Curious---Tad left or right handed?

[Tadsecrete]

Handedness certainly doesn't determine character.

Sorry...I meant that he WAS a character.

[RJNorton]

I have looked through a lot of books, and I cannot find anywhere in the literature whether Tad was right or left-handed. I thought the answer might be in Dr. John Sotos' The Physical Lincoln, but I don't see it in there. (Dr. Sotos feels Tad's brain was not normal "but cannot say what made it so.") Personally I lean toward Tad being right-handed as when my layman's eyes look at the one authentic signature we have for Tad it looks (to me) more like the signature of a right-handed person. However, based on the research I've done so far, I don't think the answer can be determined.

[Tadsecrete]

Maybe there's a psychologist on here that might weigh in on Tad's creativeness and other mannerisms? I agree with Mr. Norton in that the signature does LOOK right handed. But, for all his mischievousness and kindness and hyperactivity I'll lean towards left handed. Just a personal opinion.

[Eva Elisabeth]

I agree with Roger. Despite, re.:

"Maybe there's a psychologist on here that might weigh in on Tad's creativeness and other mannerisms?"

While a graphologist likely could seriously determine (but there are no written samples evidently to be known as Tad's) - being a teacher, to my humble knowledge from psychology courses at university in the course of pedagogics as well as from my experience with teaching hundreds of students over years I couldn't confirm it possible to seriously determine handedness from "mannerisms", hyperactivity (and all hyperactive as well as mischievous kids have their kind moments) or similar, not any more serious than from reading zodiac signs. I couldn't as for Tad, and as I've said I've seen lots of students of either "side".

As for creativity - left-handed people are AFAIK evidently better at visualing, especially in 3D, than right-handed people (and my personal experience confirms - I am definitely a visual person), but IMO it is not possible to draw the v.v. conclusion that someone who is a visual person is left-handed. Also off the top of my head I cannot think of an appropriate, specific "visual thinking" example as for Tad. Can someone else?

[ScholarInTraining]

Interesting topic! I personally don't feel like Tad was "slow" or anything: he was naturally smart enough and reportedly learned very quickly once he finally received his formal education. Wasn't he fluent in German later on?
It makes sense if Tad was left-handed! Not only did he dislike the idea of reading and writing when he was little, he must have thought it was simply too hard to do. Especially if, say, his tutors were trying to get him to write with his non-dominant hand.

I wish a sample of his handwriting could be found!

[AussieMick]

In Victorian Britain there was a very strong impetus to force (literally) children to use their right hand. The damage done doesnt bear thinking about. Bed-wetting and stuttering were the minor issues caused.

The below site describes problems that Tad may or may not have had, including a partial cleft palate, dental abnormalities, and enlarged adenoids. Problems in language development seem to have been issue too, although these could have been those that are often related to some boys even these days.

What Was Tad Lincoln's Speech Problem?

[ScholarInTraining]

Well, we know for sure that he had a lisp, made worse by crooked teeth. Poor kid probably couldn't say things properly (his preferred "Speed Racer" style of talking didn't help) without accidentally biting the inside of his mouth and cheeks in mid-sentence. That causes canker sores. Ouch...

He had to get his words out quickly and just understandably enough. So "Took" was a pretty quick substitute for the added annoyance of the mouth movements required of "Crook", and so on.

As for the notching - now there is a rumor that there was a surgeon who fixed both Tad's lip and Robert's crossed eye - but I wonder whether or not it just happens to be the shape of his philtrum? Maybe from the Todd side?*

*I was looking at photos of Mary and Robert one day and suddenly gasped, "the lip thing!!!" because I thought I noticed a similarity around their upper lip/philtrum areas as well.

[kerry]

In the right thread this time:

Ida Tarbell papers have an interview with Alexander Williamson. He states that Tad was tongue-tied (too much tissue attaching his tongue to the jaw) and he urged a frenectomy, which Lincoln approved but Mary shut down for fear he would bleed to death. Probably the right decision given the state of surgery at that time. I've seen it suggested he had a cleft palate because of his speech and difficulty eating, but I've never seen a source for the latter.

[ScholarInTraining]

Well, if nothing else, Tad had no apparent difficulty eating popcorn! Once amusingly "cramming his mouth constantly with handfuls of popped corn". :-) I read that somewhere. It made me smile, knowing how much he was able to enjoy at least that without having to wait for special prep.

Mary's fears must have come about as a result of allowing her oldest son to undergo strabismus surgery. But wasn't he nursed at an infirmary and turned out all right? The same could have been applied to Tad.

Unless the upper lip scar (?) had a disturbing history of its own...

[Eva Elisabeth]

Here are the two samples I can think of regarding Tad's handwriting during the White House years. The first is an inscription Tad wrote to Robert on the back of a photo of Tad on a pony. The second is a telegram from Tad to Gus Gumpert. The web page here says that Tom Pendel wrote the first one. And if Ruth Painter Randall is correct on what Mary Lincoln said, then Tad didn't write the second one either.

Tad wrote his name at the top of the Preface page?

Just came across this - I'm quoting from the link below.
"Shortly after Robert’s marriage to Mary Harlan in September 1868, Mary Todd Lincoln and Tad departed for a 2½-year stay in Europe.  Tad’s interest in Mrs. Brown’s Visits to Paris, by Arthur Sketchley, may have been related to that trip.  Tad wrote his name at the top of the Preface page.  The book has a William A. Harlan bookplate on the inside front cover.  Tad spent the time between Robert’s wedding on September 24 and his own departure for Europe on October 1 with his friend William and the Harlan family.  It is possible to speculate that William gave Tad this book about visiting Europe as a bon voyage gift."
http://lincolncollection.tumblr.com/post...ith-family
   
I didn't know anything evidently written by Tad exists, is anyone familiar with this/the authenticity? If not, your thoughts? Thanks.

---

This TL looks like written by a different (younger, less skilled) hand than the entire name, which makes me think this might have been written by Tad rather than the entire name.
   

[RJNorton]

Wow, wonderful find, Eva! What you discovered is totally new to me. My eyes are not good enough to compare this discovery to what I posted here. Does it look like the same person (hopefully Tad) wrote both?

[Eva Elisabeth]

It doesn't look to me as if written by one person - to me it looks as if all the three items (the "Thomas Lincoln" you posted and the "TL" and the "T. Lincoln" in the book I posted) were written by three different people, of which the "TL" writer was likely someone whose hand wasn't much trained in writing (like first/second grade elementary student). The "T"s especially look all totally different (as do the other letters).
   
I think Tad possibly wrote the initials" TL", and if so - the other handwritings look way more skilled.