Abraham Lincoln. You know that name. Don't you? That's the name of one of the 3 greatest presidents that ruled America. He's indisputably a powerful force to be reckoned with. Over 150 years after his tragic demise, his name still rings a bell. And why not? A man's work will always speak for him.
        But there's another important person who gets less than half the attention Abraham Lincoln garners. It's Mary... Mary Todd Lincoln. Her story is outright tragic. But still, it's indeed worth sharing. I'm not really setting out to write a biography on this amiable woman. This is only an attempt to gist you a bit about the 16th First Lady of America and by extension Mr Lincoln's family life.
    Mary Todd was born into the wealthy and prominent Todd family on December 13, 1818, and grew up in the midst of plenty, personal servants and refinement. She was well educated as befits a lady of her class. She was also very pretty with beautiful fair skin and blue eyes. So, she got the attention of gentlemen. Mary was lively, sociable and intelligent. She was a good conversationalist and so, she charmed Abraham who was melancholy and deficient as a conversationalist.
        It's amazing that these two, despite conflicting backgrounds and the odds against them, fell in love with each other and after a tempestuous courtship were eventually joined as man and wife. Mary was this rich girl with the world at her fingertips. Her father was really wealthy, her sisters married into prominent families and led very comfortable lives. She lived some years of her life at the luxurious mansion owned by her sister and her husband, Elizabeth and Ninian Edwards, the son of a former governor. Abraham at the other end was born to a farmer/carpenter father(probably illiterate), was largely self educated, melancholic, tall and strong with a good sense of humour. In their first years of marriage, he was just a struggling lawyer but he was ambitious. Their very first accommodation as husband and wife was at a one-room apartment and they took their meals in the common dinning room. This was different from what Mary was used to, there were no personal servants, no private room and no comfort. But she didn't complain. Her sisters who were not satisfied with her choice for a husband 'largely dropped her from their social circle'. For the love she had for her husband, she endured it all. They moved into a three-room frame house after the birth of their first son, Robert in 1843. While there, Mary's father paid them a visit. Robert Todd really liked his son-in-law. He was touched by the condition in which he found his daughter that 'he dropped a gold piece into her hand' and afterwards, put her on an allowance of $120 a year. He also gave the Lincolns 80 acres of land as he did his other daughters and their husbands.
      To cut the long story short, in 1861, Abraham Lincoln became the president of America. As First Lady, she visited hospitals to give flowers and fruits to injured soldiers. She also wrote letters for them to send to their loved ones. Interestingly, as a young lady, she jokingly said she would marry a man who would become president. Indeed, her words came true. Even in her days as a young girl, she had an unlady-like interest in politics. Her husband had her firm and ardent support. She was proud of her husband and when he was compared unfavourably with Stephen A. Douglas by someone (maybe before he was president), she said, 'Mr Lincoln may not be as handsome a figure... but the people are perhaps not aware that his heart is as large as his arms are long'.
       Her pitfalls, however included fierce temper(many of her relatives had this character trait too), public outbursts after which she was ashamed, and excessive spending habit.
      Unfortunately, the life of Mary Lincoln is very pathetic. She suffered migraines and depression all her life. She had four sons and only one, Robert outlived her. Eddie, her second child died at the age of about 3 or 4, shortly after the deaths of her father and beloved grandmother. Mary's own mother had died when she was 6. Her third son, William died at the age of 12. She was with her husband at Ford's Theatre when he was assassinated by Wilkes. Her last child, Thomas died at the age of 18. Her husband's death was almost more than she could endure. She began to behave irrationally to the extent that her son, Robert doubted her sanity.
     Her last years were marked by ill health. She was a
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