Robert Todd Lincoln --The vitals

[Susan Higginbotham]

(01-29-2018 07:08 PM)kerry Wrote:  

(01-29-2018 06:02 PM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  

(01-29-2018 02:54 PM)kerry Wrote:  Lincoln's comment to speed about Robert being the offspring of animal spirits is interesting. It could be a simple figure of speech, but Lincoln is so particular with words it could be a reference to the passionate/volatile nature of Mary or their relationship. It could imply conception before marriage or just their personalities/the drama surrounding the wedding.

"He is quite smart enough. I some times fear he is one of the little rare-ripe sort, that are smarter at about five than ever after. He has a great deal of that sort of mischief, that is the offspring of much animal spirits."

I don't read the phrase as a reference to his conception or heredity or to his parents; rather, I read it as meaning that Robert's mischief is the product of his (Robert's) "animal spirits."

Yeah, now that I re-read that, I agree.

Nothing is suggested about Lincoln not being the father. But one of the books has this strange storyline where Mary sneaks into Lincoln's room and starts kissing him while he is asleep, and seduces him when he wakes up. Then Lincoln is afraid of being passionate because he thinks he will go insane, so he breaks up with her, and they only reconcile after she shows she can have infrequent non-passionate sex. This then connects to Robert's alleged cold personality, to the point where she tries to be quietly "into it" when she conceives their next child, to avoid another Robert. She then cheats on him in the White House with Wood, because he has the passion she is missing. But then she and reconcile and finally are normally intimate, and are going to make the most of it on April 14th, but...

It is a ridiculous "interpretation" of the family's dynamics.

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Going back to Herdon's sources for a minute, his interview with Mary confuses me.

“Mr. Lincoln had a dream when down the river at City Point, after Richmond was taken. He dreamed that the White House had burned up. Sent me up the river to see. Went. Met Stanton on the way down. Mr. Lincoln told me to get a party and come down, which I did.
... Down at City Point once Andy Johnson followed us. Was drunk. Mr. Lincoln said: ‘For God's sake don't ask Johnson to dine with us.’ ‘No, don't,’ said Sumner, ‘and I did not ask him.’"

Mary was already back in DC when Richmond was taken, so Lincoln's dream was not after that. This could have been Herndon just adding context and knowing that Richmond fell was Lincoln was at City Point. But it's even weirder because the telegram she sent to see if the White House was ok was on the 24th, right when they arrived at City Point. It is often suggested Lincoln made that up to send her back due to her behavior. But she was telegraphing about it before she had any incidents, and days before she left to go back.

What does "Met Stanton on the way down" mean? Did he go to City Point? It doesn't seem like it.

And why is there zero info about Andrew Johnson being at City Point? I looked it up and couldn't find anything.

David Dixon Porter told another version of Lincoln refusing to see Johnson here (pg. 287):

https://archive.org/stream/incidentsanec...eston+king