Did Mary Lincoln need committal?

[RJNorton]

(04-14-2014 08:35 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  At Mary's funeral, the minister likened Abraham and Mary Lincoln to two trees that had grown intertwined. One tree was struck by lightening and was killed outright, the other seemed on the outside to continue to live but in fact had died as well. I think that described Mary's situation perfectly.

Toia, thank you very much for mentioning Dr. James A. Reed's eulogy from Mary's funeral. The only book I own which I think includes the text of the eulogy in its entirety is Dr. Temple's Abraham Lincoln: From Skeptic to Prophet. From p. 401 here is a small portion of what Reverend Reed said (which includes the story you cited):

"When among the Allegheny mountains last summer, I saw two tall and stately pines standing on a rocky ledge, where they, had grown so closely together as to be virtually united at the base, their interlocking roots entering the same rock cavities, and penetrating the same soil. There they had stood for years with intertwining branches and interlocking roots, braving in noble fellowship the mountain storms. But the taller of the two had, years before, been struck by a flash of lightning, that had gone to its very roots, shattering it from top to bottom, and leaving it scarred and dead.

The other, apparently uninjured, had survived for some years, but it was evident from the appearance of its leaves that it, too, was now quite dead. It had lingered in fellowship with its dead companion, but the shock was too much for it. In their sympathetic fellowship and union, both trees had suffered from the same calamity. They had virtually both been killed at the same time. With the one that lingered, it was only slow death from the same cause. So it seems to me today, that we are only at death placing his seal upon the lingering victim of a past calamity."