Letters tell of Mary Todd Lincoln's fight for release from asylum

centredaily.com ^ | Mon, Aug. 07, 2006 | Colleen Mastony

[mkjessup]

Well America had ONE more opportunity between January 20, 1993 and January 20, 2001 for history to repeat itself, but it looks like that chance was blown.

[Iowa Granny]

An interesting read. Thanks for posting it.

[sportutegrl]

History has repeated itself over and over again. Every president elected in a year divisible by 20 was killed in office with the exception of Reagan, who was shot, but survived.

1840 ... William Henry Harrison

1860 ... Abraham Lincoln

1880 ... James A. Garfield

1900 ... William McKinley

1920 ... Warren G. Harding

1940 ... Franklin D. Roosevelt

1960 ... John F. Kennedy

1980 ... Ronald W. Reagan

2000 ... George W. Bush?

[sportutegrl]

Sorry, I meant to say "died in office". Not every one was shot, some died of illness.

[Restorer]

She walked the streets with $56,000 sewn into her petticoat

Considering this is about $900k in today's money, this can't be considered fully normal.

[Non-Sequitur]

Every president elected in a year divisible by 20 was killed in office with the exception of Reagan, who was shot, but survived.

And except for Jefferson (1800) and Monroe (1820) as well. And three of those weren't killed but died of natural causes.

[Non-Sequitur]

I'm sure watching her husband and three of her four children die didn't help her stability any.

[ml/nj]

I wonder if she was normal before Honest Abe secretly abandoned her and left her to ride on a train he thought was going to be attacked.

ML/NJ

[Hardastarboard]

someone on a train had slipped poison into her coffee

Every time I take a sip of Starbucks coffee, I feel the same way. Bad stuff.

[moonman]

moonbat stuff here?

[#1CTYankee]

Everything I've read indicates she was a wacko prior to marrying Lincoln

[libstripper]

It is well that is was blown. Would you really want to see that contemptible thing, Clinton, made an untouchable martyr by a bullet, like JFK and MLK?

[Sacajaweau]

Interesting that it was a JURY that had her declared insane. But insanity back that was anyone's opinion. That said, we all have done "insane" things.

She was probably right..her son wanted the money and everything else. Lincoln had married well!!

Mary Todd....The loss of one child is enough to upset one's mind. The loss of my brother in a car accident at age 24 destroyed my father.

[BnBlFlag]

She would have had to have been a wacko to marry that incredibly ugly SOB.

[TweetEBird007]

US 31 is half a state away from this place. State 131 and US 30 are adjacent to Batavia.

[silverleaf]

Couldn't blame her for being crazy after what she endured throughout her life (lost 3 children, saw her husband murdered beside her, lost her brother in civil war and had to endure taunts of "peace activists" blaming it on God's vengeance for her husband's decisions.

Plus living with melancholy Abe was probably no picnic. He is the one who had his 11 yr old son Willy's body disinterred 3 times to view the boy again after his death.

[#1CTYankee]

"She would have had to have been a wacko to marry that incredibly ugly SOB."

Doesn't look like she was any prize either.

[silverleaf]

Not that I believe this or know it to be true, but an interesting comparison of the lives of Abe Lincoln and John Kennedy.....coincidences.

http://www.near-death.com/experiences/reincarnation08.html

[Mercat]

My great grandmother was in an asylum for a while. I don't know why. She was about the same generation as Mary. Strong assertive women had few outlets. Also, Mary was the product of what was called a "braided family" which is a euphamism for cousins marrying cousins over several generations. (I just checked, at least four generations of cousins marrying cousins who were themselves the products of etc you get the picture.