Madness of Mary Lincoln

[kerry]

Mary was begging people to shoot her that night, so giving her a pistol seems unlikely. That whole pistol story is weird. I don't think the Edwardses would make up that they heard that from someone (it sounded like it was not firsthand knowledge), but that person could have been mistaken or had some reason to claim that. Then Elizabeth said Ninian may have overreacted, instead of saying the report was wrong, which is hard to make sense of - was it a false report or did they find out she had a good reason for having it? Then there was the mention of the hitmen, which also quickly faded away. Whether or not that was true would clearly make a big difference as to her mental state and ability to live in society. Elizabeth said it was in her purse, didn't she? So it doesn't seem like a relic tucked away. I assume Catherine Clinton was trying to make sense of that story. I found an article that said Mary gave Major Jose Ramon Pico, a pallbearer for the Washington funeral, a pocket pistol that Lincoln carried during the war.

At the institution, they did give medications, but it's unclear if Mary was. Most of them were ones no longer used, because they are highly addictive, but they calmed the person down. I think it is very likely the structure of the place helped Mary stabilize and focus, but as a long-term strategy, the mental harm caused by the loss of freedom would have outweighed those benefits. The bottom line is that Mary was never going to accept it, and was smart and bold enough to fight it. Some other eccentric or troubled people may have accepted it as their fate, right or wong, and done better there, but she wasn't going to. That's what made it a bad choice , even if she met criteria for institutionalization. It similar to what Davis said about a financial conservatorship working for a person of another temperament. With her personality, the only thing that could justify a long time stay was obvious danger to others or self-harm. Her desire for freedom and her personality were just too strong, and she liked to move around and see new things and read the papers. Whenever she was stuck some place for a while, she seemed to deteriorate, because she couldn't settle down or do anything but brood. While her wandering or campaigning (for freedom or money) may have been unusual and obsessive, her mental state seemed to be better during those periods to me.

Her friend Prof. Swing said she had a few days or weeks a year when she needed someone watching her, but the rest of the time she should be free. It's unfortunate that she did not have someone capable of caring for her during those periods, especially given her traveling. It was probably something only Lincoln could have done, or perhaps if her sons had lived they might have shared the responsibility of looking out for her.