Mrs. Lincoln’s Salon: Her Form Inclines To Stoutness

[Gene C]

I can't say for sure, but the dresses I've seen that were owned by Mary Lincoln and others that are reproductions, Mary Lincoln was not stout. Some of the actresses that have portrayed her create that impression, but if you look closely at her photographs, she is not a large woman. Her face does appear to have become rounder as the years pass, but that may be due to different hair style or the process of aging. We can easily see how the stress of the civil war years aged Abraham, it was also very stressful for Mary. With all the health issues Mary had, headaches, mood swings, it would not surprise me if she was also diabetic.

Look at these images of Mary, in some of these dresses it's hard to tell, but for the most part it appears she was a full figured woman, but not significantly overweight. Look especially at the dress in the Smithsonian.
https://www.google.com/search?q=mary+lin...ImCh0weAt_

Dress at the Smithsonian (second picture)
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/article1921759.html
That's not the waist line of a stout woman.