Mary Lincoln's Insanity Case: A Documentary History

Introduction

Introduction Shortly before Mary Lincoln was declared insane by a Chicago jury in May 1875, one resident summed up the public knowledge and feeling in the city about the former first lady in a letter to a friend: We are sorry to hear that poor Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, who lives here, has had a nervous breakdown. One can hardly wonder at it, with all she has been through. Being in the White House during the civil war was enough of a strain,even without the tragic death of her husband, to which she was a witness. It must have been awful for her. Poor woman. They say she is haunted by the fear that Chicago is to be destroyed by fire again, and she has gone to the bank and removed all her valuables, in order to take them out of the city, in case the dreaded conflagration comes. Her son, Robert T. Lincoln, a lawyer here, is most kind and attentive to her. One hears nothing but praise for his conduct.1 In fact,Mary Lincoln’s life and mental health in the decade after her husband’s assassination was far more complex,pitiable,and worrisome than anyone except her oldest son truly understood. The one thing that nearly the entire country agreed on,however,was that Abraham Lincoln’s murder had driven his wife insane.This belief followed her the rest of her life,and was remarked on often at the time of her death. Even Rev. James A. Reed, during Mary Lincoln’s funeral in July 1882, said, “It is no reflection upon either the strength of her mind or the tenderness of her heart,to say that when Abraham Lincoln died, she died. The lightning that struck down the strong man, unnerved the woman. The sharp iron of this pungent grief went to her soul.The terrible shock,with its quick following griefs,in the death of her children, left her mentally and physically a wreck, as it might have left any of us in the same circumstance.”2 But even then most people truly did not know Mary’s history in the years following April 1865. After leaving the White House, Mary lived in Chicago with her remaining sons RobertandTad.In1868shetookTadtoEuropetotravel,butspecificallytoimprove his education. They returned to America in 1871, but shortly after their arrival in Emerson_Text.indd 9 5/18/12 3:37 PM x Introduction Chicago seventeen-year-old Tad died of pleurisy. After the death of her youngest child, her “troublesome little sunshine” as she once called him, Mary Lincoln’s long-remarked-on eccentricities became even more pronounced. Robert Lincoln, Mary’s oldest and last surviving son,was so concerned over his mother’s health and safety that he hired a personal nurse,Ellen Fitzgerald,to be her constant companion as she traveled restlessly around the United States and Canada.Robert was,in 1872, not yet thirty years old, married and with a three-year-old daughter, and a partner in his own law firm in Chicago. In 1873 Mary Lincoln began medical care under Dr.Willis Danforth for what he diagnosed as “fever and nervous derangement of the head.” By March 1875, Mary Lincoln was suffering from mental troubles including hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and depression. Her statements and actions had become so bizarre and worrisome to her oldest son that he consulted seven of the Midwest’s best medical experts and three of his father’s closest friends seeking advice. They all advised him that his mother was insane and needed medical treatment.3 Since Mary would never voluntary acquiesce to psychiatric care,Robert followed Illinois state law and had his mother tried in county court on the charge of insanity. Mary Lincoln’s insanity trial on May 19,1875,lasted for three hours during which time eighteen witnesses—doctors,hotel employees,and shopkeepers—testified that she was mentally impaired and needed medical attention. Robert himself took the stand, explained his mother’s history, and declared that he had “no doubt” she was insane. “She has been of unsound mind since the death of father; has been irresponsible for the past ten years,” he said amidst multiple tearful breakdowns.4 The jury took less than ten minutes to declare Mary Lincoln insane and a fit person to be committed to a sanitarium for medical treatment. Robert was subsequently named the conservator of his mother’s estate and had total control of her property and finances. Robert arranged for his mother...