Category Archives: Abraham Lincoln

Johnson, Grant and the Big Parade

Mid-March through Mid-May, 1865 were fraught with events March 1865 With General Ulysses Grant squeezing the Rebel Army even tighter in Petersburg, VA, and General William Sherman marching his vast army up the eastern coast, everyone knew that the end … Continue reading

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Seward and Davis: An Unlikely Friendship

Jefferson Davis and William Seward in their old age. William H. Seward: Republican Whig The 1850s was decade seething with unrest; a volcano just waiting to erupt. The Whigs had always been a cobbled-together party of various factions and sections … Continue reading

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Harriet Hanks, Lincoln’s Cousin-Niece

It’s a complicated family line. The Lincoln-Hanks Kinship Abraham Lincoln, as everyone knows, was the son of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. Nancy Hanks, Abe’s mother, had an aunt, also named Nancy Hanks, who had an illegitimate son named Dennis, … Continue reading

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Robert Lincoln’s Second Father

Robert Lincoln was twenty-one when he became man of the family. Young Mr. Lincoln Abraham Lincoln died intestate: he had not made a will. Thus, by law, his estate would be divided into thirds: a third to his widow, and … Continue reading

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Betsey Humphreys: Mary Lincoln’s Wicked Stepmother

When Mary Lincoln was seven, she and her five siblings lost their mother. The Todd Marriage…and Remarriage Robert Smith Todd (1791-1849) was 21 when he married Eliza Parker. Every indication was that it was a marriage of inclination. They liked … Continue reading

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Mary Lincoln’s Gala Bash

In early February, 1862, President and Mrs. Lincoln hosted their only huge party at the White House. Mrs. Lincoln: New FLOTUS For nineteen years Mrs. Abraham Lincoln was only a middle class Springfield, Illinois housewife – and the middle class … Continue reading

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The Death of Tad Lincoln

Tad Lincoln had just turned 18 when he died. Tad in Springfield, IL Thomas Lincoln, (1853-1871) named for his paternal grandfather, was called Tad from the outset.  It was a hard birth, and Tad was born with a cleft palate … Continue reading

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Lincoln and Sherman: Plugging the Hole

When Abraham Lincoln became President, he knew very little about the military. He learned quickly. The Bull Run Debacle The Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861, was an eye-opener on many levels. The Union forces, mostly short term … Continue reading

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Lincoln. Mary. Robert. War.

Of all the decisions Abraham Lincoln was obliged to make during his administration, few were as personally difficult as his son’s participation in the Army. Robert’s Story Robert Todd Lincoln had just entered Harvard when his father was inaugurated in … Continue reading

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Mary Lincoln: The Last Sad Years

In late 1880, Mary Lincoln, no longer able to live on her own, left Europe and returned to live with her sister in Springfield, Illinois. She was sixty-one. The Widow Lincoln in Exile When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in April, … Continue reading

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