Random Heartbreaking Facts About Mary Todd Lincoln, America's Most Tragic First Lady (17 items)

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  (#1) She Was Holding Her Husband's Hand When He Was Shot

  Mary Todd Lincoln was not just sitting next to her husband when he was shot - she was holding his hand. The Lincolns were sitting in a box at Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865, with their two guests, Henry Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris. Mary Todd was apparently holding her husband's hand when she asked Abraham, "What will Miss Harris think of my holding onto you so?" Her husband replied, "She won't think anything about it."

  Her hand did not leave his - they were still holding onto each other minutes later, when John Wilkes Booth walked into the booth and fired a bullet into the back of her husband's head.
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  (#2) People Thought She Went Insane After Her Husband's Death

  Already grief-stricken by the loss of two of her children, Mary Todd Lincoln was absolutely heartbroken by the death of her husband in April 1865. Her behavior became increasingly paranoid and erratic, especially upon the untimely passing of her youngest son, Tad, in 1871.

  Adding to her depression was her fear of poverty and the paranoia that assassins lurked around every corner. She also shopped compulsively and suffered from migraines.
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  (#3) Three Of Her Four Sons Passed Before She Did

  Though Mary Todd Lincoln had four sons during her marriage to Abraham Lincoln, she buried three of them in her lifetime. Eddie and Willie both passed in childhood - Eddie at 4 and Willie at 11 - and Tad at the age of 18.

  Her last surviving son was Robert, the only one who reached adulthood and outlived his parents. 
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  (#4) She Was Committed To An Asylum By Her Own Son

  Following the assassination of her husband in April 1865, Mary Todd became increasingly depressed and agitated. It got to the point that Robert, her only surviving son, had her committed to an asylum outside of Chicago in 1875. 

  Mary Todd Lincoln was committed to Bellevue Sanitarium in Batavia, IL, ultimately orchestrating her own release from the institution a few months later and moving to Europe for a time.
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  (#5) Medications From Doctors May Have Contributed To Her Erratic Behavior

  Mary's adulthood was plagued by both physical and emotional pain. Apart from the personal losses she sustained, she also suffered from migraines and insomnia. To ease her suffering, her doctor prescribed her chloral hydrate in 1873. Among other things, an overdose of chloral hydrate can produce hallucinations, which might explain her paranoia. 

  That's just one theory about what was contributing to Mary Todd Lincoln's health issues. Historians and medical professionals have put forth many other theories - some have suggested that she had pernicious anemia, while others claim she was bipolar. 
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  (#6) She Had A Wicked Stepmother

  Mary Todd was only 6 years old when her mother passed. Her father soon remarried, giving his brood of seven children a new stepmother named Betsey Humphreys.

  Mary Todd routinely clashed with her stepmother, and Humphreys didn't make life easy for her new stepchildren. She relied on shame, humiliation, and embarrassment as punishments and even referred to Mary Todd as a "limb of Satan." 
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  (#7) She Was Labeled A 'Hellcat'

  Mary Todd Lincoln had a hard time pleasing her critics in Washington. So, when she took it upon herself to redecorate the shabby White House and give the president's office some added legitimacy and class, it was an opportunity for her to win the respect of those who disliked her. Unfortunately, her project ran over budget, which only emboldened her critics. Between her redecorating scheme and her shopping sprees (she was said to own over 300 pairs of gloves), it was easy to label her a spendthrift - a horrible charge during wartime.

  It wasn't just her spending that attracted criticism, she could also be moody and volatile at times. And her husband's private secretary did her no favors when he called her a "hellcat."
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  (#8) Many Of Her Brothers Fought For The Confederacy

  During the Civil War, Kentucky was a divided state. Though it was not officially part of the Confederacy, many men took up arms for the South. The Todds, who were one of Kentucky's most prominent families, were just as divided as their home state.

  The First Lady herself had close relations fighting against her husband's government and a handful of her brothers were Confederate officers. Her younger sister, Emilie, was even married to a Confederate general, but this did not stop her from visiting the White House during the war.
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  (#9) She Was Born Into A Family Of Slaveholders

  Robert Todd, Mary Todd's father, was one of the most influential men in the state of Kentucky. And like many prominent men in the state, he enslaved people to run his large household in Lexington.

  Thus, the future wife of the so-called "Great Emancipator" grew up being waited upon by enslaved people. In adulthood, however, she would take up anti-slavery views. 
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  (#10) After Her Husband's Death, She Wore Black For The Rest Of Her Life

  As was the custom of the day, Mary Todd Lincoln went into mourning after her husband's assassination. She was so bereft that she decided to wear black for the rest of her life, not just for the customary two years that mourning ritual dictated.

  In a bold and financially motivated move, Mary Todd decided to auction off all of the colorful clothes that she would no longer be able to wear. The decision earned her even more criticism and caused great scandal among a population that already supported her very little.
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  (#11) Congress Didn't Want To Give Her A Widow's Pension

  Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865 was a huge blow to his wife, both emotionally and financially. Since Lincoln hadn't written a will, Mary Todd's financial situation deteriorated in the years following her husband's death.

  She petitioned Congress for the pension she felt was due to her as the widow of the Commander in Chief. It wasn't until 1870 that Congress, after much hesitation and by a very slim margin, granted her request. 
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  (#12) She Was An Outsider In Washington

  As the first lady of a divided nation, Mary Todd Lincoln seemingly could not do anything right. Many in the North regarded her as an outsider, since she was originally from Kentucky - some even cruelly whispered that she could be a spy for the Confederacy.

  As a Kentuckian who lived in central Illinois, she was also seen as unrefined by the Eastern-centric Washingtonians, even though she had gone to finishing school and was from a wealthy family. 
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  (#13) Her Husband's Political Rival Had Been Her Early Suitor

  Mary Todd was a favorite fixture of society in Springfield, IL, whenever she visited her sister who was living there. Bright, witty, and vivacious, she attracted attention wherever she went.

  Though a tall and skinny lawyer named Abraham Lincoln would eventually win her hand, he was far from Mary Todd's only suitor. Stephen A. Douglas - the very same man who ran a successful Senate campaign against Lincoln in 1858 - had also courted Mary Todd in Springfield.
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  (#14) The Press Overlooked Her Good Deeds

  While Washington buzzed with rumors about her spending habits and emotional stability, Mary Todd Lincoln's other occupations went largely unnoticed. As an anti-slavery advocate, she attempted to start a fund to help escaped enslaved people and even had a routine of visiting Union soldiers who were convalescing in Washington hospitals. She would often bring the soldiers gifts and would read or write letters for them.

  Washington society and the Union at large knew little of Mary Todd Lincoln's philanthropy, however, as she forbade reporters from accompanying her on these visits, since she felt they were private.
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  (#15) She Became Obsessed With Spiritualism

  Mary Todd Lincoln's adult life was difficult. She buried three of her children and her husband before she was 54. It is no wonder, then, that she flirted with spiritualism, as did many other Americans trying to make sense of all the loss that the Civil War was bringing.

  Her interest in spiritualism grew in 1862 after her 11-year-old son, Willie, passed. She invited several different mediums and spiritualists to the White House, desperately hoping they would give her peace and help her reconnect with her lost son. One spiritualist - Charles Colchester - even warned Abraham Lincoln that he would be assassinated.
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  (#16) She Felt Betrayed By A Former Dressmaker And Friend

  Elizabeth Keckley's story is every bit as fascinating as Mary Todd Lincoln's. Born into slavery in 1818, Keckley used her skills in dressmaking to buy her freedom and establish her own shop in Washington, DC, in 1860. When Mary Todd saw Keckley's dresses, she was so impressed that she hired the woman as her personal dressmaker. Keckley quickly became a trusted friend, confidant, and adviser to the increasingly isolated and troubled First Lady.

  In 1868, Keckley wrote and published her memoirs about living and working in the White House, and the former first lady felt the book was a betrayal of their friendship.
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  (#17) She Wanted To Be More Than A Hostess

  The role of first lady was ill-defined when Mary Todd Lincoln first came to Washington as the wife of the president. But one thing was clear: Mary Todd Lincoln did not simply want to be a hostess, even if she was the first presidential spouse to be called "First Lady."

  She was an important driving force behind her husband's career, and her influence over her husband was such that when he won the election in 1860, he gleefully told her, "Mary, Mary, we are elected!" She even accompanied her husband on visits to hospitals, tours of army camps, and troop reviews.

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