Posted on 08/07/2006 3:37:10 AM PDT by lunarbicep
The portrait of Abraham Lincoln hanging in the entranceway is one of the only hints of the building's lost history.
Bellevue Place, a grand structure with a limestone facade and towering windows, was once a sanitarium for women - and in the summer of 1875 a Cook County jury declared Mary Todd Lincoln insane and sent her here against her will.
The building is now an apartment complex, and the details of Lincoln's stay have been lost in the passage of time. But current residents say they often wonder about the former first lady.
"To think she walked up these stairs," said Candace Broecker, 62, who once owned the building. "I just wonder what she was feeling and thinking."
Such questions might soon find answers. Recently discovered letters written by Lincoln while she was in Batavia could lend new insight into the little-known history.
Descendants of a Lincoln family lawyer found a dusty trunk while cleaning out their attic last summer in Chevy Chase, Md. Inside, they found copies of 25 letters - including 20 written by Lincoln, 11 of which were written from Batavia. The full text of the letters will be released next year in a book by history writer Jason Emerson.
"This is a significant cache," said Jean H. Baker, author of the book "Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography."
News of the discovery has stirred excitement among Batavia residents, who have for decades searched for information about Lincoln's stay in town.
"The legend has grown with the passage of time," said Jeffery Schielke, 57, mayor of Batavia. "Still, there's not a lot of stories about her stay here. I'll be anxious to peruse these letters."
Few today realize that, after Abraham Lincoln's assassination, Mary Todd Lincoln moved to Chicago.
She first lived at the Tremont House, a posh downtown hotel, then moved to Hyde Park and eventually bought a house at 1304 W. Washington St., still there today.
The insanity allegations surfaced in the spring of 1875, when Lincoln's behavior had grown increasingly erratic. She walked the streets with $56,000 sewn into her petticoat, visited clairvoyants in attempts to communicate with the dead, and at one point became convinced that someone on a train had slipped poison into her coffee.
By May, Lincoln's son, Robert - then a prominent Chicago attorney - initiated court proceedings to have her involuntarily committed. After a three-hour trial, a Cook County jury found the former first lady to be insane. The next day, Mary Todd Lincoln was taken to Bellevue Place in Batavia.
At the time, Bellevue was an asylum that catered exclusively to wealthy women. The hospital took a modern approach, advising bed rest and fresh air, and offering activities such as piano and croquet. An advertisement for the hospital called it: "For the Insane of the Private Class."
The newly discovered letters show that Lincoln considered it a prison.
In August 1875, according to one of the recently found letters, she wrote: "It does not appear that God is good, to have placed me here. I endeavor to read my Bible and offer up my petitions three times a day. But my afflicted heart fails me and my voice often falters in prayer. I have worshiped my son and no unpleasant word ever passed between us, yet I can not understand why I should have been brought out here."
Historians have long known that Mary Todd Lincoln lobbied for release and grew increasingly incensed at Robert for having her sent to Batavia. But the letters add new detail.
They show her questioning her religion, pleading for assistance from friends and furiously denouncing Robert, according to Emerson, who is writing the book.
In the end, Lincoln's efforts succeeded. She marshaled the support of powerful friends, who helped her gain release Sept. 10, 1875. After leaving Bellevue, Lincoln moved to Springfield, Ill., to live with her sister. She traveled for a time in Europe, and eventually returned again to Springfield, where she died July 16, 1882. She was 62.
Today visitors to Batavia's Depot Museum can see the bed and dresser Lincoln reportedly used at Bellevue, or flip through a transcript of the hospital ledger that includes notes on Lincoln's moods and activities.
(A notation from May 20, 1875: "Case is one of mental impairment which probably dates back to the murder of President Lincoln - More pronounced since the death of her son, but especially aggravated during the last 2 months.")
Residents at Bellevue Place point to two second-story windows that mark the rooms where Lincoln is believed to have stayed.
The space is now apartment 2A. The current resident is Chris Johnson, a 56-year-old real estate agent. Johnson sometimes looks out his window and thinks of the former first lady. "I wonder, `Maybe she enjoyed the sparrows,'" Johnson said.
The building is set back from the main road and marked with a plaque in the front garden and a small brown sign on U.S. Highway 31. Though the sprawling grounds have been sold for condominiums and housing, there is still a garden out front, carefully clipped hedges lining the front walk and lilies blooming by the front door. On a recent day, a white butterfly flitted along the hedge and a black cat ambled across the yard.
Residents hope that Lincoln found comfort at Bellevue.
"I've always had a warm sense that the women who were there were sitting out under trees and being tended to and drinking tea," said Broecker, the former owner. "I would think back and wonder, `When she left, did she feel better?'"
Mary Todd Lincoln has long been a complex and controversial figure. She was hot-tempered and high-strung, an unpopular first lady who was criticized for excessive spending sprees and the lavish parties she threw during the Civil War.
But time has lent perspective. Lincoln had lived through multiple tragedies; three of her four sons died before reaching full adulthood, and she was at her husband's side when he was assassinated April 14, 1865.
Historians have long argued about Lincoln's sanity. Some believe she suffered from serious mental illness. Others argue that she was the victim of an unloving son, who sent her to an asylum to gain control of her money.
"Was she really crazy? I don't think so," said Dottie Fletcher, 51, of apartment 1B. "Did she have a nervous breakdown? Probably." As for the letters, Fletcher said: "I can't wait to see them."
You make a statement like that and now what?
Considering this is about $900k in today's money, this can't be considered fully normal.
Fits in pretty well as a description of what we know today as Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depression).
I'm thinking of other famous women in modern times - Patty Duke, Carrie Fisher, Margo Kidder.
That condition would be hard to treat in a world without antimanic or antidepressant medication.
She was probably in an extreme when admitted, then cycled back to normal afterwards.
Ah, yes. But if she hated her living quarters and was distrustful of those around her, I doubt she would have left the money in a dresser drawer while she went for a walk.
Maybe she suspected her son of trying to steal her money. Also, people walked around with more cash than they do today. There were no credit cards then, and banks were not as safe as they are now. People used to pay for things in cash, borrowing was rare.
Read a history book Sherlock.
Lookup something called the Baltimore Plot (Google will probably do for starters.)
. It's interesting that if you look at the indices all the fawning biographies of Honest Abe, you probably won't find an entry for Baltimore Plot, but there's some juicy stuff in a couple of Crazy Mary's bios.
ML/NJ
It's not a statement. It's a recitation of history. And few events say more about Honest Abe's character than his behavior during the incident know as the Baltimore Plot.
ML/NJ
That's true.
Interesting points. Still, that's a lot of money to be walking around with, and I'll bet there were muggers and thieves back then too.
I would bet she was BiPolar / Manic Depressive.
No, I wasn't at all suggesting that (martyrdom for the Hildabeast via bullet), I was just suggesting that having her tucked away in an insane asylum might have been a true "win win" solution for everyone. :)
BUMP
It's a figment of your imagination. Mary Lincoln and the rest of the Lincoln family arrived after Lincoln did, that much is true. They arrived about 12 hours later. During that time Lincoln met with key Republicans, President Buchanan, and some office seeker, and rode around Washington with Seward. His presence in Washington was common knowledge long before Mrs. Lincoln left Harrisburg. They were never in any danger, unless you think the rebel mob would have deliberately targeted woman and children.
A very sad story which reflects the lives of many of the mentally ill of years gone by. With modern understanding of mental illness she would have had a much better life today.
Your denial says a lot about your intellectual honesty, and like what the Baltimore Plot says about Lincoln's character, it's not good. Here's the text of a letter I sent to someone (Princeton Graduate) back in 2002 regarding this topic:
I found this text in a file on my computer. I cannot find the copies of the relevant pages of the books I mentioned or the NY Times articles. But any decent library has this stuff. You could go look it up; but I doubt you will. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.It took me a while to find where I had read the account of Lincoln leaving his family to ride on a train which he feared might be attacked, and traveling separately to Washington.
The reason it took a while is that I looked in my mainstream histories first. Most don’t mention the event at all. McPherson, who is the most mainstream of all, does write about it in Battle Cry of Freedom, albeit with a considerable sugarcoating it would seem.
Eventually I found what I recalled in E. A. Pollard’s Southern History of the Civil War. Considering your comment though, that I probably read what I recounted in some anti-Lincoln tome, I decided to check further. (Pollard is decidedly anti-Lincoln.)
What I found confirms the Pollard history, and bolsters my contention that the history we have been taught about that period is extremely dishonest.
See it you agree with me. I’ve provided copies of everything I found concerning this event for you to read, if you care to.
The first place I looked was at the New York Times microfilm. The Times then was decidedly pro-Lincoln, and a Times reporter appears to have been one of the few people who actually was trusted with the knowledge that Lincoln left the threatened train. His confirmation of the Pollard history amounts to what lawyers call an admission against interests. Take a look at the items I highlighted, and everything else too if you wish. It’s not a pretty picture. The bottom line is that there was a fear that the train would be derailed where it would cause death to those in the derailed cars. Lincoln left the train in such a manner that anyone plotting against the train would be unaware that he had left it, but he let his wife and most of his party continued riding in the car he thought threatened.
I also looked at a few Lincoln biographies without finding anything. (I looked for items indexed under Baltimore.) But when I looked at biographies of his wife, I found Turner and Turner’s Mary Todd Lincoln, Her Life and Letters. They do describe the event. Most telling of all is their observation that “She was not free of anxiety … until her own train had passed safely through the restless crowds in Baltimore.” The Turners cite as a source Cuthbert’s Lincoln and the Baltimore Plot, which interestingly is also cited by mainstream McPherson. (I guess McPherson didn’t have room in his book for all the details?) I couldn’t find this 1949 book in the libraries I have access to, but I did attempt to purchase a used copy via the Internet. We’ll see what it says when and if I get it.
The Baltimore Plot isn’t really something that I’ve thought much about before this week. But its treatment in the references I consulted confirms once again that all I was taught about the War Between the States isn’t all there is to know.
ML/NJ
OK, so intellectual honest is taking a single quote and making an entire conspiracy around it?
Most don’t mention the event at all.
How much time did you expect them to spend on it? David Herbert Donald's "Lincoln" goes into it in some detail. Shelby Foote mentions it in Volume 1 of his trilogy. McPherson does mention it in passing as you said. I even took your advice and looked it up on the internet. They all agree pretty much on the details which, not surprisingly, differ considerably from your innuendos. Pinkerton suspected an assassination attempt on Lincoln's life, they snuck him into town early, and Mrs. Lincoln followed later. That much in indisputable. You say he 'secretly abandoned her' yet Donald clearly details that Lincoln insisted his wife be told. You say that Lincoln thought the train was going to be attacked. Yet every account of the Baltimore plot that I read all agree that the train wasn't to be attacked, the attempt was to be made to kill Lincoln as he made his way through the city from one train station to another. Once in Washington Lincoln didn't hide in secret, he visited the President and leaders of Congress, rode through town with Seward, and met with other people all before Mrs. Lincoln arrived. So there was never any doubt that Lincoln was in town and not on the train. Mrs. Lincoln may have been nervous but there still was no indication that there ever was a threat to her or her safety. Now, perhaps you can pull your primary sources out of wherever they reside and show evidence to the contrary but until then I can't see where my intellectual honesty is open to question.
Besides, it isn't like Lincoln threw on his wife's shawl and beat feet through the woods, leaving Mrs. Lincoln at the mercy of enemy troops or anything like that? Is it?
Then why wasn't she told? (I guess Honest Abe never had an opportunity, huh.)
Go look at the NY Times microfilm, as I suggested; and then let me know what you think. Anything less is dishonest.
I've never lived south of 40 degrees North, and grew up with the same history you did. It's a history the winners wrote. I've spoken to some of the writers of this history and some of these have privately admitted to me that they couldn't write an honest history and keep their lofty university positions.
ML/NJ
She was. Lincoln also sent her word of his safe arrival. Herbert's book, pages 277 to 279. Herbert provides half a dozen sources to back his account. Not just one.
Go look at the NY Times microfilm, as I suggested; and then let me know what you think. Anything less is dishonest.
Sure. I'll drop everything and do it.
It's a history the winners wrote. I've spoken to some of the writers of this history and some of these have privately admitted to me that they couldn't write an honest history and keep their lofty university positions.
Far better to go with the myths that the losers write. Is that it?
Not according to any of the participants' accounts I've seen.
Lincoln also sent her word of his safe arrival.
Isn't that nice?! She was riding on a train that he thought might be attacked and he sent her word that HE was okay!
Sure. I'll drop everything and do it.
Afraid of what you might find?
Far better to go with the myths that the losers write. Is that it?
No. But it might be better than to believe in legends. When faced with contradictions in historical accounts, those who care seek out source material. Others accept one side of the story on faith. As I said previously, ignorance is bliss, for some.
ML/NJ
Then read Herbert's book and the accounts given there.
Isn't that nice?! She was riding on a train that he thought might be attacked and he sent her word that HE was okay!
Can you point out a source that says the train was the target? And while you're at it describe how a train could receive a telegram while traveling.
Afraid of what you might find?
No, mild curiosity. I've already seen sources that contradict your version, based on the accounts of people who were actually there when the decision was made.
No. But it might be better than to believe in legends. When faced with contradictions in historical accounts, those who care seek out source material. Others accept one side of the story on faith.
Especially when the legends support your agenda. When faced with contradictions in historical accounts I prefer to go with that version that has the most supporting evidence. And the body of evidence supports the fact that the assassination attempt was to be made between trains and not against the train itself, that Mrs. Lincoln was aware that her husband left early, and that she was never in any danger herself. However, if you prefer to accept on faith the opposite side based on a single source that you can't produce then so be it.
As I said previously, ignorance is bliss, for some.
Obviously.
You could include 1820 since James Monroe was elected that year and he died bigtime at the Laugh Factory. His comedy act really stunk.
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