Mary's Charlatans by Memoirs of Henry Villard

[HerbS]

Henry Villard noted that Mary started contributing to President Lincoln's troubles as soon as the family arrived in Washington.The situation worsened in the Spring of 1862 after Willie Lincoln died.She patronized "Spiritualists who were accomplished frauds".President Lincoln once asked a Union Army Officer:"Do you ever find yourself talking with the dead?"Since Willie's death,I catch myself every day communicating with him as if he were here with me."Does this mean that the Lincolns were "Spiritualists"? Or,Don't we all have those moments?