| | Lincoln had met Ann Rutledge in New Salem, and although evidence is scant, indications are that they were, at the least, close friends. She died in 1835 at the age of 22, and the entire community grieved with Lincoln. | | Lincoln had met Ann Rutledge in New Salem, and although evidence is scant, indications are that they were, at the least, close friends. She died in 1835 at the age of 22, and the entire community grieved with Lincoln. |
| | The one true love of Lincoln’s life was a well-educated woman with a quick wit, Mary Todd, from a well-to-do family in Springfield. Lincoln endured a courtship that lasted two years (and was broken once), before they were married on November 4, 1842. Together they would have four boys: Robert Todd, Edward Baker (“Eddie”, who died at age 4), William Wallace (“Willie”), and Thomas (“Tad”). Willie and Tad were the first children in the White House, and the halls and gardens were filled with childish romps, especially from the rambunctious, uncontrollable Tad, who once took a group of office seekers there to see the president on a trip through a confusing maze of hanging laundry; drove a herd of goats inside; got into the attic and rang the servants’ bells for hours; and succeeded in getting his doll executed for sleeping on watch. | | The one true love of Lincoln’s life was a well-educated woman with a quick wit, Mary Todd, from a well-to-do family in Springfield. Lincoln endured a courtship that lasted two years (and was broken once), before they were married on November 4, 1842. Together they would have four boys: Robert Todd, Edward Baker (“Eddie”, who died at age 4), William Wallace (“Willie”), and Thomas (“Tad”). Willie and Tad were the first children in the White House, and the halls and gardens were filled with childish romps, especially from the rambunctious, uncontrollable Tad, who once took a group of office seekers there to see the president on a trip through a confusing maze of hanging laundry; drove a herd of goats inside; got into the attic and rang the servants’ bells for hours; and succeeded in getting his doll executed for sleeping on watch. |