Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary Ann (née Todd) Lincoln (December 13, 1818 – July 16, 1882) was the wife of the sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and was First Lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865.
A member of a large, wealthy Kentucky family, Mary was well educated. After living in the Todd House and a finishing school during her teens, she moved to Springfield, Illinois, where she lived for a time with her married sister Elizabeth Edwards. Mary was courted by Stephen Douglas before she married Abraham Lincoln. Later they debated in their campaigns for the presidency. She and Lincoln had four sons together, only one of whom outlived her. Their home of about fifteen years still stands in Springfield.
Mary Lincoln suffered from migraine headaches, may have had bipolar disorder and had other severe illness through much of her adult life. She supported her husband throughout his presidency. She witnessed his being fatally shot when they were at Ford's Theatre together.
Read more about Mary Todd Lincoln: Early Life and Education, Marriage and Family, Lincoln's Career and Home Life, White House Years, Widow and Later Life, Death, Representations in Other Media, Family
Famous quotes containing the words todd lincoln, mary, todd and/or lincoln:
“Beautiful, glorious Scotland, has spoilt me for every other country!”
—Mary Todd Lincoln (1818–1882)
“The others “acted” a role; I was the role. She who was Mary Garden died that it might live. That was my genius ... and my sacrifice. It drained off so much of me that by comparison my private life was empty. I could not give myself completely twice.”
—Mary Garden (1874–1967)
“My evil genius Procrastination has whispered me to tarry ‘til a more convenient season.”
—Mary Todd Lincoln (1818–1882)
“Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her lap—let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges;Mlet it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs;Mlet it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)