Mary's friends

[Rob Wick]

My first reaction to this was to agree with Roger, and I still do. However, there is one way that I can see this as having some (and I emphasize, some) credibility. When, in 1868, Mary went to Scotland, she visited with James Smith. She wrote a letter to Smith on August 26, 1868. In a section marked "Private" Mary writes "if you receive any replies to your letters, written to the Senators--please forward them to me--I am glad, Miss Allen, is with you." (Mary Todd Lincoln, Her Life and Letters, pg. 514). Obviously, Mary talked to Smith about her perceived financial issues and what the chances were of her receiving a pension. Smith was going to write to various senators to lobby on Mary's behalf.

What if Reid, or Smith, suggested to Mary that she write a memoir of her life with Lincoln, which inarguably would have been an immediate bestseller and would have, under the right circumstances, given Mary a lifetime income. At that point, Mary might have been amenable to the idea, talking with Reid about the possibility of doing so, but not committing to anything. She conceivably could have even broached the subject with Robert, who likely would have done all in his power to put a stop to such talk.

As the years passed, Reid embellished the story to the point where he had been hired to help Mary with the book, but it never went anywhere. The comment that I've read in various sources is "In 1868 he was employed by Mrs. Mary Lincoln, widow of the President, to assist in the preparation of the Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln. While employed on this work he was appointed by President Grant as United States Consul at Dundee, and held the office at that port until his removal to Oregon in 1874." Most likely, he or Smith broached the subject with Mary, she either gave it some consideration or rejected it outright, and if she gave it consideration she either later rejected it, or Robert put a stop to it. My guess is that if any of my scenario happened, she rejected it outright.

Best
Rob