The True Mary Todd Lincoln

This new biography provides a startlingly different picture of Mary Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln’s wife. Preconceived myths about the former first lady are factually disproved. At times her judgment was faulty; in other instances it was brilliant. After her 1861 refurbishing of the Executive Mansion, she made no further furnishings purchases, only replacement items. The furniture she purchased is still in use and the Lincoln bed is well known. Committed to an insane asylum by her only surviving son, she organized, while under constant scrutiny, her friends in a skillfully successful scheme to obtain her freedom and resume control of her life and money. Mary Todd Lincoln had a brilliant mind, a caring heart and an exuberant personality and she was, in every aspect, a true partner to Abraham Lincoln.

Betty Boles Ellison, a former journalist and noted historian, is a nationally recognized historical researcher as well as an established author. She prepared the script for the prize-winning documentary, Dreamers and Doers: Voices of Kentucky Woman. An avid and longtime historic preservationist, she is a board member of Friends of Kentucky Libraries, which provides support for the commonwealth’s public libraries.

Betty Boles Ellison
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 300
Bibliographic Info: 41 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7836-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1517-2
Imprint: McFarland