What is in a name?

[Donna McCreary]

This question now has a firm answer . . or as firm as history can be.
The first time "Mary Todd Lincoln" appeared in print was her obituary published in the Springfield newspaper. It appears to be the only newspaper (or the only one we can find) that did this. All others said either "Mrs. Lincoln" or "Mrs. Abraham Lincoln."
We are not sure why the Springfield newspaper chose to do this -- perhaps because Robert was the Sec. of War - perhaps because so many Todd family members lived in Springfield.

Then in the late 1880's, Mary's sister, Emilie Todd Helm (who did use "Todd" in her signature) wrote a magazine article and used "Mary Todd Lincoln." Still, everyone else was using "Mrs. Lincoln" or "Mrs. Abraham Lincoln."

In 1910, the committee for the Mary Todd Lincoln Memorial was founded. They printed several phamplets and mailed them to various individuals who were considered potential donors. (see above post)
Following this campaign, newspaper articles and authors began to use "Mary Todd Lincoln." It took several years for the name to be considered 'common' , and it was never adopted by everone. It is interesting to note that Ruth Painter Randall, who used her own maiden name, did not use Mary's when writing about her.

Dr. Cornelius and I had a discussion about this topic today. He feels (as do I) that it is time to give Mary back her rightful name. She signed her name 13 different ways - and not one of her signatures include "T" or "Todd."