of ardor and patriotism, wished to join a society pledged to use no foreign dress goods, laces or jewels during the war. But this project was condemned by Mr. Lincoln and Salmon P. Chase, his Secretary of the Treasury, who declared the Govern- MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 177 ment needed the revenue coming from the importation of these luxuries* This made the wearing of rich clothing no crime, but rather a patriotic duty for all who could afford it. Mary Lincoln, with a keen ap- preciation of all that was exquisite and beautiful and with an instinctive talent for style and dress, became noted for elegant and costly apparel. She had very little lace, but that was of the finest rose point, Honiton or English thread; and her jewels, while not mag- nificent and consisting mostly of small pearls finely strung in dainty design and small diamonds set down closely in pearls (pave, I think the French call it), were unusual and especially appealing to a refined and cultured taste. President Lincoln loved to see Mary "dressed up" ; he noticed her "fine feathers" and never failed to com- pliment her when she, with guileless vanity, pirouetted around the room for him to admire some particularly pretty dress, and he, smiling, would comment, "Our cat has a long tail to-night" or "Some of that tail might be added to the top." With her husband's praises ringing in her ears, little did Mary Lincoln dream that her innocent love for beautiful clothes would one day cause her the deepest humiliation. 178 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN The bombardment of Fort Sumter by the Confed- erates, April 12, sounded the death knell of peace be- tween the North and South. A few days later Virginia was open to Confederate troops, and from the White House windows the occupants looked upon green bluffs across the Potomac belonging to the enemy. The death, Friday morning, May 23, of the dashing, gallant young Colonel Ellsworth, brought the first sting of sorrow to the White House. Colonel Ells- worth had come from Springfield with the Presidential party and was a member of the President's household. Colonel Ellsworth saw the President with a face of gloom, time and again, standing before the south win- dows of the White House looking through his glass at a Confederate flag flying from a staff at Alexandria. When the advance was made across the river to seize the heights from Arlington to Alexandria, Colonel Ellsworth, who had organized the New York Zouaves, took command and in hauling down this flag from the roof of a hotel, the owner and proprietor of the house killed him and was in turn immediately shot to death by one of Ellsworth's men. President and Mrs. Lin- coln felt his loss keenly. The funeral services were held in the East room of the executive mansion, and the President and Mrs. Lincoln were in the line of carri- ages which conveyed the young soldier to the railway MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 179 station. The next death to make a gap in the ranks of their friends was Stephen A. Douglas, June 3, 1861, for in spite of political differences the close association of their early life with the "Little Giant," his many gen- erous impulses and very agreeable and lovable person- ality made a kindly bond, and the breaking of it was painful to them both. Early in the morning July 21, Washington was filled with excitement. The booming of cannon at Bull Run could be distinctly heard, and news at first was hopeful for the Unionists. Soon, however, joy was turned to consternation and panic when a telegram announced, "The day is lost, save Washington and the remnant of the Army." The family at the White House, fever- ishly anxious all day, saw daylight fade into night and still had no thought of sleep when General Scott at two A. M. came to bring tidings of relief. General Scott insisted that Mrs. Lincoln and the boys should be sent North out of danger. Mrs. Lincoln turned to her hus- band and, knowing full well what his answer would be, asked, "Will you go with us?" "Most assuredly I will not leave at this juncture," he answered promptly. Just as promptly came the response from Mary Lin- coln, "Then I will not leave you at this juncture." Made brave by her devotion to her husband, the little wife only thought of how she might shield or protect 1 80 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN him or at least share the danger with him. No urging moved her from this firm determination. There was not much time in those fearful days for Mary Lincoln to give serious thought to the social disaffection. It was annoying, of course, and an added burden, but, surrounded by love as she was, it did not affect her happiness. Her two boys, Willie and Tad, were lively youngsters. Tad had much of his mother's mercurial disposition and the White House echoed with his laughter all day. The two boys were full of life and fun and their pranks, which sometimes called for chiding from their mother, gave great delight and amusement to their father. Willie was tall for eleven years of age, handsome, studious, remarkably intelli- gent, he was the pride and joy of his mother and father. Robert, who developed into the distinguished man known on both sides of the Atlantic, was at college and only occasionally at Washington. Mrs. Grimsley, who had been Mrs. Lincoln's inti- mate girlhood friend and her bridesmaid, was at the White House with her for six months. The White House was always filled with friends and relatives of President and Mrs. Lincoln who were warmly hospi- table. Mrs. Lincoln's two half-sisters, Mrs. Charles Kellogg (Margaret Todd) of Cincinnati and Mrs. Clement White (Martha Todd) of Selma, Alabama, Mary Todd at the Time Lincoln Met Her Painted by Katherine Helm from a daguerreotype Abraham Lincoln as He Appeared When Mary Todd First Met Him From a daguerreotype made about 1887 owned by the Lincoln family MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 181 had come on to be present at the inaugural ceremonies. Mrs. White was accused of smuggling quinine through the lines for sick Southern soldiers, but except for a small one-ounce package for her own use she was guilt- less of this charge. The true story is this: "Mattie" Todd was a brilliant young woman, more than usually attractive, and in appearance, mind, and manner more like Mary Lin- coln than any of her sisters. She was a great favorite with her brother-in-law. Her visits to Washington were frequent and as President Lincoln did not wish the war to interrupt them he gave her a pass which would admit her through the lines at any point she chose. On one of these visits, not wishing to burden the White House with two trunks, she had left a "Saratoga," which the great unwieldy things were called, in care of two Baltimore friends at a hotel in Washington. The trunk contained wearing apparel which she would not need during her short visit at the White House. Handing the key to one of her friends, 6he said, "I do not think I will need it, but if I send a messenger, please go into the trunk and send me a blue brocade gown, which you will find in the top tray." When Mrs. White called at the hotel for her trunk at the expiration of her visit to the White House, her friends had returned to Baltimore leaving the key of 1 82 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN her trunk at the hotel office. An officer who had fol- lowed Mrs. White insisted on examining her baggage. Mrs. White was very indignant, showed the inspector her pass and declared that she had nothing contraband. The inspector touched his cap and left without further molesting her. What was her amazement and morti- fication on opening her trunks later to find a splendid sword and a uniform for General Robert E. Lee, which her Baltimore friends, without asking her permission and without her knowledge, had stored in her trunk. Her first impulse was to return immediately to the White House and explain the whole matter to Presi- dent Lincoln; her second thought was a fear that she might imperil her friends who often visited Washing- ton. She decided she had better seek wise council in this dilemma. On her arrival at Richmond, Virginia, she at once consulted President Davis, whom she knew as well as she did her brother-in-law — should she carry the sword and uniform back to Washington and deliver them to President Lincoln? Of course, he need never know, but she would feel dishonest not to tell him about it. President Davis decided that General Lee should have the sword and the uniform, but Mrs. White was so mortified and worried over the matter, that President Davis, who had for many years been on pleasant terms MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 183 with Mrs. White's brother-in-law, wrote a personal letter, with his own hand, to President Lincoln explain- ing the position of Mrs. White. Mrs. White went with this letter to Washington, and the Great Man at the White House took the incident good-naturedly, twit- ting Mattie about her indignant lie to the inspector. This was the last time Mrs. White ever saw her brother- in-law or her sister Mary. She and her husband were going immediately south, for their hearts were with the Confederacy. This contretemps was always a source of regret to Mrs. White, who was entirely innocent of any complicity in passing contraband articles through the lines. The other sister, Mrs. Charles Kellogg, who had come to see the inaugural ceremonies, was on her way with her husband to spend several years in Europe. Most of the time they were in Italy with Mr. Minor Kellogg (a brother of Charles Kellogg), who was an artist and made his home in Rome. About the middle of April, 1861, Ben Hardin Helm went to Washington in response to a cordial personal letter of invitation from his brother-in-law, President Lincoln. Although Lincoln knew that Helm was a strong Southern-rights Democrat, on the 27th of April he handed him a sealed envelope. "Ben," he said, "here is something for you. Think it over by yourself and let 1 84 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN me know what you will do." The envelope contained a commission as paymaster in the United States Army with rank of major. This was the opportunity of Helm's life. He knew the position was one of the most coveted in the service. The rank of major at his age, thirty, was very exceptional in the army. Nothing had ever touched Helm like this. "The position you offer me is beyond what I had expected in my most hopeful dreams. It is the place above all others which suits me, Lincoln," said Helm. "You have been kind and generous to me beyond any- thing I have known. I have no claim upon you, for I opposed your candidacy and did what I could for the election of another, but with no unkindly feeling to- wards you ; I wish I could see my way. I will try to do what is right. Don't let this offer be made public yet. You shall have my answer in a few days." Helm had graduated from West Point in the class of 1 85 1, but on account of ill health had been compelled to resign from the service. In common, however, with all the graduates of the military academy, he longed to get back into the military service and this was a bril- liant opportunity. He saw many of his old army com- rades and had a talk that same afternoon with Colonel Robert E. Lee of the Second Cavalry. Helm, seeing that Colonel Lee was laboring under MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 185 strong emotion of some kind, anxiously inquired, "Are you not well, Colonel Lee?" "Well in body but not in mind," replied the stately soldier, who looked the gentleman of long lineage that he was. He added sadly, "I have just resigned my commission in the United States Army. In the prime of life I quit a service wherein were all my expecta- tions and hopes in this world." Helm handed Colonel Lee the letter from Mr. Lin- coln offering Helm the position of major and pay- master with rank from that date. Colonel Lee read it without a word. "Did you know Mr. Lincoln is my brother-in-law?" asked Helm. "No, I did not," said Colonel Lee, "but now let me say one word. I have no doubt of his [Lincoln's] kindly intentions, but he cannot control the elements. There must be a great war. I cannot strike at my own people, so to-day I wrote out my resignation and have asked General Scott as a favor for its immediate ac- ceptance. My mind is too much disturbed to give you any advice. But do what your conscience and honor bid." Neither did Helm doubt the good intentions of Mr. Lincoln, he knew his brother-in-law's kindly feel- ings towards the South. But could one man stem the 1 86 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN tide of bitterness and hatred that was forcing the two sections into mortal conflict? Helm's father, Governor Helm, although a large slave owner, was a strong Union man at the beginning of the war. Kentucky had declared for neither side though the sentiment was strongly Southern, to use a slang expression, current at that time, "she was on the fence" and "she sat on the fence cheering both sides enduring of the war, though she pretty nigh fell off on the South side," as an old soldier said after hostilities were over. He did not quite know whether to be proud of her for this inde- cision. Mary Lincoln was hoping to have her beautiful young sister Emilie (Helm's wife) in Washington with her. "Emilie will be a belle at the White House recep- tions and we will be so proud of her," smiled Mary, and "we need scholarly dignified young men like your- self to ornament our army." "The ideal career was before me," said General Helm. "The highest positions in the profession for which I was educated were opened to me in one day. I would not only be the youngest officer of my rank in the army, but could have transferred at the earliest pos- sible moment to one of the cavalry regiments. With the changes occurring in them by resignation, I would certainly have been a full colonel within the year." Helm realized the possibilities open to him, that he MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 187 would have a brilliant career in the profession for which he was eminently fitted. Added to this he had a sincere love for Mary Lincoln and the President, their attitude towards him was most affectionate and their estimate of his ability was extremely gratifying to Helm. "Good-bye" said Mary, sending a kiss for Emilie. "We hope very soon to see you both in Wash- ington." And with a warm clasp of the hand for Lincoln, Helm and his brother-in-law parted never to meet again in this life. When Helm returned to Ken- tucky he met in Frankfort General Simon Bolivar Buckner, who had been his instructor at West Point and for whom he had a warm friendship, and his friend, Tom Monroe, then Secretary of State, an im- passioned States' Rights man. Helm talked with many of his friends, most of whom were going South. General Buckner had been made inspector-general of Kentucky, with rank of major-general. Kentucky was in a furore of excitement. Helm could not remain in this fierce contest unmoved and, like Colonel Lee, he felt that he could not strike against his own people. He wrote to President Lincoln, declining the position of paymaster. In the War Department is this record : Helm, Ben Hardin, nominated for paymaster in the United States Army, April 27, 1861. Declined." "I had a bitter struggle with myself," said General 1 88 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN Helm; "such an opportunity rarely offers itself in a lifetime. The most painful moment of my life was when I declined the generous offer of my brother-in- law." At least twice in 1861 and 1862 did General Helm find opportunity to send kindly messages to President Lincoln. He believed in Lincoln's sincerity, and a difference in views could not affect his love for Mary and his brother-in-law. Among the friends and relatives from Springfield who were frequent guests at the White House were Mrs. Lincoln's cousins, John T. Stuart and Stephen T. Logan, also Mrs. Lincoln's nieces, and her sister Mrs. Ninian Edwards. Living in Washington at that time were some kins- men of Mary Lincoln's stepmother. John C. Breck- inridge, United States Senator from Kentucky, who later was a major-general in the Confederate Army. Tall, dignified, and strikingly handsome, he com- manded attention in any assembly of men. Governor Gratz Brown of Missouri, Postmaster-General Mont- gomery Blair, and General Frank P. Blair; the latter having married his cousin, Miss Appelline Alexander of Versailles, Kentucky, also a kinswoman of Mrs. Todd, made in that case a still closer tie. On the strength of these family connections, Mary was hailed by them as "Cousin Mary" and, according to the good MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 189 old clannish Kentucky custom of claiming relationship as far off as possible, they evidently extended this cousinly regard to Mary's cousins, for Mrs. Grimsley writes : "My relation on the other side of the house, General John C. Breckinridge, was open and above board. He called a number of times, before leaving Washington, and most complacently said to me, 'Cousin Lizzie, I would not like you to be disappointed in your expected stay at the White House, so I will now invite you to remain here as a guest, when the Confederation takes possession.' Mrs. Lincoln replied, 'We will only be too happy to entertain her until that time, general.' Whereupon arose a seemingly merry war of words, but there was a perceptible undercurrent of storm and sting, as would naturally be the case when two bright, quick, embittered brains and tongues wage a contest. And this was not an unequal one, for Mrs. Lincoln was a woman of fine native mental qualities, vivacious, in- tellectual, and a charming conversationalist." Mrs. Lincoln wrote that Senator Harris came fre- quently to the drawing room at the White House and, finding Senator Sumner there, said in his cheerful way, "Ah, Sumner, we are sure of finding you here." And Senator Sumner replied, "This is the first administra- 190 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN tion in which I have ever felt disposed to visit the house, and I consider it a privilege." Senator Sumner "was a model of forensic elegance, scholarly culture, and precision." He spoke even in ordinary conversation with great care and fastidious- ness in the choice of words. He was equally fastidious in his style of dress and was easily the Beau Brummell of the Senate. His wide reading and anti-slavery views made him very congenial to President and Mrs. Lin- coln, who classed him as one of their most valued friends — a friendship which was amply proven when he so valiantly battled for a pension for the widow of the slain President. Washington being extremely trying during the sum- mer months, it was decided that Mrs. Lincoln should get a breath of fresh air at Long Branch and Saratoga. There she nursed Tad through a spell of illness, and later had to send her regrets to a large ball given in her honor on account of the severe illness of her friend Mrs. Shearer. On her return to Washington in November, Mrs. Lincoln found her husband weighed down with cares of state, looking thin, careworn, and anxious. The whole town was in a turmoil of excitement. Every- body was eager for the latest news from the seat of war. There were groans of sorrow and shouts of joy. MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 191 The White House was thronged from morning until night with office-seekers, pardon-seekers, and sight- seeing strangers. No rest, no peace, her beloved hus- band looking more pitifully careworn and sad each day. At the battle of Ball's Bluff, October 21, in the death of Colonel E. D. Baker (for whom they had named their second son), President and Mrs. Lincoln lost one of their oldest and dearest friends. Not only did they grieve sincerely, but the children, Willie and Tad, who loved him, could not be consoled, Willie wrote the following verses which appeared in the National Republican: "Washington, D. C. October 30, 1861. Dear Sir: I enclose you my first attempt at poetry. Yours truly, Wm. W. Lincoln." To the Editor of the National Republican Times. On the Death of Colonel Edward Baker There was no patriot like Baker So noble and so true; He fell as a soldier on the field His face to the sky of blue. His voice is silent in the hall Which oft his presence graced, 192 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN No more he'll hear the loud acclaim Which rang from place to place. No squeamish notions filled his breast The Union was his theme. No surrender and no compromise His day thought and nights dream. His country has her part to pay To'rds those he left behind His widow and his children all We must always keep in mind. CHAPTER IX SHADOWS AT NO time in the history of our country was any ^ ^ President's wife ever placed in such a trying posi- tion as fell to the lot of Mary Lincoln. President Lincoln was lovingly called the "Great Emancipator" by one section; "The Abolitionist" with unmitigated scorn by the other. Mrs. Lincoln, in company with her husband, was reviled by Southerners, contemptu- ously thought of as a traitor to her people and their principles. On the other hand, being Southern-born of a Southern-sympathizing family, with four brothers in the Confederate Army and three brothers-in-law officers in the same service and hosts of other friends and relatives in the south wearing "the gray," 1 the Northerners distrusted her, feared her, hated her, in- sulted her — all without cause, for she believed with all her soul in her husband's policies, and of the principles which he advocated she had been ardently in favor 1 George Todd, surgeon in Confederate service, Mary Lincoln's full brother, survived the war many years; Samuel Todd, killed at Shiloh; David Todd, never recovered from wound received at Vicksburg. Though reported "dying," he survived, an invalid, for a few years after the war was over; Alexander Todd, killed at Baton Rouge; General Ben Hardin Helm, killed at Chickamauga (married Emilie Todd); Colonel N. H. R. Dawson, Selma, Alabama (married Elodie Todd) ; Captain Clem B. White (married Martha Todd). 193 i 9 4 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN since her girlhood. When she was about sixteen years old several occurrences besides the selling of old King Solomon, which incident, related in an earlier chapter, had roused her indignation, made her feel that the institution of slavery was wrong. Mary had grown to young womanhood with the hope and belief that all slaves should and would be gradu- ally emancipated, but she felt it only right that slaves should be taken care of by their owners until they reached an age where they could support themselves as directed by the will of Mrs. Humphreys. And now, in 1 86 1, her vivid imagination pictured the negro free, civilized — she would talk by the hour of schemes for the betterment and the colonization of the negro; she would get quite breathless with interest and excitement. The negro would have little chance in a white man's country where equality, social and political, would always be denied him, but, led by a few superior and well-educated negroes like Fred Douglass, what might they not attain of greatness in their own native coun- try! A vast country of undiscovered wealth, the white man would some day awake to its possibilities, and the negroes' toil would fill the white man's pocket. Why should not the negro benefit by the wealth of his own country produced by his own labor? He would thrive MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 195 and grow fat in a climate which would spell death to a white man. Mary Lincoln made at this time some very true and lasting friends. Those who knew her best were her greatest admirers. Mrs. Bates, whose husband was attorney-general in Lincoln's cabinet, expressed the warmest sympathy for Mrs. Lincoln, "whose trials were many and known to but few. As the wife of a man under constant hostile criticism, she received scant courtesy in some quarters. Mrs. Lincoln lived for her husband and children, banishing before a never flag- ging cheerfulness her husband's cares of office while at home." Frank G. Carpenter, who lived at the White House for several months while painting the famous picture "Reading the Emancipation Proclamation," said of her: "She was a very brilliant woman, an excellent linguist, speaking French as easily as her native tongue. There is no denying a quality and quantity of high spiritedness in her temperament." General Sickles, in an address, said: "It was my privilege to know President Lincoln and his consort through all the years they spent at the White House. I have never seen a more devoted couple. He always called her Mother and she always called him Father. In their domestic relations and in their devotion to 196 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN their children, I have never seen a more congenial couple. He always looked to her for comfort and con- solation in his troubles and cares. Indeed, the only joy poor Lincoln knew after reaching the White House were his wife and children. She shared all his troubles and never recovered from the culminating blow when he was assassinated." John Lothrop Motley's account of an interview he had with her in the White House after his return from Europe, where he had met the most accomplished and elegant women in London and Vienna, is certainly worthy of consideration. Mr. James G. Blaine also spoke of her in terms of great admiration. It had been decided that in these troublous times a seeming show of cheerfulness at the White House would put heart into the soldiers. There must be no indication of sadness at the Capitol to cast an addi- tional gloom of uncertainty over the North, so the usual round of receptions, levees, and dinners for the winter season of 1862 were being planned. The first day of January was ushered in by President and Mrs. Lincoln with a New Year's reception. In February little Willie (William Wallace) became very ill, and his mother, frantic with anxiety, hung over him with lov- ing care, oblivious of every other thing in the world. If she could only save the life of her little blue-eyed MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 197 boy, nothing else mattered. The child's father, too, spent every minute he could spare from the duties of state, in the sickroom. Here is a clipping from a Washington paper headed, "Sickness in the President's family." "It was announced yesterday that the usual Saturday receptions at the White House and the levee on Tues- day would be omitted on account of the illness of the second son of the President, an interesting lad of about eight years of age, who has been lying dangerously ill of bilious fever for the last three days. Mrs. Lincoln has not left his bedside since Wednesday night, and fears are entertained for her health. This evening the fever has abated and hopes are entertained for the re- covery of the little sufferer." In spite, however, of every effort made to save him, Willie died on February 20, and the grief of his parents was too deep for them ever to allude to this sorrow. Nathaniel Parker Willis pays Willie this tribute in the Home Journal: "This little fellow had his ac- quaintances among his father's friends, and I chanced to be one of them. He never failed to seek me out in the crowd, shake hands and make some pleasant remark; and this in a boy of ten years of age was, to say the least, endearing to a stranger. But he had more than mere affectionateness. His self-possession — 198 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN aplomb, as the French call it — was extraordinary. I was one day passing the White House when he was outside with a play-fellow on the side walk. Mr. Seward drove in with Prince Napoleon and two of his suite in the carriage, and in a mock-heroic way — terms of amusing intimacy evidently existing between the boy and the secretary — the official gentleman took off his hat, and the Napoleon party did the same, all mak- ing the young prince President a ceremonious salute. Not a bit staggered with the homage, Willie drew him- self up to his full height, took off his little cap with graceful self-possession, and bowed down formally to the ground, like a little ambassador. They drove past and he went on unconcerned with his play; the im- promptu readiness and good judgment being clearly a part of his nature. His genial and open expression of countenance was none the less ingenuous and fearless for a certain tincture of fun, and it was in this mingling of qualities that he so faithfully resembled his father." Mr. Lincoln tried in many ways to distract Mary's mind from the grief which was consuming her. Madame Patti being in Washington soon after Willie's death, Mr. Lincoln invited her to the White House. Mr. Lincoln had met Patti in concert with Ole Bull in 1853 when Patti was only ten years of age; MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 199 and at that time, in speaking of her to Mary, had pre- dicted for her a great future. Patti says, (Courier- Journal, Louisville, Kentucky) : "The following afternoon my manager took me to the White House and we were received by Mrs. Lin- coln in one of the big parlors. The President's wife was a handsome woman, almost regal in her deep black and expansive crinoline, only an outline of white at throat and wrists. Her manner was most gracious without a particle of reserve or stiffness. 'My dear, it is very kind of you to come to see us,' she said. Tak- ing both my hands in hers and smiling in my face, she added, 'I have wanted to see you ; — to see the young girl who has done so much, who has set the whole world talking of her wonderful singing.' "Then the President entered the room. He greeted us cordially, and again mentioned the great change in me since the Ole Bull concert. 'I shall always regret, Mary, that you were not with me at that time,' he said, turning to his wife. % too,' she replied, 'have re- gretted it.' Without waiting to be asked, I volunteered to sing for Mrs. Lincoln. 'Thank you so much, my dear,' she said. I drew off my gloves and went to the piano. Mr. Strakosch accompanied me in a couple of rather florid things. Then I sang to my own accom- 200 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN paniment, 'The Last Rose of Summer.' When I had finished the last long-drawn-out note of the song, I turned to have a look at my audience. Mrs. Lincoln had risen from her seat and was standing at a window in the back part of the room with her back toward me. I could not see her face but I knew she was weeping. The melancholy strains of the ballad had set her heart aching with renewed sadness. I felt I had made an awkward choice." After singing, at Mr. Lincoln's request, "Home, Sweet Home," Patti was so wrought up over the situa- tion that she says she was weeping herself as she took leave of the bereaved parents. In addition to her grief over her little son's death, Mary Lincoln, loving her own family with warm- hearted clannishness, was filled with apprehension on their account. As one after another of her brothers fell in the Confederate service, her heart was torn with more and more sorrow. When the Civil War broke out Mary Lincoln had five living brothers. Levi Todd (her full brother) was living in Lexington, Kentucky. He was a Unionist, but his health was too infirm for him to take an active part in the hostilities, and before the war came to an end he was buried from the home of his stepmother in MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 201 Lexington. Three of her brothers were living in New Orleans. Dr. George Todd (her full brother) was early appointed surgeon in the Confederate service and survived the war for many years. Sam and David Todd were in business in New Orleans, and Alexander, the youngest of the Todd brothers, who was living in Kentucky at the commencement of the war, became aide-de-camp to his brother-in-law General Ben Har- din Helm. In March, 1862, when Beauregard was appointed to the West and sent out to stay the progress of the Fed- eral Army under Grant and Sherman through Ken- tucky and Tennessee, he made a call upon Louisiana, his native State, to come to his aid. Among the several thousand young and ardent volunteers was young Sam Todd, who enrolled himself in Company I, Crescent Regiment. A month later he lost his life in the fierce battle of Shiloh. The Richmond (Va.) State contained this article: "The day before the battle of Shiloh was fought the writer and several others gave a dinner to some half a dozen of their personal friends of the Crescent Regiment, Washington Artillery, etc. ; and Sam Todd was one of the favorite guests, jovial Sam Todd ! Who that knew him can ever forget him — all soul — all fun and fire too — he was a 202 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN gay happy youth of splendid address and fine social posi- tion, handsome in person and very popular. Being an ardent Southerner his standing among his friends was not injured by his being a brother-in-law of the President or 'Old Abe' as Lincoln was called. "The diners separated for the march and the next day by sunrise were in the midst of battle. The first day, though the battle was fierce, desperate and hotly contested the Confederates were happy at scoring a victory. They slept on the field in a drenching rain with logs for pillows. In the morning they were all up and in line. Before ad- vancing, while some one was boiling coffee and others were boiling a pot of potatoes, a young fellow in the uniform of the Crescents came up and expressed a wish for one of the 'Murphys' when they were done. It was Sam Todd who was congratulated on his good fortune in the fight — before Sam got the 'Murphy' the order came to fall in at once as the Federals were advancing in force. It was the new troops of Buell and Nelson. Sam Todd's regiment was promptly thrown to the front and Sam with a bullet in his forehead was one of the first to fall. The Con- federates were driven back and still further back, leaving their dead on the field to be buried with grim and hasty funeral rites by Grant. Among them there was no better man or more devoted soldier of the Confederacy than this gallant young brother of the 'Lady of the White House'." The "Lady of the White House" received this news with a heavy heart. Sam dead on the field of battle! MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 203 Sam, the baby brother she had loved to cuddle when old Mammy Sally had allowed her to hold him a few minutes when she was a little girl; the baby so tiny and fragile that she had confided to Mrs. Clay he was too soft to be healthy. Sam, who was so handsome, so courtly. When she last saw him in Kentucky, the Todds were all out in the country at Buena Vista. They were sad- dened then at the loss of her father and little Eddie, but happy in contrast with the grief-stricken present. How well Sam looked on horseback — how she had enjoyed riding with him — and Mary Lincoln, with purple rings under her dry eyes, bit her trembling lips to hold back her heavy sobs. She must not betray her grief. In helping others perhaps she might find com- fort, so much of her time was given to visiting hospitals. Some presents of wine came to the White House about this time, champagne, green seal and other seal, white wine from the Rhine, wines from Spain and Portugal, brandy, Jamaica rum. "They do not seem to have for- gotten anything," said Mrs. Lincoln. "But what shall I do with it? Mr. Lincoln never touches any strong drink. I never use it. I will thank these gentlemen, and the poor sick soldiers shall have it all." She was exceedingly pleased to have such a carefully selected medical supply to distribute. 204 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN "Executive Mansion, Washington August 16, 1862. "Hon. Hiram Barney New York. Mrs. L. has $1000 for the benefit of the hospitals, and she will be obliged and send the pay if you will be so good as to select and send her $200 worth of good lemons and $100 worth of good oranges. A. Lincoln." The Chronicle, November 29, 1862: "Mrs. Lincoln returned to Washington on Thursday evening, apparently much improved by her visit to the North. The sick and wounded soldiers in our hospitals will hail her return with joy." Mrs. Lincoln was seen many times a week at the hos- pitals, attendants carrying baskets of dainties especially prepared at the White House and baskets of flowers to cheer the sick soldiers. A letter written by an old sol- dier when he heard of Mrs. Lincoln's death will show how welcome her visits were. "The death of the widow of the great Emancipator will cause a feeling of sorrow all over this country but it will be a cause of particular sorrow to the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac who, sick or wounded in the Washington hos- pitals, were the objects of her especial care and attention. At the first battle of Fredericksburg I received a painful MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 205 wound in the face * * * among the many who came to the hospital to speak cheering words to the afflicted none was more kind or showed a nobler spirit than the wife of the Chief Magistrate of the Nation. She called regularly, bringing with her by attendants flowers, fruits and delicacies and bestowing them with her own hand with a grace worthy of the station she held * * * she lives in the memory of those whose agonies she soothed with loving words. Frank G. Thompson." Newspaper clipping, 1862 — "Mrs. Lincoln": "Now for our own country, with its ordeal of fire and its baptism of blood. The lady who presides as the wife of the Chief Magistrate brought with her from the West a reputation for refinement and love of the beautiful that has been admirably realized. The stamp of her exquisite taste is left on the furnishing of the Presidential Mansion, that never looked so well as now; and though in deepest mourning there is a delicacy displayed in the arrangement of her toilette that is unequaled in any country for its classic adaptation and elegance. She possesses that calm and conscious dignity, that is unruffled by envy and unsul- lied by detraction, though malice hides itself in the tongues of the Secessionists. She was celebrated for her conver- sational powers in the society in which she moved in St. Louis and at Chicago, and her kindness and cordiality has acted like oil poured on troubled waters here. In youth she must have been very beautiful and 'like light within a vase' her whole features illuminate with their joyous sparkle 206 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN of a cultivated intellect. Well may Dr. Russell say 'I was never more disappointed [surprised?] in any person than Mrs. Lincoln ; her manners would adorn a court.' The at- mosphere of elevated sentiments, such as seeks companion- ship with the divine virtues of our nature and never de- scends from its higher sphere dwells and abides with her. Her voice is rich with the cadence of a pure and patriotic and womanly heart. In her mission of mercy to sick soldiers she fears no disease, and having felt deep be- reavement herself, she gently dries the tears of the widow and the orphan. Such is she, to whom God grant many long and sunny days on earth to do his good word and work." The second sad summer wore away. Hardly a day passed that Mary Lincoln's heart was not wrung with fear on account of letters warning the President of as- sassination. When she saw him preparing for a walk she would cling to him, and beg him not to leave the White House without a guard; when the President laughed at her fears and assured her that her imagina- tion was playing her tricks, she would look up into his face with a brave little smile, but in her heart was fear. The strain of the war, her incurable grief for Willie, the suppressed anxiety for her Southern kindred, and this ever-clutching fear for her husband's safety were slowly, relentlessly, sapping her life and strength. At the least noise, the ringing of a bell, the dropping of a MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 207 book, her face would be drained of color, and her hand would fly to her heart in sudden and uncontrollable panic. November brought the news that another brother, David Todd, lay mortally wounded after the battle of Vicksburg and his sister at the White House, with a frozen smile on her lips and a heart of lead, must listen to the shouts of rejoicing over Grant's victory. While her brother lay dying she must shed no tear, utter no word of grief lest it be construed as sympathy for the Southern cause. The President appreciated his wife's efforts at self-control and his love for her was very tender and protective. "Executive Mansion, Washington December 21, 1862. "Mrs. A. Lincoln Continental Hotel, Philadelphia. Do not come on the night train. It is too cold. Come in the morning. A. Lincoln." Christmas, 1862, Washington for the Federals was filled with gloom. The Confederates had been success- ful in the fighting around Fredericksburg, Virginia. Washington was filled with wounded and dying men, nevertheless, the administration demanded that the fes- tivities of the holiday season must be observed. The 208 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN gloom and discouragement must not be acknowledged. The President on New Year's morning at eleven o'clock received the shining officials of the diplomatic corps and the officers of the army and navy who happened to be in town. At twelve o'clock noon the gates of the White House grounds were flung wide, and the clam- orous people were admitted in instalments. The President and Mrs. Lincoln must wear smiling faces even if their eyes were far away with sad thoughts. And now that Robert was pleading to leave college and enter the army, a new anxiety was looming big with fear to the mother who had already lost two of her boys. "Robert is too young to leave college, he will give more efficient service to his country with a finished educa- tion," she pleaded and, with a sigh of relief, she saw that her arguments had won a respite of at least a few more months. Tad, who lived merrily and vitally in the present, could dispel the gloomy thoughts of the past and instill a feeling of youth and hopefulness in the hearts of his parents. On the first day of January, 1863, Lincoln rewrote the proclamation of emancipation and it was duly signed by him that same afternoon. The outcry in the North that Mary Lincoln was not in sympathy with her husband in regard to slavery had absolutely no foundation, and when she was accused MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 209 of disloyalty to the Union — of corresponding with Se- cessionists — it hurt her to the quick and she denied her- self the privilege of opening any private or personal letters or packages until they had first been censored. Mr. Stoddard, in a letter to Dr. Spencer, of Lexington, Kentucky, calls her "a noble-hearted woman, who was one of the best friends I ever had. During nearly the whole of her husband's first term, I was half jocularly described as her secretary, her constant attendant at all receptions, public or social, and her advisor in many affairs. She was a woman much misrepresented and scandalously abused. For instance, the slanders assail- ing her patriotism, which was sincere and earnest; ac- cusations of correspondence with secessionists, etc. During all that time she would open no letter or parcel until I had opened and decided whether she should see it." Early in April in a raging snowstorm, the President, Mrs. Lincoln, and Tad visited the Army of the Poto- mac. Mr. Noah Brooks, who accompanied them, said : "So thick was the weather and so difficult the naviga- tion, that we were forced to anchor for the night in a little cove in the Potomac opposite Indian Head, where we remained until the following morning. I could not help thinking that if the Rebels had made a raid on the Potomac at that time, the capture of the Chief Magis- 210 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN trate of the United States would have been a very sim- ple matter. So far as I could see, there were no guards on board the boat and no precautions were taken to guard against surprise." At General Hooker's headquarters the party was provided with three large hospital tents for their stay of a week, the tents were floored and furnished with camp bedsteads, the fresh crisp air was invigorating, the review of the magnificent army was encouraging, and Tad was having the time of his life. On the out- skirts of the cavalry and in charge of a mounted orderly, the spirited Tad rode with his "gray cloak flying in the gusty wind like the plume of Henry of Navarre." The President acknowledged that it was a great relief to get away from Washington and the poli- ticians, but said sadly, "nothing touches the tired spot." A photograph of a Confederate officer came through the lines while Mrs. Lincoln was in camp; it was ad- dressed to General Averill who had been a classmate of the sender and on the back of the photograph was written "A rebellious Rebel." Mrs. Lincoln declared it meant that the rebel officer was in rebellion against the rebel government, but Mr. Lincoln smiled and said, "It means that rebel officer wants everybody to know he is a double-dyed-in-the-wool sort of rebel, a rebel of rebels." MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 211 President Lincoln particularly enjoyed the jests of the soldiers. A Confederate soldier jested thus in a Confederate newspaper: "Our minister nearly got himself into a scrape the other day and whether he is a bit of a wag or a very careless fellow or an 'Abolition traitor' is now the subject of discus- sion with us. At the meeting on Fast Day he gave out Dr. Watts hymn commencing: And are we wretches yet alive And do we yet rebel 'Tis wondrous, 'tis amazing grace That we are out of hell." The President's family as usual spent the summer months at the Soldiers' Home. There was more fresh air, less formality, and Tad could live on the back of his pony; but no matter how she tried, Mary Lincoln could not ease that "tired spot" in her husband's heart. She saw him with hollows under his eyes and a grop- ing gloomy look out of them which seemed to pierce far into a tragic future. Her own eyes watching him would grow misty with anxiety, seeing which Mr. Lin- coln would force a cheering smile and pat the "little woman's" shoulder. They grew closer and more lov- ingly dependent on each other day by day during these heart-breaking years. While driving out to the Sol- diers' Home in July, Mrs. Lincoln was violently 212 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN thrown from her carriage, and severely injured by her head striking a stone. The President was greatly alarmed and watched over her tenderly and anxiously and overwhelmed the trained nurse with thanks for saving "Mother's" life. He sent this telegram to Rob- ert, a student at Harvard: "Executive Mansion, Washington July 3, 1863. "Robert T. Lincoln Cambridge, Mass. Don't be uneasy your mother very slightly hurt by her fall. A Lincoln." In August another shock came to Mary Lincoln. In a skirmish at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, her youngest brother lay silent in his uniform of gray. Surely it couldn't be true ! He was so young, only a boy — just about the age of her own son Robert; in his babyhood he had been the darling of her heart, her loving, fiery, red-headed brother! In memory she felt his warm, moist little hand clinging affectionately to hers. The romping, merry, warm-hearted little rascal ! She could hear his voice with a slight lisp, "See, Sister Mary," as he tried to attract her attention to the merits of his new puppies and, mark of the deepest love and admiration in a small boy's heart, "I am going to let you take your M u < ° - J J ffl fa Q M Q O ^ Hi c u % bo x O 3 O a. o Mary Todd Lincoln Photograph taken in i860 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 261 The bullet which took the life of her beloved hus- band practically ended the life of Mary Todd Lincoln. She was martyred by the same bullet and for the same cause which made Abraham Lincoln a deified martyr. Her husband's agony was soon over, stilled in peaceful death, while she, with this mortal wound in her heart, must linger and suffer untold agony for many years. She wrote afterwards, "All I wished then was to die, if it had been our Heavenly Father's will." j(From letter to Congressman Orne.) She and her son Robert were overwelmed by an ava- lanche of letters and telegrams. I am quoting three of particular interest, one from Queen Victoria, one from the Empress Eugenie, and one from Louis Philippe D'Orleans, better known as the Comte de Paris. "Osborne. April 29, 1865. "Dear Madam, Though a stranger to you I cannot remain silent when so terrible a calamity has fallen upon you and your country, and must personally express my deep and heartfelt sym- pathy with you under the shocking circumstances of your present dreadful misfortune. No one can better appreciate than / can, who am myself utterly brokenhearted by the loss of my own beloved Hus- band, who was the light of my life, — my stay — my all, — 262 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN what your sufferings must be ; and I earnestly pray that you may be supported by Him to whom alone the sorely stricken can look for comfort, in this hour of heavy affliction. With renewed expressions of true sympathy, I remain dear Madam, Your sincere friend Victoria." "Madame: L'Empereur fait parvenie a Washington les temoignages officials de l'indignation et de la douleur qu'inspire a la France le coup fatal vient de frapper le President Lincoln. Mais a cote de cette calamite nationale il y a un malheur domestique qui eveille dans mon coeur une emotion profond. Je veux, Madame, vous en offrir personnellement l'expres- sion, ainsi que Fassurance des voeux que j'adresse au ciel pour qu'il vous donne la force de supporter cette cruelle epreuve. Croyez, Madame, a ma vive sympathie et a mos sentiments les plus sinceres. Eugenie. Paris 28 avril, 1865. Tuileries." "York House, Truckenham, S. W. May 5th, 1865. "Madam: The overwhelming affliction which has befallen you and which has spread mourning not only over your country but MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 263 over the whole world, ought perhaps to command my silent sympathy. But that national calamity is also a personal loss to me who had many opportunities of appreciating him- self the noble heart, the great qualities of M. Lincoln who held from him his commission in the Federal army and who gratefully remembers the gracious and friendly manner in which it was tendered to him. I hope therefore that you will excuse the liberty I take to offer you the expression of my sincere condolence with your grief. It is an impulse which I could not resist, an homage which I am anxious to pay to a great and respected memory. Nobody pretends to offer you any consolations, for what mean the voices of the whole world when the only voice which we long to hear once more is silent forever? But the expressions of sympathy are, perhaps, more acceptable when they come from one who has gone himself through the terrible ordeal of great and untimely family losses. It is with those feelings that I beg you, Madam, to be- lieve me Your most devoted, Louis Philippe D'Orleans." CHAPTER XII WAITING A S SOON as Mary Lincoln and her son Robert •*^- were calm enough to think of themselves and their affairs, they settled all their debts in Wash- ington — no one at the Capital should say that Presi- dent Lincoln died insolvent. She, to be sure, had some personal debts which she must and would pay later if the New York merchants would give her time. She wrote to Congressman Orne: "I told you what my eldest son and I have always kept to ourselves, that as soon as our senses could be regained I had every Washington and every other in- debtedness sent to me and out of every dollar I could command I paid to the utmost farthing. In some cases known to the Administration, but in very few, it was all done by ourselves, my son and myself, out of our money, so it should be said President Lincoln was not in debt. This is one of the causes why I am so strait- ened now, for living as we were compelled to, my hus- band not being a rich man, and we had to pay enor- mous prices for everything those war times." For five weeks after her husband's death Mary Lin- coln had not been able to rise from her bed, and then 264 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 265 came the heart-breaking task of packing up to leave the White House, each article had some association with her dear dead — Willie — her husband. Lizzie Keckley, the efficient colored seamstress, who had taken tender care of her during her five weeks' illness, super- intended the packing, and in May, 1865, broken in health and mind, Mary Lincoln, accompanied by her two sons, Robert and Tad, left the White House for Chicago. There was a long delay in the settlement of Mr. Lin- coln's estate and by 1867 the $22,000 allotted her by Congress for the President's unfinished term had grown alarmingly less. The bills for unsettled accounts that she had asked the merchants to send her had come all too promptly and she was overwhelmed at their magni- tude; mortified and terror stricken, too, at her inability to settle her indebtedness, she was dazed and did not know where to turn for help. For at this time Mary was a singularly lonely woman. Due to her mental trouble, which had been daily increasing ever since her husband's death, her former good judgment had be- come impaired. Her sisters and other relatives who voiced to Mary their indignant protests, entreating her to curb her excitement and eccentricity, only incurred her anger and had become estranged from her; they did not understand until later, the tragic cause which 266 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN finally several physicians and a jury of twelve men pro- nounced — insanity. These terrible debts were making her head ache. She felt as if red-hot needles were being driven through her brain. Honesty was ingrained in Mary's code of life, and these merchants must not suffer loss through her folly. She must sell everything! It would be humiliating. In her extremity and weakness she reverted to the impulse of her childhood, which had been to seek the love and help she had unfailingly found in her black mammy who had shielded her from many a deserved scolding. In the faithful, sympathetic colored woman, Elizabeth Keckley, formerly a slave in a good old Vir- ginia family, Mary saw the only available substitute, and to her she turned blindly for sympathy and advice — with most disastrous result. Mary, with the aid of Elizabeth Keckley, attempted to dispose of laces, frocks, everything — it was a dismal failure. Her piti- ful efforts to settle her debts brought down upon her head insults and vituperation from the press both North and South. No one seemed to recognize the sturdy honesty which made this shrinking woman will- ing to swallow her pride in this futile adventure. She was frantic with humiliation at the publicity and criti- cisms; her heavy black crepe veil was drawn closer and more and more did she shrink from an unsympa- MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 267 thetic, misunderstanding world. Nor did she suffer alone, as the following will show. Extract from letter written to Miss Mary Harlan by Robert Todd Lincoln : Oct. 1 6th, '67 Chicago, Illinois "I suppose you have seen some of the papers so there is no need of detailing what I was told they were full of. I did not read them. The simple truth, which I cannot tell to anyone not personally interested, is that my mother is on one subject not mentally responsible. I have suspected this for some time from various indi- cations and now have no doubt of it. I have taken the advice of one or two of my friends in whom I trust most and they tell me I can do nothing. It is terribly irksome to sit still under all that has happened and say nothing, but it has to be done. The greatest misery of all is the fear of what may happen in the future. This is, of course, not to be foreseen and is what trou- bles me most. I have no doubt that a great many good and amiable people wonder why I do not take charge of her affairs and keep them straight but it is very hard to deal with one who is sane on all subjects but one. You could hardly believe it possible, but my mother protests to me that she is in actual want and nothing I can do or say will convince her to the contrary. Do 268 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN you see that I am likely to have a good deal of trouble in the future, do what I can to prevent it." Mary Lincoln was not the only one in that fatal box at Ford's Theater, April 14, 1865, whose reason was dethroned by shock. Poor Major Rathbone, years later, was adjudged insane and his experience on that tragic night was supposed to have been the cause. There were intervals, however, when Mary was al- most her brave, normal, high-spirited self and a stranger meeting her would see no trace of an unbal- anced mentality. At other times, with her brain on fire with pain, she was submerged in gloom and her heart was filled with bitterness against the sad fate which had overtaken her. At such times — sunk in despair, inert, listless, no courage left to fight the battle of life — she ironically contrasted her situation with that of those who were winning the plaudits of a grate- ful North and were being showered with magnificent gifts of houses and bank accounts while she, the widow of the murdered chief, was overwhelmed with unkind- ness. When Charles Sumner, that staunch friend of her husband and herself, urged Congress to make her an appropriation, Congress hesitated long years over an appropriation of twenty-five thousand dollars and an annuity of two thousand dollars — both were finally granted before her death but with so much reluctance, David Todd, Mary Todd Lincoln's Half Brother From a photograph taken about 1862 Mrs. Charles Kellogg (Margaret Todd), the Eldest of Mrs. Lincoln' Half Sisters MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 269 wrangling, and rudeness that any graciousness attached to the nation's gift was lost in the manner of its be- stowal. "Rich gifts wax poor, when the giver proves unkind." The image of her husband filled Mary's heart and mind. The past — there was no past for her in which he did not figure; the present was overflowing with horror at his tragic death ; the future loomed a dreary interminable waste without his dear companionship. Broken-hearted, bewildered, she was like a traveler lost in the desert. She did not know where to turn, where to find an oasis of comfort. She hungered and thirsted for sympathy and friendship. Restless and unhappy, she wandered from one lonely spot to another seeking what she could never hope to find, peace, health, surcease from her overwhelming sorrow. Pur- sued by ignorant gossip, she became extremely sensitive and avoided notoriety by living in the most unostenta- tious, quiet way possible. While her husband lived she could smile and jest at the unpleasant things said of them both ; but now her smiles were tears, her jests were sobs. She was truly a victim of the cruel times in which she lived, a suffering, innocent creature, whose only crime was her prominence. Mrs. Shipman writes that sometime in the latter part of the sixties she was visiting in Chicago. Just before 270 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN she left Louisville, Kentucky, she promised Mr. and Mrs. Speed that she would call on Mrs. Lincoln who was then in Chicago. Mrs. Shipman, though some- what impressed by the newspaper stories of Mrs. Lin- coln and advised by the friends she was visiting that Mrs. Lincoln lived in strictest seclusion and declined to receive or to return any calls, was discouraged but at the same time resolved to fulfill her promise. To her surprise Mrs. Lincoln not only received her cor- dially but returned her call the next day. This meet- ing with the daughter of one of Mrs. Lincoln's inti- mate girlhood friends developed into a warm friend- ship. Mrs. Shipman relates an incident that happened when she and her brother were in Baltimore at Bar- num's Hotel. Mrs. Lincoln was there at the same time with Robert and Tad. The two latter having to return to Washington, Mrs. Lincoln asked Mrs. Shipman and her brother to accompany her in to dinner. As they entered the dining room they heard on all sides, from whispers to loud tones, "Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Lincoln." "Some of the guests," said Mrs. Shipman, "so far for- getting themselves as to rise from their seats to stare at her. Mrs. Lincoln was embarrassed and indignant, and this was a mild exhibition of the vulgar imperti- nence to which she was habitually exposed on her MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 271 travels. It has been said, perhaps untruthfully, that she sometimes traveled incognito. If she did, is it any wonder that having the courage of a strong individu- ality she tried to escape this ill-bred vulgar curiosity by so simple a stratagem?" To quote Mrs. Shipman again: "My opportunities for judging her entitle me to speak of her [Mrs. Lincoln] with some confidence. In her younger days she was intimate with my mother and in later years during the trying period of her widow- hood I saw a great deal of her under a variety of cir- cumstances. She was vivacious and mercurial, full of repartee and dash but never unrefined; and though by nature light-hearted was never light-headed. Her con- versation and letters plainly betokened the cultivated lady. She was perfectly frank and extremely high- spirited and, when she thought the occasion demanded it, capable no doubt of a cutting expression. A more affectionate heart I never knew. In mental training, intelligence, and accomplishments, quite equal to her position and more than the equal of many of those who have occupied it. She bore herself throughout as a warm-hearted, whole-souled, high-spirited Kentucky woman, which she was." "No woman," wrote another friend of Mrs. Lin- coln's, "ever sustained the dignity of widowhood with 272 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN more appropriate behavior. Only once did she lay aside her heavy weeds, and this at the earnest solicita- tion of her son Tad on the occasion of his birthday, when she wore a plain black silk dress, but never again could she be induced to put off her deep mourning which was the external emblem of her incurable grief." Mr. Paul Shipman writes to the editor of the Louis- ville Courier-Journal: "General Badeau in the New York World gives his personal recollections of Mrs. Lincoln. While I was Consul General at London,' he says, 'I learned of her [Mrs. Lincoln] living in an obscure quarter and went to see her. She was touched by the attention and when I asked her to my house — for it seemed wrong that the widow of the man who had done so much for us all should be ignored by an American representative — she wrote me a note of thanks, betraying how rare such courtesies had become to her then.' This is a little too much! If I ever catch the spirit of Mr. Toodles, I should make General Badeau's acquaintance and he should do me the honor to ask me to his house and I should accept or decline without thanks. I wish him to understand in advance that I omit the thanks simply and purely to exclude his conclusion that such cour- tesies have become rare with me. In the face of social MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 273 logic of this sort, a gentleman must needs show himself a boor to prove himself not a beggar. General Badeau says Mrs. Lincoln was touched by the attention he paid in calling on her. "If thus easily touched, her sensibilities during her short stay in London must have been rather heavily taxed for I seldom met her that she did not have some- thing to tell me of this, that or the other distinguished person who had just called on her — now Bishop Simp- son, now Mr. Motley, the Comte de Paris, and so on to the end of the shining chapter. General Badeau, misled by his peculiar logic of etiquette, mistook her civility as he misplaced his compassion. Her polite- ness he may rest assured was no appeal to his pity. She did not appear to think herself neglected. But if touched by his attention, I have no doubt she would be touched, if living, by the apology he makes now for having shown it. She is dead, but the American peo- ple, it is to be hoped, will accept this apology. "As to the quarter of London in which Mrs. Lincoln lived, a word will suffice. Her residence was in sight of Bedford Square, perhaps five minutes' walk from the British Museum, a quarter of London abounding in noble mansions which throughout the first quarter of this century held the rank and fashion of the town and still holds the flower of its gentry. It is an airy 274 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN sunny cheerful district of the metropolis, respectable in every sense and 'obscure' in none. Mrs. Lincoln, in fact, could scarcely have chosen a more suitable quarter. Her life at this time was subservient to Tad who lived with her, pursuing his studies under a tutor. She appeared wrapped up in him, shunned rather than courted attention and desired above all things peace and retirement. "I saw a good deal of her, as my wife, of whom she was an old friend, could not go out at the time, she was often at our rooms and once I accompanied her to hear Spurgeon preach. I found her sympathetic, cordial, sensible, intelligent, and brimming with that bonhomie so fascinating in the women of your own South, of whom indeed she was one. No trace of eccentricity appeared in her conduct or manners. She was simply a bright, wholesome, attractive woman. I could not for the life of me recognize the Mrs. Lincoln of the newspapers in the Mrs. Lincoln I saw." Mrs. Lincoln's eldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, was a great stay and comfort to his mother. In 1868 he married Miss Mary Harlan, a very popular girl of Washington society. Mrs. Lincoln was delighted with her son's choice. Several years before President Lin- coln's death, he had said to Mr. Stanton: "Mary is MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 275 tremendously in love with Senator Harlan's little daughter. I think she has picked her out for a daugh- ter-in-law. As usual, I think Mary has shown fine taste." The first child of this marriage was named for her grandmother, Mary Todd Lincoln, and when Mrs. Shipman met Mrs. Abraham Lincoln in London, she says Mrs. Lincoln often spoke of her son Robert and his little family and was always planning to send them some gift. She sent her daughter-in-law a wrap of "silver gray and Marie Louise blue" and wrote her, "It is as pretty as can be and Bob will surely think you are more charming than ever when you are ar- ranged in it." She finishes this: "I feel miserably blue to-day. I am just recovering from a severe at- tack of neuralgia in my head, accompanied by great indisposition which has been my faithful companion for more than two weeks — my health has been quite as bad as it was last winter. I am well aware with- out my physician so frequently repeating to me — that quiet is necessary to my life; therefore in such places, I must at present abide — certainly ill luck pre- sided at my birth — certainly within the last few years it has been a faithful attendant." Letter to Mrs. Orne: 276 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN "Frankfurt, February n, 1869. "Tomorrow is the anniversary of my dear husband's birthday and it may be, if my health continues to fail me as it is now so fast doing, another birthday will find me with him. I too, dear, loved Mr. Stanton yet he died peace- fully on his bed almost five years after the close of the War. My husband, great, good, and glorious beyond all words of praise, was cruelly murdered, snatched from the side of the wife and family who adored him without being able to sigh a farewell." Tad was a splendid manly fellow, and his mother completely submerged her life in his. Her supreme interest now was his education. She writes to Mrs. Orne from Frankfurt, Germany, December 29, 1869, "Taddie is like some old woman with regard to his care of me. His dark, loving eyes watching over me remind me so much of his dearly beloved father's." Another letter to Mrs. Orne: "If my darling husband had lived out his four years he promised me we should live our remaining years in a home we both should have enjoyed. * * * Bowed down and broken-hearted in my terrible bereavement my thoughts this last sad summer have often turned to you. I have remem- bered with most grateful emotions your tender sympathy in the first days of my overwhelming anguish. Time does not reconcile me to the loss of the most devoted and loving husband a sadly afflicted woman ever possessed. How Alexander H. Todd The youngest of the Todd children, killed during a skirmish at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, August, 1863 I Mrs. Ben Hardin Helm (Emilie Todd) From a photograph made in 1864 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 277 dearly I long, my kind friend, to lay my aching head and sorrowing heart by the side of this dearly beloved one. When the summons comes for my departure I will gladly welcome it for there the weary are at rest." It was her greatest pleasure to receive and answer letters from home. Few days passed that she did not write to her daughter-in-law. "London No. 9 Woburn Place Russell Square. "My dear Mary — your most acceptable letter was re- ceived to-day. Need I say to you, how much delight it affords me to hear from you. That blessed baby, how dearly I would love to look upon her sweet young face. If my boy Taddie and myself are wanderers in a strange land, our thoughts are continually with you and we speak of you very frequently — I have just received a letter from Mrs. Simpson who is now en route to Italy. When she left here we came to some understanding that I might join her about Christmas, in Rome. As a matter of course, even if it suited pecuniarily, which it does not, it would never do to have Taddie or his tutor accompany me. Tad- die is closeted with his tutor seven and a half hours each day, and from Saturday to Saturday. When I am with him for three hours to listen to his examination of his studies of the week I can see a great improvement in him. But of course if I go to Italy the tutor must be relinquished and he placed in school or I must trust him to the stormy waves 278 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN and the merciful Providence of our great Father in Heaven for safety and protection until he lands in America! Driving down to the bank at noon to-day for letters I pro- posed to Tad with a trembling voice and aching heart you may be sure, that he would embark on the Russia which sails next Saturday week for the U. S. Dec. ioth and go home pass his Christmas with you and Bob and immediately afterwards be placed in school. Study more than he does now he could not possibly do. If he only had the informa- tion of his tutor, who is most indefatigable, I told him to-day, I would be willing to live on a crust of bread a day — almost. To-night, we are engaged to meet Governor Evans and family and I am going to ask Governor Evans' candid advice on the subject. He came over last week on the same vessel. To trust my beautiful, darling good boy to the elements, at this season of the year, makes my heart faint within me. Each breath I drew would be a prayer for his safety, which only those who have been as deeply bereaved as myself could fully understand. On the other hand, the English schools have vacation for a month after Christmas which if I did not send Tad home would delay my going to Italy until the 1st of Feb., keeping him with his tutor in the mean-time at hard study. I am troubled to hear of your dear mother's continued ill health. I do so trust that Bob will come over with you if it is only for three months, it would do him such a world of good. He loves you so very dearly and misses you very greatly. I was such an excessively indulged wife — my darling husband was so gentle and easy. You MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 279 know you will always be first love of daughters- in-law. I often tell Tad I can scarcely flatter myself he will ever marry to suit me quite as well as dear Bob has done. Please present my warmest love to your mother and father. * * *" "Florence, Italy — Feb. 12, 1870. My dear Mary: My servant woman and I have arrived safely after much fatigue in this beautiful Florence. We came through the charming Tyrol, via Milan and Lake Como, had a day's sail on the latter the beauties of which are simply indescrib- able. Passed three days at Geneva and found Mrs. Simp- son and Ida here wondering what had become of me. Yesterday we went together to the Pitti Palace where the King resides and saw the room where the beautiful Princess Marguerite sleeps. We can only wish her health and happi- ness all her days knowing full well by experience that power and high position do not ensure a bed of roses. Mrs. S. has been here already four weeks. * * * Armed with my guide book, a desire to see all that is wonderful and strange and with my faithful domestic following in my wake, I must pursue my journey alone. At Venice, where Mrs. Simpson has not yet been, in three weeks' time we will meet and wend our way up to dear old Frankfurt, thence to England. I received a letter this morning from dear Tad, I wrote you that until the middle of April next he is placed with young Evans in an English school. I am neglecting to tell you that we visited the studio on yesterday of the 280 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN man to whom the commission was given for the statue of my dearly beloved husband." — [Larkin Meade, the Sculptor]. "Frankfurt — March 22. "My very dear Mary: After a most tedious journey from Nice of constant travel for three days, I arrived here this morning. Of course, I sent immediately for my Taddie and as he has just left me for an hour, I feel that I cannot refrain from writing you, for your most welcome letter of March 1st has just been read. It pains me beyond expression, to learn of your recent illness and I deeply deplore that I was not with you to wait upon you. My dear child, do take good care of your precious health — even the thought of you at this great distance is a great alleviation to the sorrow I am enduring. I may quietly return to you, as it is, nothing can please me in what is beyond doubt most necessary at the present time both to my health and to my peace of mind — this change of scene. My thoughts have been constantly with you for months past, and, oh ! how I have wished day by day, that you could be with me and enjoy the air and the sunshine of the lovely climate I have just left. It would have been utterly impossible for me with my present health and sad state of mind, to have taken the least interest in Italian cities this winter. I return to find my dear boy much grown in even so short a time and I am pained to see his face thinner, although he retains his usual bright com- MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 281 plexion. He is doubtless greatly improving in his studies, yet I am very sure the food he gets at his school does not agree with him. This you may be sure is a most painful belief to me. When I am here, I can always give him his dinner as he has their permission to be absent. His presence has become so necessary even to my life. In two days' time he will have his Easter vacation for ten days and he is urging me to take him somewhere at that time and if I were not so fatigued would gladly consent to do so, but I suppose it will end in my acquiescence with his wishes. * * * Do oblige me by considering me as a mother for you are very dear to me as a daughter. Anything and everything is yours — if you will consider them worth an acceptance. My mind was so distracted with my grief in that house, 375, I cannot remember where anything was put. It will be such a relief to me to know that articles can be used and enjoyed by you. * * * Remember everything is yours and feeling so fully assured as you must be of my love, will you not, my dear girl, consider them as such? Oh! that I could be with you ! for with the lonely life I impose upon myself, separation from those I love so much, at this try- ing, heart-rending time, is excruciating pain. If when we meet I find you restored to health I will feel in a measure compensated for the dreary absence. I am glad you en- joyed your visit to Springfield. They are all so pleasantly situated — so hospitable and so fully prepared to receive you with the greatest affection. Do make the promised visit to Mrs. Edwards — [Elizabeth Todd, Mrs. Lincoln's sister] in the summer and then go to the seaside and rest quietly 282 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN for a month, no less time. Let me beseech you, dear Mary, to take care of your health. My head aches now for the tears I have shed this morn- ing in thinking of you and our loving boy. Taddie with his great good heart loves you so devotedly. I shall try to think of you as with your dear mother while it is so cold in Chicago at present. I know they will be careful of you. I never see anything particularly pretty — that I do not wish it was yours. My spirit is very willing but my purse not very extensive. I am pained to hear of Bettie Stuart's death. She was a most amiable woman, and her father is a very dearly loved cousin — a most affectionate relative. Did you see Mrs. Lizzie Brown in Springfield? — a very sweet woman. I shall, dear Mary, await most anxiously news from you. If I do not hear soon I shall imagine every trouble. If you will write to dear Taddie, you will gratify him very much. Referring to that speech Mrs. made you last winter that housekeeping and babies were an uncomfortable state of existence for a young married lady I think her experience was different from most mothers who consider that in the outset in life — a nice home — loving husband and precious child are the happiest stages of life. I fear she has grown moody, but at the same time I hope you will have a good rest and enjoy yourself free for a year or more to come. The Doctor has just left me and says he wonders to find me sitting up. You should go out every day and enjoy yourself — you MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 283 are so very young and should be as gay as a lark. Trouble comes soon enough, my dear child, and you must enjoy life, whenever you can. We all love you so very much — and you are blessed with a devoted husband and darling child — so do go out and enjoy the sunshine. I do so hope your dear mother has recovered her health. When I can I will write to her. Do, I pray you, write frequently. I do wish you would take out the double India shawl, with a red cen- ter, which I never wore and make faithful use of it." "Obennsel, Germany, May 19th, 1870. "My dear Mary: I have come out here to pass a day or two with Taddie (his new school quarters) as I leave most probably tomor- row for Bohemia — a journey which will require fully twenty hours to accomplish. The first evening I will stop at the very old town of Nuremburg, so full of interest and per- haps remain there a day to see the old castles and churches. This morning in this old village five minutes by rail from Hamburg, I entered an old church with dates of 16 10 on it. The Christs that are suspended on the walks around the town — bear dates 1704 — until we get accustomed to seeing these things they appear very strange to fresh American eyes. When I came out here two or three days since, I had just returned from a most charming trip in the Odenwald Mountains, where the scenery is very beautiful also Tad went with me to Heidelburg, to Baden for a few hours and 284 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN travelled in the Black Forest. At Heidelburg we ascended the mountain one morning about nine o'clock roamed through the ruins of the magnificent old castle and took our breakfast in the grounds where there is a very fine restaurant. At noon we proceeded to Baden and ascended another mountain height, in the evening to visit the ruins of another grand old castle — centuries back. The next day we went out to "La Favorita" the abode of the "White Lady." Taddie and I were continually wishing that you and Bob and that precious baby were with us. Mrs. Lincoln writes to Mrs. Shipman: "Frankfurt am Main, June 29, 1870. "My dear Mrs. Shipman: Although weary months have passed since your very kind and welcome letter was received, yet notwithstanding it has so long remained unanswered. You have been very fre- quently in my thoughts and I have been mentally wishing you such a world of happiness in your new marriage rela- tions. Your letter in the early spring found me quite an invalid and I have just returned from a long visit to the Marienbad baths and waters in Bohemia and I find my health greatly benefited. I can well imagine how greatly you have enjoyed your journeyings in Europe and I truly hope we may meet whilst we are both abroad. You with your life so filled with love and happiness, whilst I alas am but a weary exile. Without my beloved husband's pres- ence, the world is filled with gloom and dreariness for me. MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 285 I am going with my young son in a day or two into the country to remain some weeks. If you will kindly write me and direct to care of Philip Nicoll Schmidt, Bankers, Frankfurt, Am Main, Germany, I will receive it. The name of the gentleman you have married is too prominent a one in America not to be familiar to me and associated with one so highly gifted as Mr. Prentice was. The gems of poetry he has written will always fill our minds and hearts with remembrance of him. Dickens too has passed away. How much delight it would give me to meet you this summer. Do you ever hear from our amiable and lovely friend, Mrs. Speed? With compliments to Mr. Shipman and many affectionate congratulations to yourself. I remain always truly yours, Mary Lincoln." She writes to Mrs. Orne: "Frankfurt, Germany, August 17, 1870. "I must speak of my young boy. He has become so homesick and at the same time his English education has become so neglected that I have consented with many a heartache to permit him to go home." With her heart quivering and aching, she had ever before her the image of her idolized husband. Travel could not dim her grief, and she dreaded a return to America, where her memories would be quickened into more vivid pain. 286 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN "August 20 "Dear Mary. My very pleasant and affectionate friend arrived in town since I wrote the first part of this letter — Mrs. Orne. She came from Hamburg in search of me and has rooms at the same Hotel where I am now stopping. We are together all the time. She is a very lovely woman and will remain here some time, she says, to be with me. I feel quite made up." This note was slipped into a sad letter which Mrs. Lincoln had just written her daughter-in-law. The joy she expresses in the love and companionship of her friend — Mrs. Orne, shows how lonely she had been, how she craved understanding and friendship — but nothing, for long, could still that urge for constant change of scene which drove her from place to place in the vain effort to drown thought and sorrow. "Leamington, England, Sept. 10, 1870. "My dear Mary, Your very welcome letter was received last evening. Taddie and his tutor began their studies together on yester- day, both appear deeply interested. He comes to us most highly recommended, and I shall see that not a moment will be idly passed. From eight until one o'clock each day Tad is seated at his table — with his tutor studying and from five to seven each evening with his tutor he is studying his lessons. On no occasion do I intend that he MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 287 shall deviate from this rule. I have just been in to see him studying, and they are earnestly engaged — for dear life. The gentleman who is teaching him is very highly educated — very quiet and gentlemanly and patience itself. Tad now realizes the great necessity of an education, and I am sure will do well. I am coughing so badly that I can scarcely write. I left Liverpool last Saturday after- noon so completely sick that I determined to come on here to be well attended to. This is the first day I have sat up since then and a physician tells me that as soon as possi- ble I should go to a dryer climate. It will be a great trial to separate myself from dear Mrs. Orne who has proved so loving a friend to me. But my health is again beginning to fail me as it did last winter. I can only hope that I can secure some quiet Southern nook to rest — until the disturbances in Italy have ceased. When I see you I can tell you a great deal about the war which I cannot now write. Later in October she writes again : "Leamington, England, October 27, '70. "My dear Mrs. Shipman: Your very kind and welcome letter of September 27 has just been received from Frankfurt. I cannot express to you how deeply I regret not being in Frankfurt when you were there. I have been absent most of the time from Germany since last June, have been occasionally in London but this I have considered my resting place. I am exceed- 288 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN ingly anxious to meet you, and if you could not come here to the loveliest garden spot of Europe I would run up any time to London. In three hours and a half we arrive there passing through Oxford. Very possibly you may have been here, — surrounded by Kenilworth Castle, Warwick Castle, Stratford-on-Avon, nine miles distant, and only a very pleas- ant drive. My son of course is here with me. I have been fortunate enough to secure a very fine English tutor for him, who comes to us very highly recommended, a very fine scholar and a gentlemanly, conscientious man. He recites his lessons with his tutor seven hours of each day, so you can imagine that I see very little of my dear, good son. If he improves as he is doing I shall be satisfied. Many Americans are always here. One especial family with whom I have been very intimate for years, has been with me all the time. Again I repeat, I long to see you. My remembrance of you is of a very agreeable nature, and in this strange land those whom we have formerly loved become doubly dear. Hoping that I may soon hear from you, my dear friend, and with compliments for your hus- band and much love for yourself. Your affectionate friend, Mary Lincoln." "9 Woburn Place, Russell Square, Jan. 13, 1871. "My dear Mrs. Shipman: I have concluded in the weakness of my Mother heart to accompany my son out to his school and perhaps remain a MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 289 day or two near him. As the movement is somewhat unex- pected, I have in consequence not a moment to lose and it grieves me to say not even an opportunity of saying to you, for whom I entertain so true and firm a friendship, fare- well. Even now I am being hurried, yet I could not leave your neighborhood without committing my regrets to paper. I shall hope soon to hear the good news that your health has improved. I go myself coughing most disagreeably and a bundle of wrappings. My servant woman has proved herself within the past week a good nurse. With kind re- gards to Mr. Shipman and ever so much love to your dear self, believe me always Your truly affectionate friend, Mary Lincoln." "London, January 26th, 1871. "My dear Mary Count de Paris came in about a week since, twelve miles from Tuckenham, to see me, having only heard the day before that I was in town. He then wished me to name a day when I would drive with them, and on my table this morning I find a most urgent note to come out to visit them. I will do so, on my return in the spring. * * * Be sure to write often to me for everything connected with you or yours is of deep, deep interest to me. How pained I am, dear Mary, to hear of your beloved mother's continued illness. Tad is often very anxious to hear of your brother for he, with his loving heart, is very much attached to him. Tad is almost wild to see Bob, you and 290 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN the baby; he thinks the latter must be a rare young lady, I am also of his opinion. I scarcely imgained when I began this letter that my strength would hold out for more than three pages, but the themes which we discuss together in our epistles are decidedly exciting and exhaustless. * * *" When homesickness at last became unendurable to both Tad and his mother, they returned to America and were welcomed in the home of her son Robert T. Lincoln and his wife in Chicago. In May, 1871, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln wrote to her cousin Eliza Stuart: "Wabash Avenue, May . "My dear Cousin: My young son is confined to his bed with a severe cold and in consequence we will not remove to the Clifton House until Saturday. We are received with so much affection here and notwithstanding the confined limits of this charm- ing little home my son Robert, who is all that is noble and good and his lovely little wife will not hear to our removal. Yet as she is compelled to go instantly to her mother, who is in a most critical state, I think we had best make the change. In reality when they return, of course we will be almost always together. I love my son's wife whom I have known since she was a child just as well as my own sons and her warm heart has always been mine. You are so amiable and good and will appreciate all such kindly rela- tions. Dear Cousin Eliza, when you are coming in town MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 291 with Lizzie drop in and see me. Broken-hearted as I am over my deep bereavement, yet the memory of earlier years and the memory of those who were so kind to me in my desolate childhood is ever remembered by me. My life was so enriched by the most loving and devoted of husbands which makes the present all the more sorrowful to bear. Do come. I trust you will remain in town some days longer. With much love I remain, Your affectionate cousin, Mary Lincoln." To Mary Lincoln's clouded mind and abysmal sor- row, even her happy, carefree, tomboy childhood, filled with more than the usual luxuries and advantages, seemed desolate without the presence of her beloved husband. Only the life she spent with him seemed worth while and happy — that part of the past without him seemed desolate, and though she had two loving and devoted sons and a daughter-in-law as dear to her as her own sons, the present without her "most loving and devoted husband" was too sorrowful to bear. Tad was well enough to be moved to the Clifton House but soon after grew much worse. "Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, July 3rd, 1 87 1. "Dear Robert: I received yours of the 25th and 28th on my return home after a week's absence in the interior of the State. I was 292 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN wretchedly uneasy about your Brother, and could hear nothing: telegraphed from Davenport on Friday, but re- ceived no reply. I infer from all the intimations from Washington and your silence that he must be better — and I trust out of danger. I am very solicitous to have Mary with her Mother as much as possible while I am compelled to be absent: it is almost a necessity that this should be so, or that I should give up the contest here, as every imag- inable scheme is being resorted to to control the election of Members of the "general assembly." As I am in it, per- haps it would be as well for you and Willie that I should go successfully through, if I can do so honorably. But this requires my presence in the State for the time being. And yet I would not remain away from Mrs. Harlan unless assured that she is both well taken care of and satisfied. When Mary is with her I know everything will be right. But I feel that this imposes a hardship on you, which per- haps ought not to be permitted. Page 2, Senator Harlan's letter: I wish you would send me the paper announcing Allison's arrival as "U. S. Senator from Iowa." Yours truly, Jas. Harlan. "Since writing the foregoing I have received a telegram via Muscatine. J.H. U R. T. Lincoln, Esq., Chicago, 111. MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 293 Extracts from letter written by Robert Todd Lincoln to his wife : "Chicago, July 11, 1871. "* * * Mr. Thomas Lincoln has been picking up for the last two or three days and is to all appearances improving, his face has lost some of its expression of dis- tress.* * *" Tad seemed to be improving and Robert Lincoln and his mother were so relieved they could smile and jest with the beginning of hope that "Mr. Thomas Lincoln" would recover, but three days later, July 14, in another letter to his wife, Robert Lincoln says : "I am sorry to tell you that Tad seems to be losing ground. Yesterday was very hot and oppressive and he got in a bad way during the night and this morning was nearly as bad as the first night you came to the Clifton House. I have just now (2 o'clock) come from him and he is looking and feeling better, but Dr. Davis says he can see nothing to found any hope of his recovery upon and that he can live only a few days — with the weak action of his heart and lungs. To-day there is a fine breeze and the air is really delightful — all of which makes him feel better but really have little or no effect upon his trouble. He is looking dreadfully." The next day, July 15, Tad breathed his last. Extracts from letter to Mrs. Robert Lincoln from her husband : 294 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN "We came back from Springfield this morning all well. I will not attempt to tell you all that has happened in the last ten days, for I am a good deal used up. Last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning Tad appeared a great deal better. He was stronger and looking well and the water was reduced a good deal in his chest. Thursday was very close and oppressive and it pulled him back very much. Friday afternoon he seemed to rally again and at eleven P. M. was sleeping nicely with prospects of having a good night, so I left him with mother and his two nurses and went to the house. I was aroused at half past four and went to the hotel and saw at once that he was failing fast. He was in great distress and laboring for breath and ease but I do not think he was in acute pain. He lingered on so until between half past seven and eight, when he sud- denly threw himself forward on his bar and was gone. Poor mother was almost distracted but Mrs. devoted herself to her, and we took her up to the house. During the day Mrs. , Mrs. Farlin and Mrs. Wm. H. Brown were with her. The next morning Mrs. Dr. Brown and your father came. We had services in the house in the afternoon and at night I went down to Springfield — with a car full of friends. Mother was utterly exhausted and could not go but Mrs. Dr. Brown stayed with her until I got back. I have a nurse with her and she is doing very well — better than I expected. I hope and expect that in a few days I will get her to go down to Springfield to my aunt Mrs. Edwards, and if so I will think I have done a good deal. MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 295 "I am very glad the picture of the baby [Mary Todd Lincoln, named for her grandmother] came in Friday for Tad was delighted with it and it was really the last pleasure he had on earth." His poor mother, frantic with anxiety, had nursed Tad without rest or sleep until the end — and with his death a crushing weight was added to her burden of sorrow and denser clouds to her already clouded mentality. Four years later, May 19, 1875, her son Robert, with the deepest grief, was compelled to have her placed in a sanitarium. The following letters will explain themselves. "Chicago, June 1, 1875. u Mrs. J. H. Orne. My dear Madam: Your letter written immediately after you received the news of the proceedings which I was unhappily compelled to take, should have received an earlier reply and I must beg you to excuse my apparent neglect. If you have since then seen any detailed account of the occurrences which forced me to place my mother under care, I think, indeed, know, you could not but have approved my action. Six physicians in council informed me that by longer delay I was making myself morally responsible for some very probable tragedy, which might occur at any moment. Some of my Eastern friends have criticized the public proceedings in court, which 296 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN seemed to them unnecessary. Against this there was no help, for we have a statute in this State which imposes a very heavy penalty on any one depriving an insane person of his liberty without the verdict of a jury. My mother is, I think, under as good care and as happily situated as is possible under the circumstances. She is in the private part of the house of Dr. Patterson and her associates are the members of his family only. With them she walks and drives whenever she likes and takes her meals with them or in her own room as she chooses, and she tells me she likes them all very much. The expression of surprise at my action which was telegraphed East, and which you doubt- less saw, was the first and last expression of the kind she has uttered and we are on the best of terms. Indeed my consolation in this sad affair is in thinking that she herself is happier in every way, in her freedom from care and excitement, than she has been in ten years. So far as I can see she does not realize her situation at all. It is of course my care that she should have everything for her comfort and pleasure that can be obtained. I can tell you nothing as to the probability of her restoration. It must be the work of some time if it occurs. Her physician who is of high repute is not yet able to give an opinion. The responsi- bility that has been and is now on me is one that I would gladly share if it was possible to do so, but being alone as I am, I can only do my duty as it is given me to see it. Trusting that I am guided for the best. Very sincerely yours, Robert T. Lincoln." MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 297 "August 8th. "Robert T. Lincoln, Esq., Dear Sir: Your letter dated June 1st has just reached me on my return from Saratoga. I thank you very much for it. It is a great comfort to hear from your own self, of the loving care and wise guidance which your dear Mother is under. Not that I ever had one doubt of that, for I know too much of your goodness as a son from her own lips to ever allow the first thought or suggestion to have any influence over me, and I doubt if there ever was more than one or two persons that had, for at Saratoga where there is always a great concourse of people, I never heard the first person say ought but that you had done perfectly right and spoke warmly in your praise also. I only wish all the States had the same "Statute." It is a blessed one. I can readily see how comfortable your dear Mother is made by your thoughtful care, and can with you believe her happier than she has been for years. Dear precious one! How my heart goes out towards her in love and affection! You may hope for her restoration. The physicians both here and in Europe pronounced my son-in-law incurable. Still he surprised them all with return to health. There is a "Great Physician" above all others "whose arm is not shortened'' and to whom we may all look. God give you strength to bear up under this chastening, and crown your days with such happiness that such a son of such a father most justly deserves. And now, Mr. Lincoln, if there is 298 MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN ever anything I can do for your Mother, remember I am at your service. With kind regards to yourself and your wife, I remain with great respect, Yours very truly, Sally B. Orne." At the end of eleven months Mary Lincoln was declared sane. Her sister Elizabeth (Mrs. Edwards) went to the sanitarium at Batavia and, accompanied by her sister and a trained nurse, Mary went back to Springfield. She was depressed and unhappy^ "I cannot endure to meet my former friends, Lizzie," she said bitterly; "they will never cease to regard me as a lunatic, I feel it in their soothing manner. If I should say the moon is made of green cheese they would heart- ily and smilingly agree with me. I love you, but I cannot stay. I would be much less unhappy in the midst of strangers." Mrs. Edwards, knowing that her sister was far from normal, felt very apprehensive to see her leave but she put no obstacle in her way; indeed, she came to think that a complete change might be beneficial to her mentally and physically. So Mary Lincoln, rest- less, hoping to find forgetfulness in travel abroad, went to France, to Germany, to Italy. At Pau, France, in December, 1879, she fell from a stepladder while MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN 299 hanging a small picture over her mantelpiece and seri- ously injured her spine. Fearing now that she might die among strangers, in October, 1880, she sailed for America. Her nephew met her in New York and escorted her back to Springfield to the home of her sister, Mrs. Edwards. There, shrinking and sensitive, seeing no one — even when she was persuaded to take a drive the carriage curtains must be drawn — she spent the remainder of her broken, clouded life in the home filled with memories of her sparkling, happy girlhood, her rose-colored dreams of love and life. Prostrated by illness, the light of life and joy blotted out for her, she lingered in a purple twilight of grief until merciful death claimed her; the death she prayed for. "Ah, my dear friend," she wrote, "you will rejoice when you know that I have gone to my husband and children." The end of her suffering came July 16, 1882. Her friends paid her silent tribute in the same room which had witnessed her light-hearted gayety and her mar- riage to the man of her choice, by whose side they reverently laid her. And could she have been con- scious, with her slow, irradiating smile she would have said, "At last I am content — happy." THE END INDEX Abolitionists, 129, 131 Alabama, secession, 157 Alexander, Appeline, 188 Anderson, Robert, 61, 157 Anti-Slavery Society, Massachu- setts, 133 Astor, Vincent, relationship to Todds, 8 Averill, General, 210 Badeau, General, on Mrs. Lincoln, 272 Baden, Germany, Mary Lincoln in, 283, 284 Baker, Col. E. D., death, 191 Baker, Julia Edwards, (daughter of Elizabeth Todd Edwards), 125, 162 Banks, Gov. N. P., 134 Barney, Hon. Hiram, Lincoln's tele- gram to, 204 Barnum's Hotel, Baltimore, 270 Barton, Dr, Wm. E., 79 note Batavia sanitarium, 298 Bates, Mrs., on Mary Lincoln, 195 Battles {see Civil War) Beauregard, Gen. Pierre, 173, 201 Beck, Widow, 96 Bee, 39 Black Hawk War, 61, 63 Blaine, James G., 196 Blair, Frank P., 188 Blair, Montgomery, 188 Bodley, Miss {see Owsley, Mrs.) Bohemia, Mary Lincoln's travels in, 283, 284 Boone, Daniel, 13 Boonville, Mo., 79 Booth, Edwin, service to Robert Lincoln, 251-252 Booth, Wilkes, assassination of Lin- coln, 258 Ford's jest, 254 threatening of Lincoln, 243 Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 220 Breckinridge, John C, 188, 189, 229 Brooks, Noah, on the Lincolns' visit to the Army, 209-210 Brown, Gov. Gratz, 188 Brown, James (brother of Mrs. Alexander Humphreys), 34 Brown, John (brother of Mrs. Alex- ander Humphreys), 34 Brown, Rev. John H. (husband of Elizabeth Todd Grimsley), 59 Brown, Preston (brother of Mrs. Alexander Humphreys), 34 Brown, Dr. Samuel (brother of Mrs. Alexander Humphreys), 34 Buchanan, James, 137 at Lincoln's inauguration, 168-169 futility in avoiding secession, 158 Buckner, Simon Bolivar, 187 Buena Vista, Ky., 102, 203 Buffalo, reception to Lincoln, 165 Campaign of i860, 151-152 Campbell, Ann Todd (cousin of Mary Lincoln), 78, 79 Campbell, Quint, 79 Canada, 123 Carpenter, Frank, artist, 218 on the Lincolns, 195, 236-237 Carr, Charles, 32 Chambrun, Marquis de, 247 Chandler, Mrs. Zack, 244 Chaney, Aunt (slave), 22, 47, 103 Chase, Salmon P., 143, 147, 151, 176 Chicago, Republican convention in, 146-147 the Lincolns' visit to, 153 Cholera epidemic, 49 et seq. Christmas, Civil War, 207-208 in the Todd home, 22 Chronicle, 204 Cincinnati, reception to the Lincolns in, 163-164 City Point, 252 the Lincolns' visit to, 246 et seq. Civil War, Ball's Bluff, 191 Baton Rouge, 15, 213 Bull Run, 179 Chattanooga, 216 Christmas, 207-208 Fort Sumter attacked, 157, 173 Petersburg, 249 301 302 INDEX Civil War— {Continued) Shiloh, 15 Vicksburg, 15, 207 Washington during, 190-191 Clay, Brutus, J., 241 Clay, Cassius M., 151, 241 Home Battalion, 174 Clay, Henry, 104, 127 and Mary Todd, 1 et seq., 41, 43 Clay, Mrs. Henry, 2 Clay, Mary B. (daughter of Cassius M. Clay), on the Lincolns, 241 et seq. Clay, Mary Jane Warfield, 30 Clay, Sallie (daughter of Cassius M. Clay), 242, 243 Cleveland, reception to Lincolns, 165 Columbia, Mo., 71, 78-79 Columbus, Ohio, the Lincolns' recep- tion, 164 Congress, appropriation to Mary Lincoln, 268 Constitution, slavery stand, 135, 136, 142 Cooper Institute, Lincoln's speech, 145 Courier- Journal, Louisville, 52, 199 Cowper, William, Lincoln's reading of, 101 Crab Orchard Springs, Ky., the Todds' visit to, 54 Crittenden, John J., 175 Crittenden, Mrs. John J., 175 Crittenden Compromises, 175 Davis, Judge David, 60-61, 216 Davis, Jefferson, 61, 182 Dawson, Elodie Todd (sister of Mary Lincoln), 15, 122, 157 Dawson, Col. N. H. R., 157, 193 Decatur, 111., State convention in, 146 Declaration of Independence, 138 Democratic party, 41, 60, 67 Whigs unite with, 131 Douglas, Stephen A., 88, 131, 139 candidate for the Senate, 139 et seq. courtesy, 170 courtship of Mary Lincoln, 81 et seq. death, 179 Douglas, Stephen A. — {Continued) ostentations, 141 slavery stand, 142 {see also Lincoln-Douglas de- bates) Douglas, Mrs. Stephen A., 175 Douglass, Fred, 194 Dred Scott case, 137-138 Dresser, Mr., Episcopal minister, 93 Edwards, Miss (daughter of Eliza- beth Todd Edwards), 162 Edwards, Elizabeth Todd (sister of Mary Lincoln), 15, 30, 58, 94, 97, 162, 188, 241, 298 festivity in home of, 84-85 marriage, 17 Mary Lincoln's last years in home of, 299 Mary Lincoln's visit to, 72 et seq. religion, 116-117 Edwards, Gov. Ninian, 17 Edwards, Ninian Wirt, 17 at the Lincolns' marriage, 94 Edwards, Old (doorkeeper of White House), 171 Elizabethtown, Ky., 127 Ellsworth, Colonel, death, 178 Eugenie, Empress, message of sym- pathy, 262 Europe, Mary Lincoln's desire to visit, 123 Evening Star, Washington, 254 Fillmore, Millard, Mary Lincoln's opinion of, 124-125 Florence, Mary Lincoln in, 279 Florida, secession, 157 Ford, Harry Chapman, account of father's jest, 254 Ford's Theater, 242, 253-254 Lincoln's assassination, 257 et seq. Fort Sumter, bombarded, 173, 178 France, Mary Lincoln's travels in, 298 Francis, Mrs. Simeon, 92, 93 Frankfurt, Germany, Mary Lin- coln's travels in, 279, 285 Free Soilers, 131 Fremont, John C, 134 INDEX 303 Garrison, William Lloyd, 133 Geneva, Switzerland, Mary Lin- coln's travels, 279 Georgia, secession, 157 Germany, Mary Lincoln's travels, 298 Giddings, Joshua R., 132, 134 Giron, Monsieur, confectionery shop, 43-44 Globe Tavern, the Lincolns' home in, 96 et seq. Grand inaugural ball, 171 Grant, Ulysses S., 201, 238, 247 et seq., 254 Greeley, Horace, 133 Green, T. M., 15 Grimsley, Elizabeth Todd (cousin of Mary Lincoln), 59, 94, 162, 169 on White House disputes, 189 White House visit, 180 Hamlin, Hannibal, 153, 244 election as Vice President, 169 Hardin, Ben, 127 Hardin, John J., letter to Scott, 67 et seq. Harlan, Senator James, 244, 246 impressions of the Lincolns, 166 et seq. letter to Robert Lincoln, 291-292 on his last drive with the Lin- colns, 252-253 the Lincolns' friendship for, 252 Harlan, Mary {see Lincoln, Mary Harlan) Harper's Magazine, 173 Harris, Miss, at Lincoln's assassina- tion, 256 et seq. Harris, Senator, 189 at the White House, 228 et seq. Harrison, William Henry, 77 Hay, John, 242, 243 Heidelberg, Germany, Mary Lin- coln's travels, 283, 284 Helm, Ben Hardin, 193, 201 death, 216, 219 Lincoln's offer of paymaster in Army, 183 et seq love for the Lincolns, 127, 188 visit to Lincolns, 126 et seq. Helm, Emilie Todd (sister of Mary Lincoln), 15, 22, 90, 186, 219 Helm, Emilie Todd — {Continued) insulted by General Harris, 229, 230 letters from Mary Lincoln, 120 et seq, meeting with Robert Lincoln at Richmond, 250 on life at the White House during war, 221 et seq. on Mary Lincoln's second visit to Kentucky, 102 et seq. on the Lincolns' first visit to Lex- ington, 99 et seq. visits to the Lincolns, 106, 220 et seq. Helm, Gov. John L., 186 sorrow at death of son, 219 Henry, Patrick, 13 Herald, Lexington, 241 Herald, New York, 158 Herndon, Mary Lincoln's distrust of, 114 Herr, Katherine Todd (sister of Mary Lincoln), 15, 122 Historic Families of Kentucky, T. M. Green, 15 History, Rankin, 150 Hodgenville, Ky., Lincoln's birth near, 127 Home Journal, tribute to "Willie" Lincoln, 197 Hugo, Victor, Mary Lincoln's inter- est in defense of son, 118 Humphreys, Mrs. Alexander, Mary Lincoln's attachment to, 34-35 will, 35 et seq. Humphreys, Elizabeth {see Norris, Elizabeth Humphreys) Humphreys, Elizabeth {see Todd, Elizabeth Humphreys) Humphreys, James, 157 Humphreys, Joseph, 101-102 Illinois, lure of, 58 et seq. politics in, 67 Indianapolis, 162 the Lincolns' reception in, 163 Indians, tales of, 32-33 Italy, Mary Lincoln's travels, 298 Jackson, Andrew, 104 in Lexington, 41 et seq* Mary Lincoln's hatred of, 41, 43 304 INDEX James River, 249 Jefferson, Thomas, 13 Johnson, Andrew, inauguration as Vice President, 244 Johnston, Albert Sidney, 62 Judd, Norman B., 146 Judy (slave), 23 Keckley, Lizzie (seamstress), 265, 266 Keene, Laura, 254 at Lincoln's assassination, 258 Kellogg, Margaret Todd (sister of Mary Lincoln), 15, 125, 156, 180, 183 Kellogg, Minor, 183 Kentucky, county divisions, 13 the Lincolns' love for, 160, 164 war sentiments, 186 Lalauries, the slave cruelty inci- dent, 38-39 Lee, Robert E., resignation from United States Army, 185 uniform incident, 182 Lexington, Ky., 1 Giron's shop, 43-44 Jackson in, 41 et seq. leading city of fashion, 18 Mentelle Park, 44 the Lincolns' visits to, 99 et seq., 102 et seq. Todd home in, 17 et seq. Liberator, Boston, 132 Lincoln, Abraham, appearance, 73- 74, 100, 166, 253 ^ a presidential nominee, 145 et seq. assassination, 257 et seq. assassination threats, 160-161, 206 at City Point, 246 et seq. called "Great Emancipator," 193 called "the Abolitionist," 193 character, 96 children {see separate names) Cooper Institute speech, 145 courtship, 80 et seq. departure for Washington, 161 et seq. desire to save Union, 137 destiny shaped, 61 early married life, 96 et seq. early opinions, 62-63 Emilie Helm and, 221 Lincoln, Abraham — {Continued) encouragement of Mary's love of dress, 177 false wedding report, 90 falsity of unhappiness tales, 113 fatalism, 241, 243 first election, 153 first inaugural address, 170 first inauguration, 168 et seq. fondness for theater, 119 friendship for Helm, 127, 183 et seq. friends in the Black Hawk War, 61 growing popularity, 139 health, 115 home life, 109 et seq., 115 et seq. in Columbia, 79 in Congress, 131 intellect, 64 John T. Stuart and, 60 et seq. last drive, 254-255 letters to Speed, 91-92 love for Mary, 225, 238-239 marriage, 94-95 meeting with Mary, 74 et seq. modesty, 143-144 nomination, 148 et seq. on disunion, 138-139 physical strength, 64 Presidential campaign, 151 et seq. Presidential candidacy, 143 et seq. quarrel with Mary, 88 et seq. reading, 101 reconciliation with Mary, 93 religion, 117 renomination, 239 respect for Mary, 108 secession ferment, 158 et seq. second inaugural address, 245 second inauguration, 244-245 Senate candidacy, 139 et seq. slavery opinions, 141 soldiers' jests and, 211 sorrow at death of Helm, 216-217 speech in Cincinnati, 164 tales of, 63 et seq. telegrams, 213 et seq., 234 et seq., 239, 240, 241, 247 et seq. the Todds' attitude toward, 84 et seq. travels in east, 122-123 unconventionality, 80 war sorrows, 233, 237 INDEX 305 Lincoln, Abraham — (Continued) wretchedness over broken engage- ment, 89 et seq. Lincoln, Edward Baker, birth, 99 death, 117, Lincoln, Mary Harlan, 246-247 marriage, 274 Mary Lincoln's letters to, 277 et seq., 286-287, 289-290 Robert Lincoln's letters to, 267 Lincoln, Mary Todd, accidents, 211- 212, 299 acting ability, 45 affection for Mary Harlan, 275, 281 a graceful dancer, 53 ancestry, 6 et seq. and Old King Solomon, 48 et seq. an excellent reader, 119 an incorrigible flirt, 84 appearance, 46, 52, 73, 100, 156, 166, 175-176 at Lincoln's assassination, 257 et seq. at Long Branch and Saratoga, 190 at the Mentelle school, 44 et seq. attitude toward secession, 157, 160 bravery, 226-227 broken-hearted at Lincoln's death, 269 called a "tomboy," 31 care of Lincoln, 109 character, 55, 271 childhood, 1 et seq., 19 et seq. childhood home, 16 et seq., 22 et seq. children {see individual names) collapse, 260 et seq. courtship, 80 et seq. curiosity about Lincoln, 66 death, 299 departure for Washington, 161 et seq. difficulties in Washington society, 172-173 difficulty of war position, 174-175, 193, 200, 217-218 early opinion of Lincoln, 75-76 education, 21 election of Lincoln, 153 Emilie Helm's visit to, 106 falsely suspected during war, 208-209 false wedding report, 90 Lincoln, Mary Todd — (Continued) falsity of unhappiness stories, 113 family, 11, 15, 200 et seq. family traditions, 85-86 fatalism, 241 fear of thunder, 120 fears for Lincoln, 160-161, 165, 206-207 fears for Robert, 227 first visit to Springfield, 58 et seq. fluency in French, 45-46, 53, 118 friends, 30-31, 195 generosity, 223-224 grief at Tad's death, 295 grief at Willie's death, 198 grief for death of Alexander, 212- 213 home life with Lincoln, 96, 98, 109 et seq., 115 et seq. hoop skirt incident, 26 et seq. horseback riding, 57 humiliations, 229 et seq., 266, 270 illness, 213-214 indebtedness, 265-266 influence on Lincoln, 107, 140 in mourning, 271-272 last drive with Lincoln, 254-255 letter on death of, 204-205 letters to Mrs. Orme, 275 et seq* letters to Mrs. Shipman, 284-285 Lincoln's indebtedness settled, 264 love for Lincoln, 169, 179, 238-239 love for Tad, 274, 276, 281 love of dress, 177 love of flowers, 18, 19 love of poetry, 32 love of the theater, 119 Mammy and, 24 et seq. maternal genealogy, 11 meeting with Lincoln, 74 et seq. mentality, 21, 189 mental trouble, 265, 266 et seq., 295 newspaper account of, 205-206 politics, 41, 124-125 post-presidency plans, 246 premonition of Lincoln's death, 161 pride, 243-244 quarrel with Lincoln, 88 et seq. reading, 108 reason restored, 298 reconciliation with Lincoln, 93 religious faith, 33, 111, 116 3o6 INDEX Lincoln, Mary Todd — (Continued) remarkable intuition, 107, 114 respect for intellect, 64 return to America, 290 slavery attitude, 140-141, 194 social leadership, 171 et seq. sorrow at Sam's death, 203 Springfield reception, 155-156 stepmother and, 17-18 stipulations for a husband, 119 telegrams, 214, 215, 234, 235, 239 travels, 122-123, *53"i54> 277, 279, 283-284, 287, 298 visit to Columbia, 78-79 visit to Henry Clay, 2 et seq. war activities, 204 et seq., 238 war losses, 193, 221 et seq. Lincoln, Mary Todd (daughter of Robert Lincoln), 275 Lincoln, Robert Todd, 103, 180, 212, 229, 240, 241 a member of Grant's staff, 247 appearance, 167 at his father's death, 259 et seq. birth, 98 early training, 108 escort to Mrs. Helm, 250 Harlan's letter to, 291-292 letter from Mrs. Orne, 297-298 letters to Mrs. Helm, 251-252 letters to his mother, 154-155 marriage, 274 on his mother's bravery, 250 on his mother's mental infirmity, 267, 295-296 on Tad's death, 293 et seq. plea to join Army, 227 Lincoln, Thomas (Abraham Lin- coln's father), 127 Lincoln, Thomas (Tad), 168, 209, 238 birth, 115 death, 293 disposition, 180, 208 education, 277, 278, 281, 283, 286- 287, 288 grief at father's death, 260 illnesses, 190, 290 et seq. in an English school, 279 Mary's love for, 274, 276, 281 return to America, 290 visit to the Army of the Potomac, 209, 210 Lincoln, William (Willie), 221 appearance, 167-168, 180 character, 197-198 death, 197 illness, 196-197 verses on death of E. D. Baker, 191-192 Lincoln-Douglas debates, 139 et seq, Freeport debate, 142 Logan, Stephen T., 146, 150, 188 on Lincoln, 64 et seq. London, Mary Lincoln in, 273 Long Branch, N. J., Mary Lincoln at, 190 Louisiana, secession, 157 Louis Philippe D'Orleans, message of sympathy, 262-263 McManus, Edward, telegrams to, 235 Mammy Sally (slave), 23 et seq., 47, 48, 103, 203 assistance to runaway slaves, 40 story of Satan, 24 et seq. Marshall, Thomas, 13 Mary Jane (slave), 46, 47 Meade, Larkin (sculptor), 280 Mentelle boarding school, 44 et seq., 119 Metropolitan Hotel, New York, Mrs. Lincoln in, 165 Mississippi, secession, 157 Missouri Compromise, repealed, 131 termed unconstitutional, 137-138 Missouri Democrat, 155-156 Missouri River, 79 Monroe, Thomas, 187 Montgomery, Ala., General Confed- erate convention, 157 Motley, John Lothrop, 196 National Republican, 191 Negroes, opportunities for, 194 (see also Slaves and Slavery) Nelson, Judge, 245 Nelson (slave), 23 New York, Mary Lincoln in, 123 Nice, Italy, Mary Lincoln in, 280 Nicolay, John G., a guest of the Lincolns, 242, 243 Niles Register, 101 INDEX 307 Norris, Elizabeth Humphreys, child- hood at the Todds', 19 et seq. hoop skirt incident, 26 et seq. on slavery, 39 et seq. visit to grandmother, 34-35 Norris, Judge, 19 North, hatred against South, 132 slavery stand, 135 war with South {see Civil War) North, Roger, 78 Nuremberg, Germany, Mary Lin- coln's travels, 283 Obennsel, Germany, Tad Lincoln at school in, 283 Odernwold Mountains, Mary Lin- coln's travels, 283 Oglesby, Richard, 255 on last interview with Lincoln, 256 Ord, General, 250 Orne, Congressman, Mary Lincoln's letter to, 264 Orne, Mrs., Mary Lincoln's letters to, 275 et seq., 285 on Mary Lincoln's insanity, 297- 298 Robert Lincoln's letters to, 295-296 Owens, Mary (Lincoln's former sweetheart), 87 Owsley, Mrs., 31, 119 Palmetto Flag, 157 Patti, Adelina, at the White House, 198-199 on the Lincolns, 199-200 Penrose, Captain, 248 Perry, Leslie, on Mary Lincoln, 173 Personal Recollections of Lincoln, Rankin, 118 Phillips, Wendell, 133, 135 Pittsburgh, the Lincolns' reception, 164-165 Polk, James K., quarrel concerning, 104-105 Potomac, Army of the, the Lincolns' visits to, 209 et seq., 246 et seq. Preston, Col. John, 30 Preston, Margaret Wickliffe, 30 Lincoln's wire to, 213-214 Preston, Mary Wickliffe, 30 Preston, Gen. William, 30 Rankin, on Lincoln, 118, 150 Rathbone, Major, at Lincoln's assas- sination, 256 et seq, insanity, 268 Reading the Emancipation Proclama- tion, Frank G. Carpenter, 195 Reconstruction problems, 238 Reed, J. A., letter to, 117 Republican party, formation, 131 nomination of Lincoln, 146 et seq. platform unconstitutional, 138 Rocheport, Mo., political convention at, 78-79 Sanders, Jane (slave), 22 Saratoga Springs, N. Y., Mary Lin- coln at, 190 Scott, Robert W., Hardin's letter to, 67, et seq. Scott, Sir Walter, Mary's reading of, 108 Scott, Gen. Winfield, 62, 169, 179 Secession, Kentucky's attitude, 160 Lincoln's attitude toward, 158-159 state beliefs in right of, 156 Seward, William H., 143, 146, 238 Seymour, Horatio, on slavery, 135 et seq. Shearer, Mrs., 190 Shelby, Fanny Todd (cousin of Mary Lincoln), 59 Shelby, Isaac, 59 Shelby, Thomas, 59 Sherman, Gen. William Tecumseh, 201 Shipman, Mrs., letters from Mary Lincoln, 284-285, 287 et seq. meeting with Mary Lincoln, 269 et seq. Shipman, Paul, on Mrs. Lincoln, 272 et seq. Sickles, Gen. Daniel E., 222 at the White House, 228 et seq. on the Lincolns, 195-196 Simpson, Mrs., with Mary Lincoln in Florence, 279 Singleton, General, 250 Slavery, Constitution on, 135 Helm's opinion of, 128 et seq. the Lincolns' opinions of, 124, 128 et seq. Slaves, Mrs. Alexander Humphreys' disposal of, 35 et seq. runaway, 40 308 INDEX Slaves — (Continued) sentiment against cruelty, 38 et seq. Smith, Ann Todd (sister of Mary Lincoln), 15, 156 visit to the Lincolns, 106 Smith, C. M., 106 trip to New York with Mary Lin- coln, 153 Smith, Caleb, seconding of Lincoln's nomination, 146 Soldiers' Home, the Lincolns' vaca- tion at, 211 Solomon, Old King (slave), 48 et seq., 194 South, animosity toward Mary Lin- coln, 172 Civil War (see separate item) hatred of North, 132 idea of Lincoln, 172-173 jubilant over Dred Scott decision, 138 secession (see separate item) slavery stand, 135 South Carolina, secession, 157 Confederate allegiance of South to, 174 formation, 158 Southern Literary Messenger, 118 Spaulding, Rufus, 134 Speed, Joshua F., betrayal of Lin- coln's trust, 91 Spencer, Dr., Stoddard's letter to, 209 Springfield, 111., capital removed to, 67 Mary Lincoln's last years in, 299 Mary Lincoln's visits to, 58 et seq., 71 et seq. memories of, 245-246 nomination of Lincoln, 145 the Lincolns' first home in, 98 the Lincolns' reception, 155-156 Stanton, Edwin M., 247, 248 State, Richmond, Va., 201 Stephens, Alexander H., 159 Stoddard, W. O., on Mary Lincoln, 173, 209 Stuart, Eliza, Mary Lincoln's letter to, 290 Stuart, John Todd, 31, 97, 188, 230 at the White House, 228 influence on Lincoln, 60 et seq. Stuart, John Todd— (Continued) law partnership with Lincoln, 61, 62 letter to J. A. Reed, 117-118 Lincoln's letter to } 89 Stuart, Margaret (see Woodrow, Margaret Stuart) Stuart, Robert, 31 Sumner, Senator Charles, 151, 238, 245, 247 service to Mrs. Lincoln, 268 the Lincolns and, 189-190 Supreme Court, decision on legality of slavery, 137-138 Swansey, J. B., on secession, 133 Taney, Chief Justice, 169 Dred Scott case, 137-138 Taylor, Zachary, 61 Thanatopsis, Bryant, memorized by Lincoln, 101 Todd, Alexander (brother of Mary Lincoln), 15, 103, 193, 201, 212- 213 Todd, Ann (see Smith, Ann Todd) Todd, Ann E. (see Campbell, Ann Todd) Todd, Dr. Beecher (cousin of Mary Lincoln), 259 Todd, David (brother of Mary Lin- coln), 15, 193, 201 death, 207 Todd, David (uncle of Mary Lin- coln), 78-79 tales of, 79-80 Todd, Eliza Ann Parker (mother of Mary Lincoln), 11, 15 Todd, Elizabeth (see Edwards, Elizabeth Todd) Todd, Elizabeth (see Grimsley, Elizabeth Todd) Todd, Elizabeth Humphreys (step- mother of Mary Lincoln), 17, 55 Todd, Elodie (see Dawson, Elodie Todd) Todd, Emilie (see Helm, Emilie Todd) Todd, Fanny (see Shelby, Fanny Todd) Todd, Francis (see Wallace, Francis Todd) Todd, Dr. George (brother of Mary Lincoln), 15, 193, 201 Todd, Dr. John (uncle of Mary Lin- coln), 59, 79, 94 Todd, Katherine {see Herr, Kath- erine Todd) Todd, Levi (brother of Mary Lin- coln), 15, 200 Todd, Margaret {see Kellogg, Margaret Todd) Todd, Martha {see White, Martha Todd) Todd, Mary {see Lincoln, Mary Todd) Todd, Robert Parker (brother of Mary Lincoln), 15 Todd, Robert Smith, Sr. (father of Mary Lincoln), 10, 59 children, 15 death, 102 marriages, 15 public service, 14 visits to daughters, 97-98 Todd, Robert Smith, Jr. (brother of Mary Lincoln), 15 Todd, Samuel (brother of Mary Lincoln), 4, 15, 100, 101, 193 * death, 201-202 Todd, Samuel (uncle of Mary Lin- coln), 78 Todd family, ancestry, 6 in Indian war, 13 intermarriages, 12 Revolutionary service, 13 Transylvania University, 12, 18, 31 Tremont House, reception at, 153 Tribune, New York, 133 Trumbull, Lyman, elected to Senate, 107 Tuck, Amos, trip to New York with Mary Lincoln, 153 INDEX 309 Vandalia, 111., capital removed from, 67 Venice, Italy, Mary Lincoln's travels, 279 Victoria, Queen, message of sym- pathy, 261-262 an issue, 132 Union, dissolution et seq. Lincoln's efforts to save, 137 North's support of, 174 secession {see separate item) Union Convention, renomination of Lincoln, 239 Wallace, Francis Todd (sister of Mary Lincoln), 15, 54, 58, 93, 125, 156 on the Lincolns' unhappiness, 113 Wallace, Dr. William, 93, 115 Ward, Mr. (educator), 21 Warfield, Mary Jane {see Clay, Mary Jane Warfield) Washington, D. C, inauguration day, 168 Lincoln's arrival, 165 war-time, 190 Whig party, 41, 60, 67 expiration, 131 White, Clement, 157, 193 White, Martha Todd (sister of Mary Lincoln), 15, 157 contraband incident, 180 et seq. White House, dinginess, 171 guests in, 188 hospitality, 180 presents of wine, 203 the Lincolns' departure, 264-265 war cheerfulness in, 196 Wickliffe, Margaret {see Preston, Margaret Wickliffe) Wickliffe, Mary {see Preston, Mary Wickliffe) Willard's Hotel, the Lincolns in, 165, 168 Willis, Nathaniel Parker, on Willie Lincoln, 197-198 Wilson, Senator Henry, 245 Women Lincoln Loved, The, William E. Barton, 79 note Woodrow, Margaret Stuart, 31, 32 World, New York, 272 Zouaves, New York, 178 NEW YORK Publisher* of BOOKS and of Harper* Magazine Established th% w /•^ •.