Did Robert Lincoln Ride the Funeral Train to Baltimore?

[LincolnToddFan]

(05-04-2015 06:09 AM)loetar44 Wrote:  

(05-03-2015 10:01 AM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  If Mary Harlan had died before Robert, there is no doubt in my mind that her remains would now be at the Lincoln Tomb, at the side of her husband.

I never completely understood why the both Mary Lincolns (Mary Todd Lincoln & Mary Harlan Lincoln) could not live together. MTL was unquestionably a difficult woman , but I think MHL was difficult too. In the beginning MTL corresponded regularly and affectionately with MHL. But, after the marriage, something happened, but what exactly has never been determined. However, from that day on the both Mary’s could not stand each other anymore. MHL made it very clear that she would never return (in the same house) to her mother-in-law. After MTL was dead for forty years, MHL denied any animosity between them. She even told biographer Katherine Helm that she loved her mother-in-law, thus sanitizing the record for historians. But it is my strong belief that actions speak louder than words and I believe that MTL was never really a part of MHL’s life and in return MHL was never really a part of MTL's. In life no house was large enough for two Mary Lincolns. In death no tomb would be large enough for two Mary Lincolns. RTL must have known this.

Perfectly stated Kees. MTL was (famously) domineering and self-absorbed. I've read rumors that she offended MHL by bossing around her servants. But would something like that cause such a serious rift? MHL sound passive-aggressive and spoiled. I kind of feel for RTL, stuck between these two women.

But as for the burial project, I still agree that Laurie's theory of why MHL rejected Oak Ridge in favor of Arlington makes the most sense.

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(05-04-2015 06:09 AM)loetar44 Wrote:  

(05-03-2015 10:01 AM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  If Mary Harlan had died before Robert, there is no doubt in my mind that her remains would now be at the Lincoln Tomb, at the side of her husband.

I never completely understood why the both Mary Lincolns (Mary Todd Lincoln & Mary Harlan Lincoln) could not live together. MTL was unquestionably a difficult woman , but I think MHL was difficult too. In the beginning MTL corresponded regularly and affectionately with MHL. But, after the marriage, something happened, but what exactly has never been determined. However, from that day on the both Mary’s could not stand each other anymore. MHL made it very clear that she would never return (in the same house) to her mother-in-law. After MTL was dead for forty years, MHL denied any animosity between them. She even told biographer Katherine Helm that she loved her mother-in-law, thus sanitizing the record for historians. But it is my strong belief that actions speak louder than words and I believe that MTL was never really a part of MHL’s life and in return MHL was never really a part of MTL's. In life no house was large enough for two Mary Lincolns. In death no tomb would be large enough for two Mary Lincolns. RTL must have known this.

Perfectly stated Kees. MTL was (famously) domineering and self-absorbed. I've read rumors that she offended MHL by bossing around her servants. But would something like that cause such a serious rift? MHL sound passive-aggressive and spoiled. I kind of feel for RTL, stuck between these two women.

But as for the burial project, I still agree that Laurie's theory of why MHL rejected Oak Ridge in favor of Arlington makes the most sense.