Did Lincoln Regret Marrying Mary?

[Donna McCreary]

Yes, Margaret Ryan told her tale of a flying piece of firewood to Jesse Weik. The story has been believed because Ms. Ryan was telling stories about things she witnessed. However, in THE MARY LINCOLN ENIGMA (page 73, in the essay written by Richard Miller titled "Life at Eight and Jackson), Ms. Ryan was a fraud. According to Mr. Miller's reseach, "Census records and family correspondence fail to confirm her (Margaret's) presence in the Lincoln household." Ryan also claimed to have seen Lincoln on April 14, 1865. However, there is no evidence to support her presence in Washington or Lincoln having seen her at the White House.

Plus, all of the versions of the firewood story say that Mary was mad and threw the wood at Lincoln as if she meant to hit him. Maybe, she did hit him with a piece of wood. Maybe she was tossing it to him to catch and put in the stove. Accidents happen, and none of us were there to hear her words or the immediate reaction afterwards.