Lincoln and Ann Rutledge

[LincolnToddFan]

Tad did not sleep with his father until 1862. The reason was that Tad was grieving for Willie as intensely as his parents were and would awake in the night crying for him. The child's mother had suffered what sounds like a severe emotional breakdown and could not tend to his needs. AL-on top of his other crushing burdens-was left as the sole caretaker of his youngest child. He was a tender, indulgent parent. It might have been unusual to have a child Tad's age still sleeping with a parent but under the circumstances I don't see anything remotely twisted about it.

There is some evidence that AL and Mary continued to at least occasionally share a bed during their WH years. A military aide named Charles Derickson visited the Soldier's Home in the summer of 1863 to deliver a message to Lincoln in the middle of the night, and saw Mary in bed beside him....no Tad anywhere in sight.(Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldier's Home, Matthew Pinsker)

Ironically Cpt. Charles Derickson was the son of the very same David Derickson around whom so much speculation swirls regarding AL's possible gay sexual orientation. Charles Derickson interacted frequently with the Lincolns during the three summers they spent at the Soldier's Home. According to Matthew Pinsker, he came away convinced of a devoted, loving couple.