The True Mary Todd Lincoln ALSO BY BETTY BOLES ELLISON The Early Laps of Stock Car Racing: A History of the Sport and Business through 1974 (McFarland, 2014) The True Mary Todd Lincoln A Biography BETTY BOLES ELLISON McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Jefferson, North Carolina LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Ellison, Betty Boles. The true Mary Todd Lincoln : a biography / Betty Boles Ellison. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7864-7836-1 (softcover : acid free paper) ♾ ISBN 978-1-4766-1517-2 (ebook) 1. Lincoln, Mary Todd, 1818–1882. 2. Presidents’ spouses—United States— Biography. 3. Lincoln, Abraham, 1809–1865—Family. I. Title. E457.25.L55E45 2014 973.7092—dc23 [B] 2014003651 BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE © 2014 Betty Boles Ellison. All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. On the cover: Oil portrait of a twenty-year-old Mary Todd painted in 1928 by Katherine Helm, a niece of Mary Todd Lincoln and daughter of Confederate General Ben H. Helm. It is based on a daguerreotype taken in Springfield by N.H. Shepherd in 1846; a companion daguerreotype is the earliest known photograph of Lincoln (courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum of Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee) Manufactured in the United States of America McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 www.mcfarlandpub.com For Sofia E. Franklin This page intentionally left blank Table of Contents Acknowledgments ix Preface 1 1. Mary Spreads Her Wings 5 2. Deeds Not Words 20 3. A New Mother 29 4. The Unsavory Business of Slavery 36 5. The Todds Move 46 6. Married Life Begins 56 7. Letters Tell Their Story 68 8. Laying a Presidential Foundation 80 9. “Mary, We Are Elected!” 91 10. Inauguration 105 11. Furnishing the President’s House 117 12. Dirty Politics 127 13. Slings and Arrows 136 14. In the Blink of an Eye 142 15. Pivotal Year of 1863 155 16. Election Time, Again 170 17. Love Is Eternal 182 18. Europe Beckons 197 19. Fire and Brimstone 210 20. All That Remains 239 Chapter Notes 253 Bibliography 275 Index 279 vii This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments Interest in researching a biography of Mary Lincoln began years ago with my involve- ment in the restoration and operation of her girlhood home as a board member of the Ken- tucky Mansions Preservation Foundation (KMPF). The house was rescued from demolition by former Kentucky first lady Beula C. Nunn. It is my good fortune to be surrounded by a most supportive and loving family and a close circle of friends who share my interest in the wife of the sixteenth United States pres- ident. They were always willing to read manuscript drafts, provide assistance, make sugges- tions, offer criticism and advance encouragement. They have been the bedrock of this endeavor. In particular, Kathleen Wills- Ellison’s astute and perceptive copyediting on our Friday nights together for many months made the book so much better. My appreciation to Margaret for always being there and willing to go the extra mile. The name Mary Lincoln seems to have the same magical ring for archivists and librarians as it does for my family and friends. From Lincoln librarians to archivists at the National Archives, all were very helpful, but none more so than Jane Gastineau, librarian at the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Jane always had an answer to my questions through endless emails. Her assistance is most appre- ciated. Lou Holden, a long- time curator of the Mary Todd Lincoln House and KMPF board member, has been a wonderful sounding board for my ideas. Lou shared the extensive work she did on the relationships of various members of the Todd family. Michelle Ganz, archivist at the Abraham Lincoln Library at Lincoln Memorial Uni- versity, Harrogate, Tennessee, was kind enough to provide a copy of a 1928 painting done by Katherine Helm, Mrs. Lincoln’s niece. Mary Ann Pohl, at the Abraham Lincoln Presi- dential Library and Museum, Springfield, Illinois, made available information on the first lady’s jewelry and the sale of her Springfield home. Frank Stanger and William Marshal, from Special Collections at the University of Ken- tucky in Lexington, were always helpful in locating material for a number of years. Lisa Thompson, archivist in the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives, in Frankfort, always offered assistance. B.J. Gooch, archivist and director of Special Collections, Transyl- vania University, Lexington, provided material on the early Todd family and their close con- nections in establishing the university. The reference and Kentucky Room librarians at the Lexington Public Library answered questions and provided material in a most helpful man- ner. Anthony B. Willson, archivist at the Twickenham Museum in Middlesex, England, ix x Acknowledgments guided me through the complex ownership of York House by the d’Orleans family. Mary Lincoln met Louis- Philippe d’Orleans, the Comte de Paris, at the Executive Mansion in 1861, and later visited him and his family in Europe. Terry Langford, curator, and Chuck DeCroix, park ranger, at Mammoth Cave National Park were helpful in unearthing material about the park at the time of Mrs. Lincoln’s visit in 1876. Gwen Thompson, the current curator of the Mary Todd Lincoln House, provided insight into the relationship between the Todd family and their slaves. The encouragement of Dr. Thomas F. Schwartz, director of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and former Illinois State Historian, is appreciated. My gratitude is extended to Dr. Humbert Nelli, retired history professor at the University of Kentucky, for his always helpful advice and for believing in my abilities. Preface If she was not a favorite as first lady of the land—lacking that indefinable quality in which her husband excelled—surely that was no reason why her less fortunate traits should be magnified to the neglect of others not only more numerous, but lovely and winning. There is nothing in our history more unmanly, more cruel than the treatment of that noble woman by a prying, gossiping press, which pursued into her lonely years. Here at last is the testimony of one who knew her, bearing witness to her worth as a woman, her loyalty as a wife and her service to her country, and bespeaking for her— what will not always be denied—a place beside her husband in the grateful and venerate memory of the Republic. —Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln, by Henry B. Rankin, 1916 For decades, Mary Lincoln has been denied what Henry B. Rankin, who knew the Lin- colns in Springfield, Illinois, sought for her: a fair appraisal. Herein is the fair appraisal that Rankin wanted. This biography examines the totality of her personality—the admirable traits as well as those not so commendable. Mary’s principal denigrator, William H. Herndon, Abraham Lincoln’s last law partner, was a viperous and vindictive man who has been allowed to define the sixteenth president’s wife as having few if any redeeming characteristics. For portions of three centuries, Mary’s life story has been distorted by Herndon’s jaundiced accounts. This work uses archival doc- uments, overlooked for decades, to establish clear evidence to substantiate that while her husband was deified by the nation she has been unjustly vilified. A widely held concept is that Mary Lincoln was crazy; she must have been since she was placed in an insane asylum. She was there because her physician generously dosed her with chloral hydrate, which can cause patients to become disoriented and incoherent and exhibit paranoid behavior. That same physician was the principal witness at her 1876 insanity hearing. Afterwards, she outsmarted some of the country’s best legal minds, including a sit- ting associate Supreme Court justice, in not only obtaining her release but having her sanity, property and legal rights restored. The stigma of having been declared insane at the instiga- tion of her only surviving son, unfortunately, remained with her the rest of her life. It is undeniable that David Davis, whom Lincoln appointed to the Supreme Court, was the power behind the scenes of Mary’s committal to the asylum. His accomplices were her son Robert Lincoln along with Leonard Swett, his lead counsel, and Isaac Arnold, two men her husband called “friends.” They decided she was insane, set up a sham of a trial, and foisted an attorney—Arnold—off on her who cross- examined none of the witnesses Robert Lincoln had carefully assembled and presented no defense in her behalf. In addition, Swett 1 2Preface watched as Arnold searched her petticoats for her bonds and money before sending her off to an asylum, smugly satisfied they had done their job so well that she would never surface again. The saga of how Mary endured her incarceration and obtained her release bears witness to Mary’s inner strength and intelligence. Despite living in isolation, her letters being cen- sored, having no available funds to hire an attorney and being under supervision twenty- four hours a day, Mary outsmarted Davis, Robert, Swett, Arnold and the asylum staff. She lulled them into thinking she was acquiescing to the court’s decree by displaying a meek and obliging demeanor expected of a nineteenth century woman. With unbelievable guile, she created a network of friends who worked for and gained her release. This book presents the entire sordid story of her incarnation prompted by her son and abetted by her late husband’s so- called friends.