W. A. Evans: "Mrs. Abraham Lincoln"

[RJNorton]

(11-20-2014 10:27 PM)Gene C Wrote:  This is a very interesting book.

I agree, Gene. The copy I have was published in 1932 by Alfred A. Knopf. I am afraid it is falling apart. I think this is an underrated book when it comes to really getting to know what made Mary tick. I believe it is the only book I own which has a sketch of the cottage the Lincolns lived in briefly after leaving the Globe Tavern and moving into the Lincoln Home.

The cause of Mary's death is described differently in various books. Here is what Dr. Evans wrote in his book:

"Dr. T. W. Dresser's death certificate read that she died from "paralysis." Generally speaking, the word "paralysis " is very loosely used. It might refer to any one of several kinds of apoplexy, to diabetic coma, to unconsciousness due to drugs or poisons, or to general paralysis of the insane, called paresis. Dr. Dresser clarified the certificate with the statement, given to William H. Herndon, that he meant apoplexy. There was no necropsy.

Mrs. Lincoln did not have general paresis, and her unconsciousness was not due to drugs or poisons. The description of her death, as given in the newspapers, is confirmatory of Dr. Dresser's opinion that the immediate cause of death was apoplexy, probably due to the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain.

There is considerable suspicion of diabetic coma, in some degree, during the last week of her life. Nor do the newspaper accounts of her last three days preclude the possibility that this was the immediate cause of her death. Apoplexy merely seems to be the better explanation. However, there is no contradiction between diabetes, and even diabetic coma, and apoplexy."