The True Mary Lincoln by Betty Ellison

[Donna McCreary]

At first glance, Jean Baker's book appears to be well researched and documented. It is neither. It is filled with mistakes, and sadly, since the book was first published in 1987, many other authors have used this book as source material.

Both the past and current curators of the Lincoln collection at the ALPLM and I contact one another regularly with mistakes we find in the documentation. The former curator of the Mary Todd Lincoln House in Lexington, Kentucky told me that she found over 100 mistakes in the first two chapters of the book. (I have personally only found about 60)

I own a paperback copy of this book which I read with highlighters. Things that are incorrect are highlighted with pink marker. Questionable information is marked with a yellow highlighter, and things that I know are correct are marked with a green highlighter.

Just a few examples (of the hundreds) of incorrect information include:
page 26: . . . "Ann Maria Todd, the unmarried sister now in charge of his Lexington household. (Her name was Maria Logan Todd and she was married)
page 30: Betsey pronounced her "a limb of Satan loping down the broad road leading to destruction." (this was only said by Mammy Sally.)
page 89: "Her sister Elizabeth, who bore the name of their mother." (Mary's mother's name was not Eliza - not Elizabeth)
page 184: "During her wait she had made Tad a Zouave doll . . . (the Zouave doll was a gift to the Lincoln boys)
page 237: ". . . and carried an ermine fan with silver spangles." (fans were not made of fur)
page 309: (regarding the Chicago fire) ". . . left behind a bundle of her husband's personal letters. Like most Chicagoans, she probably spent the night - and perhaps part of the next day - along Lake Michigan." (She would have traveled through the fire to get to the lake.)

There are also many problems with the footnotes. There are documents she claims to have used which do not exist. Quotes are misidentified as being on a page of a book. There are many, many problems.

Do I use Baker in my research?
Yes, but I verify information elsewhere before I state that it is truth, and I always check the source to ensure that it is correctly documented.