Why (not), Mary?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Mary rarely hestitated condemning people of whom she thought they harmed or could harm her, even if only in trivial matters, but she never condemned namingly nor directly the one who harmed her the most - JWB (while accusing "innocent" Johnson of co-conspiracy).

I'd love to learn of your thoughts/ideas as for why (not)?! Many thanks for any input!

[Gene C]

I think it was because Booth was killed.
Johnson was still alive and one of the few who actually gained (politically) from Lincoln's death.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks, Gene - this possible reason has never come to my mind. I wondered if the name was made a taboo to repress memories.

[RJNorton]

I wondered if the name was made a taboo to repress memories.

I think that is a good point, Eva. I don't think there is any mention of the Booth name in her letters. She did once mention the word "Surratt" in an 1867 letter to David Davis. She mentioned to Davis that Robert and Tad were in Washington for the John Surratt trial.

Also, I think I read that Johnson wrote her a sympathy note early in 1866. Mary threw it in her trash; someone found it there.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Since Edwin Booth was a Unionist - did he at any time send her a sympathy note?

[RJNorton]

As far as I know, Eva, the answer is "no." I do not recall seeing that he did this in any Mary Lincoln book. I checked Eleanor Ruggles' Prince of Players and do not see any mention that he wrote her.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thank you, Roger. I didn't really expect he did - but who knows?

[Donna McCreary]

I wondered if the name was made a taboo to repress memories.

I think that is a good point, Eva. I don't think there is any mention of the Booth name in her letters. She did once mention the word "Surratt" in an 1867 letter to David Davis. She mentioned to Davis that Robert and Tad were in Washington for the John Surratt trial.

Also, I think I read that Johnson wrote her a sympathy note early in 1866. Mary threw it in her trash; someone found it there.

In a letter dated March 15, 1866 written to Sally Orne, Mary wrote:
"My own intense misery, has been augmented by the same thought - that, that miserable inebriate Johnson had cognizance of my husband's death -- Why, was that card of Booth's, found in his box, some acquaintance certainly existed -- I have been deeply impressed, with the harrowing thought, that he had an understanding withe the conspirators & they, knew their man. Did not Booth say, "There is one thing, he would not tell. . . . "

[LincolnToddFan]

Hi Eva,

Like other presidential widows who had lost their husbands to assassins, I can't remember Mary referring to JWB by name ever.

But she did refer to the murder gang itself in one of her letters as "the fiends".

[RJNorton]

Donna, thank you for referencing Mary's mention of Booth in that letter to Sally Orne.

Toia, in a November 15, 1865, letter to Francis Carpenter, Mary wrote:

"In the evening his mind was fixed upon having some relaxation and bent on the theatre. Yet I firmly believe that, if he had remained, at the W. H. on that night of darkness, when the fiends prevailed, he would have been cut to pieces - Those fiends, had too long contemplated, this inhuman murder, to have allowed, him, to escape."

I don't know if I am comprehending that correctly, but to me it sounds like Mary was convinced Abraham would have been attacked in the White House that night had the couple not gone to the theater.

[Eva Elisabeth]

I wondered if the name was made a taboo to repress memories.

I think that is a good point, Eva. I don't think there is any mention of the Booth name in her letters. She did once mention the word "Surratt" in an 1867 letter to David Davis. She mentioned to Davis that Robert and Tad were in Washington for the John Surratt trial.

Also, I think I read that Johnson wrote her a sympathy note early in 1866. Mary threw it in her trash; someone found it there.

In a letter dated March 15, 1866 written to Sally Orne, Mary wrote:
"My own intense misery, has been augmented by the same thought - that, that miserable inebriate Johnson had cognizance of my husband's death -- Why, was that card of Booth's, found in his box, some acquaintance certainly existed -- I have been deeply impressed, with the harrowing thought, that he had an understanding withe the conspirators & they, knew their man. Did not Booth say, "There is one thing, he would not tell. . . . "

Thanks, Donna - if I've ever read the entire letter, only the "miserable inebriate Johnson" having cognizance stuck to my memory, not her further explanations and mentioning of Booth. So it seems she did undertake some deeper thinking about the background!

---

Donna, thank you for referencing Mary's mention of Booth in that letter to Sally Orne.

Toia, in a November 15, 1865, letter to Francis Carpenter, Mary wrote:

"In the evening his mind was fixed upon having some relaxation and bent on the theatre. Yet I firmly believe that, if he had remained, at the W. H. on that night of darkness, when the fiends prevailed, he would have been cut to pieces - Those fiends, had too long contemplated, this inhuman murder, to have allowed, him, to escape."

I don't know if I am comprehending that correctly, but to me it sounds like Mary was convinced Abraham would have been attacked in the White House that night had the couple not gone to the theater.

Thanks, Roger - very interesting. I agree, it sounds as if she was convinced her husband couldn't have escaped his fate that night. I wonder if it comforted her to some degree - or if she wanted to believe this to not feel guilty as the theater was originally her idea?

[Donna McCreary]

My thought is that Mary believed Lincoln would have been killed that night no matter where he had been. By the time she wrote this letter to Francis Carpenter, it was well known there had been a conspiracy against the government. If Seward could be attacked in his own bed with a house full of family members, Lincoln could have been attacked in any location.

Whether or not it was Mary's idea to attend the theatre will always be debated. According to the rest of the letter to Carpenter, it was Lincoln whose mind was fixed on the idea of attending the entertainment.

[Anita]

Thanks for your thread Eva and to those who contributed. Lot's of good information here.

Along the same lines, did Robert Lincoln at any time in his life, discuss or write his thoughts on who was or wasn't involved/behind the conspiracy to assassinate his father? Was he upset that Jefferson Davis wasn't brought to trial?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Anita, I have no answer to your question, but I believe he once in a letter expressed his regrets he had not accompanied his parents that night.

[RJNorton]

Anita, I don't have an answer either as he may have discussed the topics in oral conversations that are not recorded or reported. As far as I know he didn't write any letters specifically addressing these topics. I think his main concentration for the rest of his life was protecting his father's legacy and not discussing the specific happenings of 1865. Eva is right; according to Nicholas Murray Butler, Robert always felt that had he been there, "Booth would have had to deal with him before he could have shot the president." So I think Robert had regrets that he didn't go to Ford's, but as far as discussing the specifics of the conspiracy...I do not recall ever reading that he did.