Mary Todd Lincoln House "Announcing the Best New Artifact of 2015!"

[Anita]

In August, museum staffers Gwen Thompson and Jon Coleman took a research trip to Selma, Alabama. While there, this Bible was given to the museum. The Bible belonged to Mary Todd Lincoln's sister Elodie Todd Dawson and includes numerous notes in her hand.

In a note written on Christmas Night 1864, she recalled the death of their brother Alex Todd, a Confederate soldier killed outside of Baton Rouge in August 1863. She wrote, "He has left us lonely, and will ever live in the heart of his mother and sisters." Alex was one of four Todd brothers who served in the Confederate Army, two of whom died. This new artifact helps tell the story of the Todd family's divided loyalties during the Civil War.

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