Eddie Lincoln's Birthday

[RJNorton]

I checked the Turners' book that contains Mary's letters. In May of 1848 she wrote a letter to Abraham (who was serving his term in Congress at the time) and said:

"Our little Eddy has recovered from his spell of sickness —
Dear boy, I must tell you a little story about him. Boby in his
wanderings today, came across in a yard a little kitten, your
hobby; he says he asked a man for it. He brought it triumphantly
to the house. So soon as Eddy spied it, his tenderness broke
forth, he made them bring it water, fed it with bread himself
with his own dear hands, he was a delighted little creature over
it..."

Yet, in The Lincoln Reader, edited by Paul Angle, it is spelled "Eddie" in the exact same letter (p. 148). The Lincoln Reader also includes the the text of the letter from Abraham to Mary written on April 16, 1848 (see Eva's post). In this letter Lincoln spelled it "Eddy" once and "Eddie" later in the same letter (pp. 146-147). (second page of letter Eva posted)