What is in a name?

[Donna McCreary]

In 1912, Mr. J. M. Spencer, the president of Sayre School in Lexington, Kentucky wrote a letter to Robert Todd Lincoln regarding a proposed memorial to honor Mary. The letter is written on letterhead for the "Mary Todd Lincoln Memorial." The committee formed to build the memorial included some very familar names including: Gov. John A. Dix, General Frederick D. Grant, Col. Henry Watterson, Major-General Daniel E. Sickles (who served as committee president), William O. Stoddard, and several others.

The memorial (which was never built) was to have been located on the campus of Sayre School. I think they began their work in 1910 - but not sure. Fund raising plans were made, but never finished. These plans included selling a "Mary Todd Lincoln" doll and publishing what would have been the first biography of Mary's life.

Since the memorial was to have been in Lexington, it is natural the committee included Mary's maiden name. I am still not sure if this group helped make it a common practice to add it, or if it was already the standard when referring to the First Lady.