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To: mass55th

Yes; but I think Mrs. Lincoln may have always been a little ‘off’.


31 posted on 09/14/2025 11:56:02 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630
"Yes; but I think Mrs. Lincoln may have always been a little ‘off’."

Well, she was from a family of slave owners. Three of her half-brothers fought on the side of the Confederacy. Two of them died in battle. The third was injured. Her youngest half-sister Emilie Todd Helm was married to Confederate General Benjamin Hardin Helm who was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga. President Lincoln gave special orders to allow Emilie to come visit her older sister at the White House. Having a Confederate widow in the White House was controversial, and Union politicians condemned Lincoln for the visit. To Lincoln, however, Emilie’s presence was a calming influence upon Mary, who was also mourning the recent death of one of their sons. Again, the Lincolns suffered the loss of two sons. One in Springfield, and the other in the White House. Tad Lincoln, their youngest died six years after his father. Their oldest son Robert, was not a comforting factor in Mary's life. He looked upon her as an embarrassment.

34 posted on 09/14/2025 12:07:05 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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