In 1875 Mary Lincoln, the widow of a revered president, was committed to
an insane asylum by her son, Robert. The trial that preceded her
internment was a subject of keen national interest. The focus of public
attention since Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, Mary Lincoln had
attracted plentiful criticism and visible scorn from much of the public,
who perceived her as spoiled, a spendthrift, and even too much of a
Southern sympathizer. Widespread scrutiny only increased following her
husband's assassination in 1865 and her son Tad's death six years later,
after which her overwhelming grief led to the increasingly erratic
behavior that led to her being committed to a sanitarium. A second trial
a year later resulted in her release, but the stigma of insanity stuck.
In the years since, questions emerged with new force, as the populace
and historians debated whether she had been truly insane and
subsequently cured, or if she was the victim of family maneuvering. In
this volume, noted Lincoln scholar Jason Emerson provides a documentary
history of Mary Lincoln's mental illness and insanity case, evenhandedly
presenting every possible primary source on the subject to enable a
clearer view of the facts. Beginning with documents from the immediate
aftermath of her husband's assassination and ending with reminiscences
by friends and family in the mid-twentieth century, Mary Lincoln's
Insanity Case: A Documentary History compiles more than one hundred
letters, dozens of newspaper articles, editorials, and legal documents,
and the daily patient progress reports from Bellevue Place Sanitarium
during Mary Lincoln's incarceration. Including many materials that have
never been previously published, Emerson also collects multiple
reminiscences, interviews, and diaries of people who knew Mary Lincoln
or were involved in the case, including the first-hand recollection of
one of the jurors in the 1875 insanity trial. Suggesting neither
accusation nor exoneration of the embattled First Lady, Mary Lincoln's
Insanity Case: A Documentary History gives scholars and history
enthusiasts incomparable access to the documents and information crucial
to understanding this vexing chapter in American history.