Sons and parents

[Eva Elisabeth]

Gene and Toia, I do understand Robert needed to take action and felt the need to do so, and on that the basic decision to take action was a responsible one by Robert. If he hadn't done anything he would probably have ended up as the bad guy (or son), too. And sure the entire situation was not easy for him and might have taken him to his limits. Well, yes, it's always easier to judge from "outside" and by hindsight, so I might have been too hard in my judgement.

(01-11-2015 03:46 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  A great big THANK YOU to everyone who replied!!

After I made the post above I thought of another way Robert may have found out about Abraham's supposed comment to Mary about the asylum. This is because it was in Lizzie's 1868 book that revealed intimate conversations, letters, details, etc. of the Lincoln family. Laurie, you asked if Lizzie really made the incident public - yes, she did. Both Mary and Robert were furious with this book. According to Jean Baker, Mary read the book. But I do not know if Robert did. I have read that he had the book suppressed (or attempted to), but I do not know if he did this after reading the book or simply hearing about its contents. Has anyone ever read whether or not Robert actually read the book?

Roger, this is such a logic and smart thought! From what Charles Lachmann writes on pp.132/133 of "The Last Lincolns" I believe Robert did read the book , although - I'm sorry this doesn't answer your question - he doesn't literally claim this. But as Robert managed to threaten the publishers so severely that they let the book disappear from the market I assume he exacly knew the content of the book to reason his claims and case.

(01-11-2015 01:40 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  As Laurie has pointed out it wasn't a run of the mill Victorian hellhole of an asylum.

Yes, but what kind of asylum was the Cook County Hospital of the Illinois State Hospital for the insane? This was the one Robert originally pleaded to have his mother confined to according to the petition he filled in the "Application to Try the Question of Insanity", the form required for the court. (The one Elizabeth Packard was confined to.),

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I have two further questions, and thank you for any comments:

1. It was quite easy for men to get their wives committed to an asylum, although Illinois was ahead of most other states in at least requiring a trial (which could easily have been manipulated as Mary's case proved). What about men? Could men, too, be likewise committed against their consent (on behalf of their families)?

2. Re: "Because in fact it DID pass eventually. There is no evidence of anything other than mild eccentricity, grief and loneliness during MTL's subsequent time in Europe after she was released" - I wonder why. Was it the "shocking" experience of the insanity affair and her fear Robert would try to commit her again? Was it simply a matter of time passing by and temporal distance to the events? On the other hand she also obviously didn't suffer from migraines anymore.