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Mary Todd Lincoln (Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail):
Mary Ann Todd was born on December 13, 1818, in Lexington, Kentucky, to Eliza Parker and Robert Smith Todd. Eliza died when Mary was six years old. After her death, Mary's grandmother, the Widow Parker, became the leading female influence in her life. Mary attended about ten years of school, first at John Ward's school and then at Madame Mentelle's boarding school both in Lexington. At a time when most women did not attend school, Mary was extremely well educated.
In 1839, Mary followed her sisters to Springfield, Illinois. In November 1842, she married a fellow Kentuckian, Springfield lawyer, and third-term Illinois state legislator, Abraham Lincoln. Together they had four children: Robert Todd, Edward "Eddie", William "Willie", and Thomas "Tad." While Mary tended to her domestic duties as a wife and mother, she also maintained a special interest in politics, one she had shared with her father since early childhood, as a frequent visitor to Henry Clay's estate. Mary's political connections and ambition for her husband played an important role in his election to the presidency.
After Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, Mary prepared her family for the move to Washington, DC. Following the death of her son, "Willie", in 1862, Mary became a spiritualist and attendee of seances, where she attempted to reconnect with her dead loved ones. During Lincoln's White House years, Mary frequently visited wounded soldiers at area hospitals.
On April 14, 1865, her husband was assassinated at Ford's Theatre, after which time Mary struggled financially and emotionally. In 1875, her only surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, committed her to Bellevue Place Sanitarium. Released after three months, Mary lived in Peru, France, from 1876 until 1880, when her health forced her to return to the United States. She died shortly thereafter on July 16, 1882, in Springfield, Illinois.
1809: Abraham Lincoln born at Sinking Spring farm, in present-day Larue County, Kentucky.
1816: Lincoln family moved from Kentucky.
1841: Abraham Lincoln visited his friend Joshua Speed at Farmington, the Speed family plantation, in Louisville, Kentucky.
1842: Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd of Lexington, Kentucky.
1847: The Lincoln family visited Lexington, Kentucky, en route to Abraham's only term in Congress.
1860: Abraham Lincoln elected President of the United States in November.
1865: Abraham Lincoln assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC. |