Sons and parents

[RJNorton]

I am not a lawyer and would ask if it is known whether or not Mary's trial could have been held without Robert filling out the Application To Try The Question Of Insanity.

In the formal application that Robert filed it stated that his mother, "Mary Lincoln, widow of Abraham Lincoln, deceased, a resident of Cook county is insane and that it would be for her benefit and for the safety of the community that she should be confined in the Cook County Hospital or the Illinois State Hospital for the Insane."

Regarding the petition Robert filed I do not see the option for "non-paupers" to pick and choose where the individual to be tried might be sent if found insane at trial.

Simply looking at this at face value as a layman, despite any prior arrangements/talks with Dr. Patterson, etc., how could the Bellevue outcome be legally "guaranteed" once Robert filed this application form?

I am curious to know if legally the trial could have been held without the filing of the Application To Try The Question Of Insanity. I do certainly agree that the State Hospital for the Insane was largely reserved for paupers (although the case of Elizabeth Packard was very different I don't believe she was a pauper), so that is why I wonder if it was legally necessary for Robert to file his petition, and its specific wording, prior to trial.

Is it known whether Robert met with Dr. Patterson before or after he received the letter from John T. Stuart suggesting a private, not public, facility?