Sorrows and the final tears for Mary Lincoln

   New letters have surfaced from the descendants of the doctor who had treated Mrs. Lincoln for her migraines, insomnia and probably depression and other ailments, which also included bladder infections. She indicated that she needed more chloral hydrate, which is a sedative and hypnotic, to sleep. Thus was her state of mind when her son, Robert, had her committed to the state hospital in 1875, ten years after her husband's assassination. She was confined to the state hospital as a lunatic for four months before being able to plead her case and get released. No one, absolutely NO ONE came to her defense.
   The second time that Robert tried to have her committed, the courts deemed her fit under the condition that she went to live with her sister Elizabeth Edwards, in Springfield. This is the same sister which she lived with at the time of her marriage to Abraham. She more or less stayed in her room with her trunks, and cried until she couldn't cry anymore, then she'd cry again. However, Robert was removed as the executor after trying to get her committed for the second time.
   Mrs. Lincoln had written her final letter to Robert, stating her burial wishes. They are as follows: "I wish my remains to be clothed in the white silk dress which will be found in the lower drawer of the bureau in my room. I desire that my body, shall remain for two days with the lid of the coffin being screwed down and on the 3d day, after my death, Professor Swing acceding, I wish the coffin taken to the latter's church, he preaching the funeral sermon from the 23rd Psalm." The Rev. David Swing was minister of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Chicago. She concludes: "beside my dear husband & Taddies' on one side of me."
    When she died in Springfield on July 15, 1882, her instructions weren't precisely carried out, but she was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery beside her husband and children. Her open coffin stood in the same spot where she had been married, forty years before where she stood as a bride. Her hands were folded across her chest and she wore her wedding ring that had been placed there in 1842. It was inscribed: "Love is Eternal".
    She was a great lady and a wonderful First Lady in her own right. Without her love and support for our president, Mr. Lincoln never would've been able to carry through with his mission of preserving the union of the United States of America. For this, we must forgive Mrs. Lincoln her faults and just love her for who she was, our First Lady.