Mary Lincoln's rocking chair at Bellevue Place

[RJNorton]

She also cleverly engaged friends to campaign for her early release, and garnered enough publicity that it was successful. Was she cured? Who knows--but I had a wonderful neighbor a few years back who was the grandson of the physician who later replaced Dr. Patterson. When Mary was "sprung" from the sanitarium she left eleven trunks full of personal belongings behind, along with all the furniture. His family acquired a lot of it, and he gifted me with Mary's rocking chair. Funny thing is, all the furniture had holes in the bottom legs, so they could be nailed to the floor. This was done because all day and all night she would anxiously move the furniture back and forth around the room.

Oh Dr. Houmes... you have Mary Lincoln's rocking chair from the sanitarium?? That is AMAZING!

After Dr. Houmes posted the above information I wrote him and asked if he would grant me permission to post a photo of Mary's rocking chair from Bellevue Place. He kindly granted permission and sent me an image of it. Blaine wrote an article for the Summer 2007 edition of The Rail Splitter entitled "The Other Lincoln Rocker." Writing about his acquisition he says, "It bears the original patterned fabric and the chair has never been refinished." Blaine also notes that he is careful about whom he allows to sit in the chair.

[Susan Higginbotham]

She also cleverly engaged friends to campaign for her early release, and garnered enough publicity that it was successful. Was she cured? Who knows--but I had a wonderful neighbor a few years back who was the grandson of the physician who later replaced Dr. Patterson. When Mary was "sprung" from the sanitarium she left eleven trunks full of personal belongings behind, along with all the furniture. His family acquired a lot of it, and he gifted me with Mary's rocking chair. Funny thing is, all the furniture had holes in the bottom legs, so they could be nailed to the floor. This was done because all day and all night she would anxiously move the furniture back and forth around the room.

Oh Dr. Houmes... you have Mary Lincoln's rocking chair from the sanitarium?? That is AMAZING!

After Dr. Houmes posted the above information I wrote him and asked if he would grant me permission to post a photo of Mary's rocking chair from Bellevue Place. He kindly granted permission and sent me an image of it. Blaine wrote an article for the Summer 2007 edition of The Rail Splitter entitled "The Other Lincoln Rocker." Writing about his acquisition he says, "It bears the original patterned fabric and the chair has never been refinished." Blaine also notes that he is careful about whom he allows to sit in the chair.

Lovely! (I had a couch from the 1990's with a similar pattern. I guess that's the closest I'll ever come to this rocker.)

[L Verge]

It's hard to tell from the angle, but it appears to be a slipper rocker, close to the ground to make it easier for ladies to put on their shoes. The arms also appear to be smaller and allowing room for the crinolines to drape over nicely

[LincolnToddFan]

This is simply amazing. Mary might have been considered "crazy" the standards of the time she lived in but I've always been very impressed at how she was able to free herself from the asylum by relying on her craftiness and intelligence. Those qualities, along with her physical courage, are so often overlooked in any discussion of Mary Todd Lincoln.

What a life. Poor Mary.

Thanks so much for that incredible photo Dr. Houmes, and thank you Roger for the heads up!

[Eva Elisabeth]

I couldn't agree more on your entire post, Toia!!! Thank you, Dr. Houmes!!! And thanks to Laurie for the info on the slipper rocker, it had never occured to me that there are rockers for different purposes!

[LincolnMan]

Nailed the furniture to the floor to prevent Mary from moving it around? An interior decorator's nightmare!

[Donna McCreary]

Nailed the furniture to the floor to prevent Mary from moving it around? An interior decorator's nightmare!

And Mary's as well!

[Jim Page]

Nailed the furniture to the floor to prevent Mary from moving it around?

And what Sherlock Holmes story does THAT remind you of? Was there a dummy bell-pull in Mary's room?

--Jim

[Gene C]

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/pla...hs-att_001

[HerbS]

Do you think that S.Holmes could have shed more light on Mary Surratt and her guilt?

[Jim Page]

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

Very good, Gene. You win an aluminum crutch and an ounce of strong shag tobacco.

Herb, I suspect "The Adventure of the Widow in the Darkness" would be a short tale indeed.

--Jim