Did Mary Lincoln Suffer from Pernicious Anemia?

[RJNorton]

(07-17-2016 10:15 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Weren't many of the bodies prepared for burial and then brought to the family's parlor for viewing?

Laurie, this is what happened with Mary. Dr. Wayne C. Temple writes that the Edwards family "summoned Thomas C. Smith to take charge of the body and prepare it for burial. This noted undertaker kept his establishment and his home at 325 South 5th. After embalming, Mary's body was placed in a rosewood casket having a heavy lead inside lining. Outside, the coffin was covered with black velvet. When the undertaker had completed his labors, Mary Lincoln's 'face bore the faint trace of a smile as though the troubled soul had been thrilled with a new joy'....Early on Tuesday morning July 18 the undertaker returned Mary Lincoln's body to the Edwards house. There, the casket was opened and placed in the front parlour where Mary Todd had wed Abraham Lincoln on November 4, 1842."

Source: p. 395-396 of Dr. Temple's Abraham Lincoln: From Skeptic to Prophet.

[Houmes]

(07-17-2016 04:17 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 12:00 AM)Gencor Wrote:  I believe that there couldn't have been an autopsy, or if there was one, it disappeared before it was ever made public. The reason I believe this, is because if there was an autopsy, there would not have been all of these years of speculation about what she died of. We would have it confirmed and know for sure. Her cause of death, if anyone really knew back then, would be recorded in history as fact. We would not be speculating and guessing, even today, if there was a true record of the cause of death.

What I think may have happened is that Dresser's wording..."certain mental peculiarities were developed which finally culminated in a slight apoplexy, producing paralysis, of which she died" plus his use of the phrase "cerebral disease"... may have been misinterpreted as meaning a brain tumor. From there the story became embellished by adding an autopsy. So we start out with "cerebral disease," and over time the story of Mary's death is enlarged to include an autopsy which showed a brain tumor. This is false as no autopsy was performed.

As far as I know, there is not 100% agreement among doctors as to what she died of. (Blaine, please correct me if I am wrong.)

There is no consensus of what Mary Todd Lincoln died from. You could easily attribute it to myxedema coma (from hypothyroid disease), diabetic coma, stroke caused by high blood pressure with or without brain bleeding, syphilis, etc., etc., etc. The "mental peculiarities" could be explained by slurring of speech or talking gibberish, delusional behavior, and even varied stages of confusion. Interestingly, those suggesting she had tabes dorsalis (syphilis of the spinal cord) due to her gait degenerating with symptoms of back pain and stiff gait--labeling it locomotor ataxia which at that time was a synonym for syphilis--should be able to explain why her gait and weakness weren't from the partial paralysis and numbness she suffered after an 1879 fall from a ladder in France, causing injury to her back? Osteoarthritis in the back with or without trauma can cause the same symptoms. Plus, syphilis of the back usually starts earlier in life and has a characteristic gait with high-stepping and then slapping the ground with their feet due to loss of feeling.

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(07-17-2016 10:15 AM)L Verge Wrote:  I have a general question of the times in which she died: How many autopsies were performed period in the U.S. - especially on people who died under a doctor's care with symptoms of their ailments already well-noted? How many of the deceased were even taken out of their homes at the time of death? Weren't many of the bodies prepared for burial and then brought to the family's parlor for viewing? Weren't many taken straight from the parlor to the cemetery for burial?

Autopsies in the U.S. were performed haphazardly until 1915, when New York City created the position of medical examiner. A coroner system involving citizens without medical training back then (and today) was used to determine cause of death. This was believed to have been started in 1635, when early colonists brought the coroner system from England. Funeral homes in the U.S. came into vogue in the first part of the 20th century, when the deceased was transported and viewed in a separate facility. When I was a young lad, one my childhood friends had a father who was the local small-town funeral director. While he was building a new funeral home in the late 1930's, he prepared bodies and held viewings in the living room of his house. Years later when I stayed overnight once, my friend and I used a bedroom off the living room where I learned he prepared the bodies. That was the last time I slept there.

[L Verge]

Thanks, Blaine. I did not think that my family was in the minority. Mr. Huntt (whom I happen to mention a lot) died in our house, his body was prepared there, and the viewing was held there in 1897. The same for his widow when she died in 1914. Even as late as 1931, my grandfather's death brought the same ritual in the Huntt home. I remember my mother talking about how difficult it was on her to have to keep sole watch in the parlor during the overnight period. She was just 17 at the time, but her 29-year-old brother had to remain well-rested to greet mourners and assist at the funeral.

There were five bedrooms in the Huntt home, so it was pretty difficult to avoid being in one in which someone had died. Even a cousin died there while visiting. He was a pre-teen who climbed the cherry tree and ate too many cherries. I think the cause of death was listed as appendicitis. This was around 1900.

P.S. My arthritic knees are now beginning to share their affliction with my lower back. I'm relieved to know that the stiff gait and tired feeling is due to that and not the other possibility... WAIT A MINUTE -- THAT DOESN'T SOUND RIGHT! I hope y'all know what I mean...

[Eva Elisabeth]

(07-17-2016 10:15 AM)L Verge Wrote:  I have a general question of the times in which she died: How many autopsies were performed period in the U.S. - especially on people who died under a doctor's care with symptoms of their ailments already well-noted? How many of the deceased were even taken out of their homes at the time of death? Weren't many of the bodies prepared for burial and then brought to the family's parlor for viewing? Weren't many taken straight from the parlor to the cemetery for burial?

Wasn't this the case of Mary Lincoln?

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For some reason, I remembered an analogy of two pine trees that grew intertwined until a storm destroyed one and caused the other to wither and die. Off I went a-googling and found the story in this link:

https://marylincolnscoterie.com/about/ma...d-funeral/

Thank you, Donna McCreary! And Mary Lincoln was one who had a church funeral after a home viewing. However, it does not appear that her body left the Edwards' home until time for the procession to the church.

Here's a sketch of the funeral: