RTL's birth

[Laurie Verge]

Question about the "Love is Eternal" inscription on the ring: I assume that ring was put on Mary's finger at the wedding. Had it already been bought and inscribed ahead of time? I would assume so. To me, that would indicate that Abe had deep feelings for Mary. Most men just inscribe their intials and "to..." inside the ring. I have about four generations of wedding rings dating to the early 1800s in our family, and all are inscribed with initials only.

In 1842, it would seem to me that it would take awhile to purchase the ring and have it inscribed. One just didn't run down to the local mall, purchase it, and have it inscribed while you wait. There had to be some pre-planning and intentions to wed at some point.

Finally, I am certainly no prude, but I just cannot envision Abe and Mary as two "frisky" young people engaged in pre-marital sex! As for their married life together, she may have been a shrew, but Abe liked her enough to have four children by her over at least a decade...