[Persevero]

“who suffered from various obscure illnesses worsened by her persistent hypochondria.”

I hate aside comments like this. How do they know she was pretending any of her ailments? She is not here to defend herself.

[dangerdoc]

Hypochondria is not faking ailments, that is another disorder. It is the persistent concern about being ill or compulsive attention to symptoms.

[AnAmericanMother]

It was fairly common among Victorian ladies of a certain class, and yeah, it's pretty well documented.

Her daddy was Lyman Beecher, a hellfire and brimstone Presbyterian preacher, and her mama died when she was only 5. The whole family was roiled with religious controversy -- her older sister went through agonies when her fiance was drowned at sea, believing him to be in Hell. Her brother, Henry Ward Beecher, was accused of adultery with a parishioner and the public trial was a huge scandal. It was enough to drive you to drink . . . or, in her case, to recline on the sofa and have sinking spells and go to warm climates 'for her health'. I can't say I blame her one bit.

By the way, she was a beauty when she was younger -