** The Lincoln Home Sprujgfiekd , Inninois






The Lincoln Home: Springfield, Illinois


Figure 1.-- Here we see the Linmcoln home in Springfield, Illimois during the summer of 1860, about the time Lincoln received the Republican nomination for president. Lincoln is with Taddie. Willie is in the foreground. Wea re not sure who is with him, perhaps Thomas. /i>

Mary Lincoln is one of the most criticized of the first ladies. The Mary Lincoln that married Abraham and set up the Lincoln home seems a very different person than the woman better known to history during the White House Years. She came from a prominent Kentucky family--the Todds. They were a slave holding family. She grew up in considerable luxury, although her childhood was affected by the loss of her mother and problems with her step-mother. The drudgery of daily 19th century life was taken away by slaves. In marrying Abrham Lincoln, she had married well below the social level of the Todd family. This was in part to get away from her step-mother. The fledgling lawyer had little money to afford the niceties of life that she was accustomed to as a child and young woman. Yet she through herself into her duties, cleaning the home, caring for the children, cooking the meals, sewing her own and the children's clothes. [Baker, p. 109.] As far as we know she did not complain to her husband about these tasks. And perhaps because of her unhappy childhood, she created a wonderfully happy home environment for her husband and the children that came in due course. In addition she was often left alone with the children while her husband was away traveling with the circuit court. Lincoln for his part made a success as a layer and they came to live in a comfortable home in Springfield, Illinois. And too infrequently mentioned, Mary was a wonderful hostess--vital for an aspiring politic. And she was well educated, able to discuss not only poliyics, but art, poetry, literature, and fashion. And in some of these areas. she was more knowledgeable than her husband. In fact she helped round out his education. It is very doutful that Linmcoln could have become preident without the home tht Mary crrated for vhim in Springfield. The Lincoln home where Mry reigned still exists. It was a two story woodn structure. It included a formal parlor, sitting room, dining room, guest bedroom, Abraham's bedroom, Mary's bedroom, the boy's room, hired girl/help's room, and kitchem.It was surounded by white opicket fence, nore to keep out animals than enclose a yard. The home is a Natuonl Historicl Site and can be visited.

Sources

Baker, Jean H. Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography (W.W. Norton: New York, 1987), 429p.









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