Mary Todd Lincoln's Cell

[Eva Elisabeth]

For a woman such as Mary, who had been active all of her life and who enjoyed traveling, confinement in a small space (no matter how elegant) would have been very difficult and, I suspect, would have led to some of her "mental issues."

Laurie, that is my very opinion, too. Whatever golden the cage - it would right drive me mad and insane to be locked into a room at night spied on through the door slats, my mail being censored, and not allowed to travel freely.

[Jim Page]

it would right drive me mad and insane to be locked into a room at night spied on through the door slats, my mail being censored, and not allowed to travel freely.

Much like my first marriage.

JUST KIDDING!!!

--Jim

[Eva Elisabeth]

As for the drugs at Bellevue, from J. Baker's bio:
"...under his [Dr. Patterson] orders the staff dispensed large doses of opium, morphine, cannabis indica, belladonna, ergot, conium, and Bellevue's notorious whiskey-laced eggnog. In the early 1870s he had begun using chloral hydrate."
A few months before Mary arrived, Dr. Patterson had delivered a lethal amount of chloral hydrate to one of his patients. And he characterized insanity as "a chronic disease of the brain which produces derangement of the intellectual faculties and prolonged changes of feelings, affections and habits."

[LincolnToddFan]

it would right drive me mad and insane to be locked into a room at night spied on through the door slats, my mail being censored, and not allowed to travel freely.

Much like my first marriage.

JUST KIDDING!!!

--Jim

Oh my gawd, I just snorted Fresca through my nose and almost onto the keyboard Jim.....LOL!!!!!

---

Jean Baker surprised me when she wrote the introduction to Tripp's book. Unless I missed it she gave no hint of her feelings regarding Abraham when she wrote her Mary Lincoln bio.

Roger, I was just as surprised as you are. I've read somewhere that Dr. Baker, even when writing the MTL bio, felt that there was something "off" about AL and his marriage to MTL that she just couldn't put her finger on.

So, she was persuaded that A.C. Tripp's theory was that "something" and she was convinced enough to write the forward.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Jean Baker surprised me when she wrote the introduction to Tripp's book. Unless I missed it she gave no hint of her feelings regarding Abraham when she wrote her Mary Lincoln bio.

Roger, I was just as surprised as you are. I've read somewhere that Dr. Baker, even when writing the MTL bio, felt that there was something "off" about AL and his marriage to MTL that she just couldn't put her finger on.

So, she was persuaded that A.C. Tripp's theory was that "something" and she was convinced enough to write the forward.

Same surprise here, I didn't expect that either.

[Houmes]

As for the drugs at Bellevue, from J. Baker's bio:
"...under his [Dr. Patterson] orders the staff dispensed large doses of opium, morphine, cannabis indica, belladonna, ergot, conium, and Bellevue's notorious whiskey-laced eggnog. In the early 1870s he had begun using chloral hydrate."
A few months before Mary arrived, Dr. Patterson had delivered a lethal amount of chloral hydrate to one of his patients. And he characterized insanity as "a chronic disease of the brain which produces derangement of the intellectual faculties and prolonged changes of feelings, affections and habits."

The problem I have with Dr. Baker is her book reads more like an agenda than a biography. She never defines the exact drug regimen Dr. Patterson prescribed Mrs. Lincoln, yet lists (and can be inferred) that if he was dispensing all kinds of other drugs to patients, he must have similarly prescribed them to her. I believe a more balanced account is found in the books of Neely and McMurty, and Jason Emerson. The actual medical records Dr. Patterson kept have never been found; his grandson was my next door neighbor for several years. Like much of Lincoln's life and death (along that of family members), people too often ascribe today's manners, customs, and medical treatment as a standard rather than what was reality back then for the Lincolns.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Truth to be told, over the time I have become suspicious of reviews by writers on writers (there's honor among th...em) and rather trust personal recommendations (and I've never been disappointed by forum members' reviews). Sometimes they seem so arbitrary that I wonder if the reviewer indeed entirely read the book he/she commented on.

[Susan Higginbotham]

As for the drugs at Bellevue, from J. Baker's bio:
"...under his [Dr. Patterson] orders the staff dispensed large doses of opium, morphine, cannabis indica, belladonna, ergot, conium, and Bellevue's notorious whiskey-laced eggnog. In the early 1870s he had begun using chloral hydrate."
A few months before Mary arrived, Dr. Patterson had delivered a lethal amount of chloral hydrate to one of his patients. And he characterized insanity as "a chronic disease of the brain which produces derangement of the intellectual faculties and prolonged changes of feelings, affections and habits."

The problem I have with Dr. Baker is her book reads more like an agenda than a biography. She never defines the exact drug regimen Dr. Patterson prescribed Mrs. Lincoln, yet lists (and can be inferred) that if he was dispensing all kinds of other drugs to patients, he must have similarly prescribed them to her. I believe a more balanced account is found in the books of Neely and McMurty, and Jason Emerson. The actual medical records Dr. Patterson kept have never been found; his grandson was my next door neighbor for several years. Like much of Lincoln's life and death (along that of family members), people too often ascribe today's manners, customs, and medical treatment as a standard rather than what was reality back then for the Lincolns.

I agree. Dr. Patterson's drug regime actually seems rather conventional for the time.

Jason Emerson in his book notes that the "notorious whiskey-laced eggnog" of which Baker writes was dispensed to underweight patients. As far as MTL's own medication goes, her letters from the asylum certainly don't sound like the product of someone whose mind was fogged by drugs, and I would think that Myra Pritchard would have mentioned it if she believed that Mary was being overmedicated.

[Eva Elisabeth]

I certainly agree with the two of you, it's a general compilation, and I didn't intend to say Mary was prescribed and consumed the entire assortment.

[Sally]

I live near Batavia, Illinois, and so am often in the vicinity of Bellevue Place. As most forum members know, it is now an apartment building. It’s flanked by modern townhouses built in a similar style and the courtyard in front is nicely landscaped and has a commemorative plague. (I would post pictures of all this, but I’m too cheap to buy a fancy smart phone that takes nice photos, and I don’t have a camera either.) I’ve never seen any “For Rent” ads for the apartments inside Bellevue Place, so I have no idea what they’re like inside. But the outside is quite pretty, at least in summer.

I have also visited the Depot Museum in Batavia, which displays the bed and dresser allegedly used by Mary Lincoln during her stay. Roger and Dr. Houmes are correct that the picture posted by Susan Higginbotham is part of a larger display inside the museum. The most interesting part of the display (IMO) is the transcript of Mrs. Lincoln’s medical record kept throughout her four month stay. Many days just have brief entries, like “Mrs. L. same as usual today” or “No change”. But other dates have more interesting information. For instance, they report that Robert came to visit his mother far more often than one would think, and a couple of times he brought his eldest daughter, Mamie, along with him. The first two visits apparently went well, with the transcript reporting that Mary was pleased to see him. On his third visit, however, it seems things started going downhill. Robert told the doctor that his mother “was not as cordial as formerly.” But he still continued to visit regularly.

There are quite a few entries stating that Mary was “gracious and pleasant” although not very talkative, and that she “never complained.” She was encouraged to go for walks every day (sometimes she did) and she would often sit out on the front porch.

Now, I’m a big cheerleader for Mary Lincoln, but she must have been a real headache for the staff at Bellevue. Evidently, she would order the carriage nearly every morning to take her riding. But when it arrived, she’d say she would prefer to ride in the evening. Then, when the carriage came for her evening ride, she’d say she was tired and preferred to ride in the morning. She also caused frustration in the kitchen by ordering cornbread every morning, then not eating it. Or she would ask that a certain kind of roll be served at dinner. Then, when it was served, she would say she wanted a different kind of roll. AAAARRRGGGHHHH!!! It was also reported that Mary kept asking to be released so she could go live with her sister, Mrs. Edwards, in Springfield. Yet, she would never respond to any of the letters Elizabeth wrote her while she was at Bellevue. The person who recorded these notes frequently pointed out that all this behavior was characteristic of Mrs. Lincoln’s “insanity”.

I don’t know if we can completely trust the veracity of these notes, (no doubt they were written with an eye toward posterity) but there is no mention of any medication being administered, and they state that when Myra Bradwell came to visit Mary, she told the doctor that Mary certainly showed signs of “insanity”, but that she should be released anyway.

All in all, it was an interesting read. I tried to find the transcripts posted on line somewhere, but didn’t have any luck. Maybe a more intrepid web surfer than I would have more success.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks Sally, that is fascinating. If it was ever possible for you, could you snap a photo of the apartment building and post? That would be great!

[Susan Higginbotham]

Some of the daily reports were printed by Rodney A. Ross in his article, "Mary Todd Lincoln, Patient at Bellevue Place, Batavia" in the Spring 1970 issue of the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. I downloaded the article and can send a PDF of it to anyone who's interested. Ross's father operated Bellevue Place from 1946 to 1964.

Jason Emerson reprints the reports in Ross's article in his "Mary Lincoln's Insanity Case: A Documentary History."

[Eva Elisabeth]

"Robert told the doctor that his mother 'was not as cordial as formerly.' But he still continued to visit regularly. " - this is somewhat cynical. What did he expect after all he had done to her?
My favorite book on the matter is "The Trials of Mrs. Lincoln" by Samuel Schreiner, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the topic.
http://www.amazon.com/Trials-Mrs-Lincoln...155611009X

[RJNorton]

I received a note from a forum member the other day asking about possible photographs of Mary which may have been taken at Bellevue Place. I believe he feels it is logical that a photo was taken of new patients upon arrival and also maybe later in their stay, too. In his note to me he wrote he felt a photo may exist "either in some archives somewhere or in the files of (the descendants now) one of the doctors at Bellevue who were involved in Mrs. Lincoln's care." As far as I know no photos are known to exist. I believe the Mumler photo (c.1872) is the last known photo of Mary. Does anyone have an opinion - does it seem logical that photos of the patients at Bellevue would have been taken? Would it make sense that new arrivals at a sanitarium in 1875 be photographed?

[Eva Elisabeth]

My humble opinion - to me it wouldn't make sense to assume such photos were taken. I have never heard of a hospital or doctor's office where this happens nowadays although a snapshot is taken at no expenses within a second. Back then taking a photo was quite an endeavor, and expensive. And from all I read Dr. Patterson had to calculate and economically compete with other institutions. And why should he have taken photos of all his patients? (If he did someone sure would long have dug out.) Also I believe Robert would have objected.