Mary Lincoln's presence at Abraham's death-bed

[RJNorton]

RE: "Take that woman out and do not let her in again."

I do not know whether Stanton really did or did not say this, but I believe we are relying on one man's memory 44 years after the fact. The quote comes from Dr. Leale's "Lincoln’s Last Hours” address given in 1909. It is not in any of his earlier accounts. I also cannot find it in Mrs. Dixon's account, Dr. Taft's account, or Gideon Welles' diary. Is there another source that quotes Stanton in this manner? If so, I will withdraw this post.

I don't mean to take anything away anything from Dr. Leale, but I know there are some who feel Dr. Leale did some embellishing in his 1909 account. I once talked to a doctor who argued vehemently that Dr. Leale may not have done all he said he did in his 1909 address.

We have discussed before on this forum the reliability (or lack of it) regarding the reminiscences of folks 30, 40, 50 years after the event, and once again we are in the position of accepting (or not accepting) the truthfulness of one man's memory. As far as I know this quote did not become "history" until 1909.