Four Marys and a Jessie

[mbgross]

Just finished up reading 4 Mary's and a Jessie by C.J. King. Enjoyed it very much and now have a much better appreciation of the Lincoln descendants, particularly "Peggy". I admire her more and feel like I understand her better.

On a related question, I was wondering about the alleged alcoholism of Mary Harlan Lincoln. The source I can find is Jean Baker's MTL biography. In her footnotes she suggest that Robert hinted at his wife's alcoholism in some letters. Does anyone know what letters she is referring to?

[Gene C]

That issue of Mary Harlan Lincoln was briefly discussed in the thread about Jean Baker's book, Mary Todd Lincoln, beginning around post #6.
Not sure if that will help you any.

https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussi...-4183.html

Here is the Amazon link for "4 Mary's and a Jessie"
. https://www.amazon.com/Four-Marys-Jessie...533&sr=8-1

[mbgross]

thanks Gene. post 17 mentions a quote of "grandma's whiskey bottles in the attic" do you know the source of that? thanks!

[Gene C]

Sorry, I don't know.

[Donna McCreary]

(09-02-2020 06:29 PM)mbgross Wrote:  thanks Gene. post 17 mentions a quote of "grandma's whiskey bottles in the attic" do you know the source of that? thanks!

It is a quote that was mentioned in an interview/lecture several years ago. Supposedly, the quote came from Jessie Lincoln. The comment can not be verified because the person who quoted did not hear it directly. If Jessie did make such a statement, it could have been nothing more than a snide comment coming from a granddaughter who was cut out of her grandmother's will.

Since the accounting books for Hildene have no records of purchases for whiskey, I tend to believe the statement is false.

[mbgross]

Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Many of the sources that I looked up on the internet about MHL mentioned her alleged alcoholism. It seems there is very little evidence to make that claim.