THE FOUR SONS OF ABRAHAM AND MARY TODD LINCOLN

William Wallace Lincoln 1850 - 1862

Willie and Tad (the youngest son) became ill in early 1862. Although Tad recovered, Willie’s condition fluctuated from day to day. The most likely cause of the illness was typhoid fever, which was usually contracted by consumption of fecally contaminated food/water. The White House drew its water from the Potomac River, along which thousands of soldiers and horses were camped. Gradually Willie weakened, and his parents spent much time at his bedside. Finally, on Wednesday, February 20, 1862, at 5:00 p.m., Willie died. Abraham said, “My poor boy. He was too good for this earth. God has called him home. I know that he is much better off in heaven, but then we loved him so much. It is hard, hard to have him die!”

Both parents were deeply affected. His father did not return to work for three weeks. Willie’s younger brother, Tad, cried for nearly a month because he and Willie were very close. Lincoln generated no official correspondence for four days. Mary was so distraught that Lincoln feared for her sanity.

Tad Lincoln 1853-1871

the fourth and youngest son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. On April 14, 1865, a 12 year old Tad went to Grover’s Theatre to see the play Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp while his parents attended the performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre. That night, his father was fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth. When news of the assassination spread to Grover’s Theatre, the manager made an announcement to the entire audience. Tad began running and screaming, “They killed Papa! They killed Papa!” He was escorted back to the White House while his mother pleaded to have him brought to his father’s deathbed at the Petersen House. “Bring Tad—he will speak to Tad—he loves him so.” Late that night an inconsolable Tad was put to bed by a White House doorman. President Lincoln died the next morning, on Friday, April 15, at 7:22:19am.

Tad Lincoln died in 1871 at the age of 18 from tuberculosis or pneumonia

Edward Baker Lincoln 1846 - 1850

Little is known about the Lincolns’ second son. A surviving story says that one day during a visit to Mary’s family, Eddie’s older brother, Robert Todd Lincoln, found a kitten and brought it to the house. Despite Mary’s stepmother’s dislike of cats and order to throw it out, Eddie screamed and protested. He nursed and cared for the helpless kitten, which he loved. Eddie was described by his parents as a tender-hearted, kind, and loving child.

Eddie died a month before his fourth birthday. Although census records list “chronic consumption” (tuberculosis) as the cause of death, it has been suggested that Eddie died of medullary thyroid cancer.

Eddie’s body was buried at Hutchinson’s Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. Both parents were devastated. Some historians believe Eddie’s death began Mary Todd’s journey to instability

Robert Todd Lincoln 1843 - 1926

Robert was the first Lincoln son and was the only one to live past the age of 18. Robert was once saved from possible serious injury or death by Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of his father. The incident took place on a train platform in Jersey City, New Jersey. The exact date of the incident is uncertain, but it is believed to have taken place in late 1863 or early 1864, before John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of President Lincoln (April 14, 1865).

Robert Lincoln recalled the incident in a 1909 letter to Richard Watson Gilder, editor of The Century Magazine:

The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car. The platform was about the height of the car floor, and there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. There was some crowding, and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn. In this situation the train began to move, and by the motion I was twisted off my feet, and had dropped somewhat, with feet downward, into the open space, and was personally helpless, when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name.

Edwin Booth was one of the most popular actors of his generation, and is still the most prolific Shakespearean actor of all time.

Robert Lincoln was coincidentally either present or nearby when three presidential assassinations occurred.

• Lincoln was not present at his father’s assassination. He was at the White House, and rushed to be with his parents.] The president was moved to Petersen House after the shooting, where Robert attended his father’s deathbed.
• At President James A. Garfield‘s invitation, Lincoln was at the Sixth Street Train Station in Washington, D.C., where the President was shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881, and was an eyewitness to the event. Lincoln was serving as Garfield’s Secretary of War at the time.
• At President William McKinley‘s invitation, Lincoln was at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, where the President was shot by Leon Czolgosz on September 6, 1901, though he was not an eyewitness to the event.

Robert Todd Lincoln was United States Secretary of War from 1881 to 1885. He was very successful lawyer and businessman and the only Lincoln child who bore children, as he was the only child who survived past 18 years of age.