Mary's Reputation

[Mark MacKenzie]

The depth of knowledge on this forum is truly astounding!
I have a question about the secretaries. I have heard of the biography of Lincoln but ashamed to say I have never seen or even know which secretary wrote it. Didn't they refer to her as Her Satanic Majesty? Did they publish that? Are the secretaries' writings well respected?

The David Donald Lincoln I just read stated that he felt Mary was jealous of Hearndon and the secretaries and of Lincoln's attention in general.

Elizabeth Keckley was very fond of Mary wasn't she? She was a seamstress for R.E. Lee's wife and Varina Davis as well wasn't she? I wish she had written more.

If the trauma of experiencing Lincoln's assassination had any part in Rathbone's insanity, imagine how completely Mary must have been effected.

Mary was also reported to have hit her head in a carriage ride just before becoming unhinged at Mrs. Ord when Lincoln reviewed the troops, I read somewhere. I wonder why that tidbit survived history.

Poor Mary. I feel totally sympathetic toward her. What a tragic life.