Steven Chabotte asked:




Not unlike their husbands, Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Davis Howell had much in common. Both were first ladies of countries besieged by war. Both women grew up in prosperous, slave-owning families. Both were well-educated, better educated, in fact, than most women of the day. Both were often ridiculed and intensely disliked by those who worked closely with their husbands. Although the Civil War divided them, Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Davis Howell were more alike than different.

Mary Todd Lincoln

Mary Todd Lincoln was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1813 to Robert Todd, a well-to-do shopkeeper and state senator who was eminent in Lexington. Her father, uncharacteristically for the time, insisted that Mary have an education; consequently, eight year-old Mary was sent to Shelby Female Academy, and went on to complete her education at Madame Victorie Mentelle’s Select Academy for Young Ladies, near her home in Lexington.

After finishing her education, Mary went to Illinois to live with her sister, Elizabeth, the wife of a prominent Springfield citizen. Because of the social standing of her sister, Mary was introduced into society in Illinois, where she enjoyed the status of a young belle. Two of the beaus who courted her in Illinois were Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln.

It was Lincoln who won Mary’s heart, and after a tortuous engagement, opposed by her family and broken off at least once, Mary and Abraham Lincoln finally married in 1842.

Mary’s life as the wife of a poor country lawyer would have been in sharp contrast to her upbringing; the Lincolns’ first home as newlyweds was an $8 a week room in a tavern. However, despite the privations, the Lincolns were happy, and had four sons together – Robert Todd, born in 1843, Edward Baker, born in 1846, William Wallace, born in 1850, and Thomas, known as Tad, in 1853. She would lose two of these sons, Eddie and Willie, in childhood.

Mary Todd Lincoln was as much, or more politically ambitious for her husband as he was for himself. In addition to keeping up with the political news of the day, discussing politics with him – and influencing many of his views – she was convinced that he would someday be president.

She supported her husband in his position as a member of the House of Representatives, and when he ran for president, used her connections and education to dispel the notion that she and her husband were backwoods ignorants, a popular notion at a time when few presidents came from the “west.”

Mary took her position as first lady in anything but a welcoming climate. Many thought that Mary was a spy for the South, despite the fact that she herself was a strong supporter of both the Union and abolition of slavery. Her mercurial temperament convinced many that she was insane, and her lavish entertainments at the White House during wartime made others perceive her as frivolous.

The death of her son Willie in 1862 and the assassination of Lincoln in 1865 were blows from which Mary Todd Lincoln never fully recovered. Her mental and physical health declined drastically. At one point, she was confined to an asylum. She died in 1882, having outlived all her children but one, broken by the losses she’d suffered.

Varina Howell Davis

Born in 1826 on her family’s prosperous Mississippi plantation, Varina Howell, like Mary Todd Lincoln, enjoyed an education that many women of the time were denied. Educated by a private tutor, then at an exclusive finishing school in Philadelphia, Varina grew up with an interest in politics and literature alike.

While home from school for Christmas, Varina met Jefferson Davis. Davis, a widower who was 36 to Varina’s 17, began to court Varina, a courtship her parents strongly opposed, both due to the age difference and to Davis’ political beliefs – he was a Democrat, the Howells were Whigs.

Despite her parents opposition, Varina and Davis married in 1845. They had six children. Davis, then Secretary of War, spent much time in Washington, and Varina joined him there, where she gained a reputation as a wonderful hostess while also assisting her husband in his political aspirations.

When Davis was elected President of the Confederate States of America, he and Varina moved from Mississippi to Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capitol. Her influence over Davis was such that some of his commanders and cabinet ministers not only feared and resented her, but found that being in her good stead was not only useful but essential.

Like Mary Todd Lincoln, Varina Howell Davis found herself the subject of scrutiny during the war. She, too, was criticized for entertaining at the Confederate White House during the was – some criticized her for entertaining too much, others contended she did not entertain enough. Her family’s northern roots – her grandfather had been a several-term governor of New Jersey – caused her loyalty to be called into question, and the fact that she openly addressed gossip caused her to be labeled as ill-bred.

After the war, the Davis’ fortunes declined forthwith. Jefferson Davis was imprisoned for a spell (Varina actually joined him there for a time – not because of any wrongdoing on her part, but to be near him), and Varina worked tirelessly to have him released and have her family’s rights restored under Reconstruction duress. She supported herself by writing her memoirs and pieces for periodicals after her husband’s death in 1889. She died in 1905, having outlived all but one of her children, still bitter about her family’s treatment after the war.

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Cice Rivera asked:




Whether we call it a disease, disorder, or state of mind; depression affects more than a hundred million people a year. According to the American Psychological Association, that turns out to be one of every five people have some form of depression. It’s one of the leading causes of disability; in the year 2000 more than one million people killed themselves. However, mental illness is being treated more affectively nowadays then ever before. Stress is the leading cause to depression today, because many people don’t know how to cope with daily stress.

Abraham Lincoln suffered from depression year after year. During the 1800’s Lincoln was known to have suffered depression, anxiety and insomnia. Research states, it could be possible that Lincoln may have suffered from Mercury poisoning. Lincoln became extremely aggressive with severe mood swings, according to studies shown in the early 2000s. Lincoln’s life depression began with the loss of many loved ones, as every as childhood. As a young child it was known that Lincoln lived to experience various traumas.

For example, Lincoln was known to be color blind. He also survived a near drowning experience, when he fell in the water at Knob’s Creek, during a bird chase, his neighborly friend had saved his life. Once as a child, Lincoln was riding a horse one day when he lost his temper, whipped the horse hard and in return the horse kicked him; Lincoln suffered a concussion. One Historian suggests it may have caused a “petit mal” and possibly brought on attacks of transient aphasia, where Abraham would be in “another world” and fall into deep sleeps while visually awake. In 1841 Lincoln had a tooth pulled and the dentist broke a part of his jaw during extraction without anesthesia. And in 1863, Lincoln became ill with blotches all over his body, diagnosed with a case of small pox, which was highly contagious.

Lincoln’s childhood derived from poverty, no educational background; he lost his mother and brother by the age of twenty one. First Lincoln was engaged to Anne Rutledge, Anne Pass away from Thyroid Fever, leaving Abraham devastated. Also, Lincoln was engaged to Mary Todd, which lasted until the very day he was getting married. Although he was secretly in love with another woman named Matilda Edwards. When that ended, his friends stated that Lincoln went “Crazy” and they removed all dangerous objects such as razors and knives from him. Next, Lincoln was reunited with Mary Todd and they married three years later. Over the next eleven years they had four children. With more children to come, a total of twelve but only two survived. Furthermore, the death of his son Willie was extremely difficult for him; everyone thought Willie was a clone to Abraham.

Lincoln suffered a great deal; however, it was well known melancholia was part of his history, his mother, sister and cousin suffered from depression. Based on written records and his friend said, “‘Lincoln was suicidal,” although there was never actual proof.

Lincoln was defeated, fired in political ability and state legislature, he was found insufficient. His demeanor, depression had become part of his mental and emotional state. (This was one of his many states of depression.) Then, Lincoln was elected President on November 6, 1860 and was sworn in on March 4, 1861. He had extremely emotional pressures; “loss of life,” “battlefield setbacks,” “assassination threats” and more.

Upholding his beliefs and commitments to the world, Lincoln had freedom within himself, I believe.

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Connie Limon asked:




Mary Anne Todd Lincoln was born in Lexington, Kentucky on December 13, 1818 to Robert Smith Todd and Eliza Ann Parker. Her father was a merchant, lawyer, officer in the War of 1812 and a member of Kentucky legislature also born and died in Lexington, Kentucky. Her mother married Robert Todd in 1812 and died in 1825 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Mary Anne Todd Lincoln was of Irish, Scottish, English ancestry and was the fourth of seven children, three brothers, and three sisters.

Mary stood 5 foot, two inches tall, with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes. She was of Presbyterian faith, an adherent of spiritualism and believed the living could be in contact with the dead.

Education:

She studied grammar, geography, arithmetic, poetry, and literature at Shelby Female Academy, 1826-1832. Shelby Female Academy was later known as Dr. Ward’s Academy. She learned to speak and write French, penmanship, dancing, singing at Madame Mentelle’s Boarding School, 1832-1837. She studied advances studies, most likely in cultural subjects, (details of course study is unknown) at Dr. Ward’s Academy, 1837-1839.

Before her marriage:

She was the daughter of a wealthy and prosperous family and did not have any need for employment. Her father had a close friendship to Kentucky political leader Henry Clay of the Whig Party. Mary developed a voracious interest in politics and political issues. She studied a lot and very deeply a variety of subjects including the works of Victor Hugo, Shakespeare, and astronomy. Legend tells us her maternal grandmother aided slaves seeking freedom through the “Underground Railroad” and Mary Todd’s later support of abolition is believed to have originated with her grandmother’s influence.

Mary Todd married Abraham Lincoln at the age of 23 in 1842 on November 4. Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer from 1809-1865. Their marriage ceremony took place in the front parlor of the home of Mary Todd’s sister, Elizabeth and her husband Ninian Edwards in Springfield, Illinois. For the first two years of their marriage, they lived at the Globe Tavern in Springfield. They purchased their first and only home at Eight and Jackson Streets in Springfield, Illinois in 1844.

Mary Todd Lincoln bore four sons:

o Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926)

o Edward Baker Lincoln (1846-1850)

o William “Willie” Wallace Lincoln (1850-1862)

o Thomas “Tad” Lincoln (1853-1871)

After her marriage, Mary Lincoln spent her years confined to either Illinois or Kentucky, except for a two-year period when Abraham Lincoln served as a U.S. Congressman in Washington. She then made the unusual move to relocate there for a time, living with him and their first child in a boardinghouse. Mary focused primarily upon raising her family and often did cooking and cleaning of their home. In spite of this, she also often took an active role in promoting Abraham Lincoln’s political career. Mary Lincoln handwrote Abraham Lincoln’s solicitation letters to Whig leaders. She advised against his acceptance of the governorship of the faraway Oregon territory since it would remove him from a potential national position. She was at sessions of the state legislature at the capital where she filled a notebook with the names of partisan allegiance of each member and was also in attendance at the last of the famous debates. She had a special interest of the transition of the Whig Party into the new Republican one and wrote to influential friends in Kentucky regarding Lincoln’s views on slavery.

A legend tells us that as a young woman Mary Todd had announced to friends that the man she married would someday become President of the United States. She was eager to assume a prominent public role in her husband’s presidency. She was always ready to speak to reporters and gave speeches of political issues during the transition period between election and inauguration days.

Mary Todd Lincoln became the First Lady of the United States March 4, 1861. She was 42 years old. It has been difficult to assess Mary’s mental and physical problems suffered during her time as First Lady. It is felt she manifested behavior suggesting severe depression, anxiety and paranoia, migraine headaches. She also had symptoms of possibly diabetes. It is most likely that all of her ills were made worse by a series of tragic circumstances during her White House tenure which were:

o The trauma of Civil War that included the allegiance of much of her family to the Confederacy and their death or injury in battle

o An accident in 1863 which threw her from a carriage and knocked her unconscious

o Accusations by northerners that she was sympathetic to the Confederacy and labeling her as a “traitor” by southerners

o The sudden death of her son Willie in 1862

o The worst incident of all, the assassination of her husband as she sat beside him in the Ford’s Theater.

Mary Lincoln was the first presidential wife to be called “First Lady” in the press. This was documented in both the London Times and Sacramento Union newspapers.

Mary Lincoln had a reputation for expensive White House redecoration and extravagant clothing purchases. She felt this necessary to create an image of the stability that would command respect for the President and the Union. The public and the press reacted much differently with ridicule and anger. The public and press thought Mrs. Lincoln conveyed an image of a selfish and indulgent woman inconsiderate of the suffering that most of the nation’s families were enduring as a result of the war her husband was managing. She also pressed Republican appointees to pay her debts with the feeling that they owed their positions to her husband.

The war overshadowed all of Mary Lincoln’s extra curricular activities. She worked as a volunteer nurse in the Union hospitals, offered intelligence she had learned as well as her own advice to the President on military personnel, toured Union Army camps and reviewed troops with her husband. She was successful in using entertaining as a means of raising Union morale. There were two public causes in which Mary Lincoln became involved that proved her genuine support of the Union Army and the freedom of slaves, they were:

o The Sanitary Commission fairs that raised private donations to supplement the federal funds for soldier supplies such as blankets and Contraband Relief Association that also raised private donations for housing, employment, clothing and medical care of recently freed slaves, an organization she became involved in as a result of her friendship with her dressmaker, former slave Elizabeth Keckley.

Mary Todd Lincoln was deeply traumatized by her husband’s murder. She moved out of the White House May 23, 1865 and relocated to Chicago where she began efforts to settle her husband’s estate. The sudden death of her son in 1871 left her spirit broken. Her son Robert considered her behavior to be signs of mental instability and successfully had her tried for insanity.

In 1875, Mary Todd Lincoln was committed to the Bellevue Insane Asylum in Vatavia, Illinois. Later that day she twice attempted ******* by taking what she thought was laudanum and camphor, which a suspicious druggist had replaced with a sugar substance.

Myra Bradwell, one of the nation’s first women lawyers, believed Mrs. Lincoln was not insane and was being held against her will. She filed an appeal for Mrs. Lincoln and four months later the former First Lady was released to the care of her sister. A second trial declared her sane. Mary Todd Lincoln died at the home of her sister, Elizabeth Edwards in Springfield, Illinois on July 16, 1882, and was buried in the Lincoln Tomb, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois

Source: National First Ladies’ Library

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