Title: Mary Todd Lincoln First Lady of the U.S. Description: A photograph of Mary Todd Lincoln (Mary Anne Todd; December 13, 1818-July 16, 1882); born in Lexington, Kentucky; died in Springfield, Illinois; wife of Abraham Lincoln and First Lady of the U.S. (1861-1865), seen in one of her gowns made of imported fabrics that cost thousands of dollars; the union of Abraham and Mary Todd (Mary Anne Todd; December 13, 1818-July 16, 1882) produced four sons: Robert Todd Lincoln (August 1, 1843-July 26, 1926); Edward "Eddie" Baker Lincoln (March 10, 1846-February 1, 1850); William "Willie" Wallace Lincoln (December 21, 1850-February 20, 1862); and Thomas Lincoln (April 4, 1853-July 16, 1871); Mary Todd was born to a slave-holding family in Kentucky and moved to Springfield, Illinois in 1839, first courted by rising politician Stephen A. Douglas (April 23, 1813-June 3, 1861), but she was attracted to a struggling attorney, Abraham Lincoln, meeting him on December 16, 1839. Upon learning that her name was spelled with two "d"s, Lincoln reportedly stated: "Why? One was enough for God" after a prolonged engagement (they broke up once), the couple married on November 4, 1842; four sons were born to the Lincolns: Robert Todd Lincoln, Edward Baker "Eddie" Lincoln, William Wallace "Willie" Lincoln, and Thomas "Tad" Lincoln.; the relationship between Mary and Abraham Lincoln was troubled by the early deaths of Edward, Thomas and William Lincoln (only Robert Todd Lincoln lived to maturity), as well as her husband's long absences from home as a circuit attorney and when campaigning for office; in the 1940 film, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, from the play by Robert E. Sherwood (April 4, 1896-November 14, 1955), Mary Lincoln is portrayed as a shrewish, interfering wife, which was not really the case; temperamental and sometimes irrational, she was not a popular First Lady when Lincoln became President of the U.S., and his 1865 assassination left her with permanent trauma; because of her eccentric behavior, her son Robert had her confined for three months at a mental institution in Batavia, Illinois, in 1875; afterward, she lived with her sister, Elizabeth Edwards, in Springfield, Illinois, until her death in 1882; she is buried next to her husband in the Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield. Study Application Notes: Abraham Lincoln ("Honest Abe," "The Rail Splitter," "The Great Emancipator"), born February 25, 1809 in a log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky, died April 15, 1865 in Washington, D.C.; sixteenth President of the U.S. (1861-1865); Lincoln was self-taught, moving at age twenty-two to Illinois in 1831, working on a flatboat, then later as a rail-splitter and store clerk, until moving to Springfield, Illinois to work as a lawyer in 1837; he served four terms as a state representative from Sangamon County, Illinois as a Whig; he married Mary Todd (Mary Anne Todd; December 13, 1818-July 16, 1882) in 1842, a union that produced four sons: Robert Todd Lincoln (August 1, 1843-July 26, 1926); Edward "Eddie" Baker Lincoln (March 10, 1846-February 1, 1850); William "Willie" Wallace Lincoln (December 21, 1850-February 20, 1862); and Thomas "Tad" Lincoln (April 4, 1853-July 16, 1871); Background Information: Lincoln was narrowly elected the sixteenth President of the U.S. in 1860 as a Republican. He worked hard to preserve the Union, though eleven southern States had seceded and a Civil War ensued; his Emancipation Proclamation, announced on September 22, 1862 and put into effect on January 1, 1863, essentially freed the slaves and, with his Gettysburg Address, are some of the greatest documents ever produced by an American President; Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865 at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. shot by American stage actor John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838-April 26, 1865) and died the next day; Lincoln is buried in the Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois; several films profile Lincoln, the most notable being Abraham Lincoln (1930), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), and Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940); Category: Political Figures Topic: U.S. Presidents Subject: Abraham Lincoln Keywords: Abraham Lincoln Collection, Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940 film), Abraham Lincoln, American Civil War (1861-1865), assassinations, films, first ladies of the U.S., motion pictures, movies, Illinois, playwrights, politicians, presidents of the U.S., Springfield, Illinois, stage plays, U.S. Congressmen, U.S. Presidents. Orientation: Portrait Dimensions: 2700 x 3400 (9.18 MPixels) (1.26) Print Size: 22.9 x 28.8 cm; 9.0 x 11.3 inches File Size: 26.29 MB (27,569,934 Bytes) Resolution: 300 x 300 dpi Color Depth: 16.7 million (24 BitsPerPixel) Compression: None Image Number: 0000530280 Source: Jay Robert Nash Collection
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