Lincoln Letter to John Stuart

[Donna McCreary]

I agree that Lincoln needed a loving, devoted spouse to help end his bouts of misery.
Thinking about the letter he wrote to John Todd Stuart, let us entertain the idea that if the letter is indeed about Mary Todd, perhaps Lincoln chose his words very wisely to create a little drama. John Todd Stuart was not only Lincoln's law partner and Mary Lincoln's first cousin, he was one of Mary's favorite cousins. Stuart was also a bit of a 'blabber mouth.' His letters to family members are full of family information and gossip. He often visited his cousins in Springfield. After his death, Elizabeth Edwards wrote to her sister Emilie in Kentucky that John Todd Stuart had visited with the Edwards family nearly every day for over 40 years. That is an exaggeration as Stuart was often away on buisness or family matters. Still, the message is clear that the cousins visited often.
Upon reading the letter from Lincoln, perhaps Stuart trotted off to visit Mary and tell her that her beau was "the most miserable man alive." I seriously doubt he kept that information to himself.