How to read the family tree of Mary Todd Lincoln
The family tree of Mary Todd Lincoln sets Mary in the second row, between her husband Abraham Lincoln on the left and her sisters on the right. The Todds stand above her, the Lincolns above Abraham, and their descendants below.15
A double frame is the centre
Mary Todd Lincoln is the centre of the chart.
A line between two people is a marriage
Robert Smith Todd has two marriage lines, one to each wife.
A line down is a parent and child
Where a spouse is not drawn, the line runs from one parent alone.
A silhouette is a missing likeness
Eight people have no free portrait on Commons.
The Todds on the family tree of Mary Todd Lincoln
Robert Smith Todd was born in Lexington in 1791. He was a bank president, for over twenty years clerk of the Kentucky House, and later a state senator. In 1812 he married Eliza Parker, and they had seven children, among them Elizabeth, Frances, Levi, Mary, Ann and George. Eliza died after the birth of George in 1825, when Mary was six.5
In 1826 Robert married Betsy Humphreys and had nine more children, among them Emilie. The Mary Todd Lincoln House notes conflicting evidence about the family, with some sources saying Mary and her stepmother did not get along and others that they grew closer. Robert Todd died suddenly in 1849, of cholera.58
Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln in Springfield
Mary Ann Todd was born on 13 December 1818.1 Her eldest sister Elizabeth married Ninian Edwards in 1832 and brought her sisters to Springfield, where they met their husbands.5 Mary met Abraham Lincoln at a ball there, and their engagement was broken off on 1 January 1841, probably because the Edwardses disapproved of him.1
The Reverend Charles Dresser married them on 4 November 1842 in the Edwards home. Lincoln was thirty-three and Mary twenty-three.1
Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks on the family tree of Mary Todd Lincoln
Thomas Lincoln was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, by the date on his tombstone on 6 January 1778. He married Nancy Hanks on 12 June 1806.3 Nancy was born on 5 February 1784 in Hampshire County, Virginia, and was raised by her aunt Elizabeth and Thomas Sparrow. Their children were Sarah, born in 1807, Abraham, born on 12 February 1809, and Thomas, who died in infancy.2
Nancy died of milk sickness in Indiana on 5 October 1818. Thomas married the widow Sarah Bush Johnston on 2 December 1819, and Abraham had a warm relationship with his stepmother.31 Thomas died in Coles County, Illinois, in 1851.9
The four Lincoln sons
| Son | Born | Died |
|---|---|---|
 Robert | 1 August 1843, Globe Tavern | 1926, at Hildene |
| EEEdward, called Eddie | 10 March 1846, Springfield | 1 February 1850, probably of tuberculosis |
 William, called Willie | 21 December 1850, Springfield | 20 February 1862, probably of typhoid fever |
 Thomas, called Tad | 4 April 1853, Springfield | 15 July 1871, probably of pneumonia |
Mary Todd Lincoln after 1865
Mary and Tad travelled to Germany and came home in 1871, and Tad died that July at eighteen.1 In 1875, as she struggled with grief and likely depression, Robert brought a jury trial of her sanity.4 She was committed to the Bellevue sanitarium in Batavia, released four months later to the Edwardses, and declared sane on 15 June 1876.1
She died on 16 July 1882 in Springfield, in the home of her sister Elizabeth Edwards, where she had married forty years before.1
Robert Todd Lincoln and the end of the family tree of Mary Todd Lincoln
Robert married Mary Eunice Harlan in Washington on 24 September 1868.1 He practised law in Chicago, led the Pullman company, was Secretary of War under Garfield and Arthur, and minister to Britain under Benjamin Harrison.7 He died at Hildene, the family home in Vermont, in July 1926.6
Robert had three children. Mamie married Charles Isham, and their son Lincoln Isham died in 1971. Jack, the only grandson of Abraham Lincoln, died in 1890 at seventeen.16 Jessie had two children with her first husband, Warren Beckwith. Peggy inherited Hildene and never married, and Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith died on 24 December 1985, the last direct descendant of Abraham Lincoln.67
Where the records of the family tree of Mary Todd Lincoln differ
The Lincoln Home chronology gives the causes of death of Eddie, Willie and Tad with the word probably, and the chart keeps that hedge. The Mary Todd Lincoln House calls her mother Elizabeth, known as Eliza, Parker, and the White House Historical Association Eliza Ann Parker Todd.154 No source opened gives the years of Betsy Humphreys, so the chart draws her without dates.5
Who is who on the family tree of Mary Todd Lincoln
Each person on the chart has a row. Choose a period to list the people alive in it.
All 20 people on the chart are listed.
| Portrait | Person | Years | Life | On the chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TL | Thomas LincolnFather of Abraham | 1778–1851 | A carpenter and farmer. Sources3 | |
| NH | Nancy Hanks LincolnMother of Abraham | 1784–1818 | She died in Indiana. Sources2 | |
| EP | Eliza Parker ToddMother of Mary | 1794–1825 | Mother of seven. Sources5 | |
 | Robert Smith ToddFather of Mary | 1791–1849 | A Lexington banker. | |
| BH | Betsy Humphreys ToddStepmother of Mary | Not recorded | Mother of nine. Sources5 | |
 | Abraham LincolnSixteenth President | 1809–1865 | Husband of Mary. Sources1 | |
 | Mary Todd LincolnFirst Lady | 1818–1882 | The centre of the chart. | |
| ET | Elizabeth Todd EdwardsEldest sister | 1813–1888 | Wife of Ninian Edwards. | |
| ET | Emilie Todd HelmHalf-sister | 1836–1930 | Daughter of Betsy. | |
 | Mary Harlan LincolnWife of Robert | 1846–1937 | She died in 1937. | |
| Robert Todd LincolnEldest son | 1843–1926 | Secretary of War. | |
| EB | Edward Baker LincolnSecond son | 1846–1850 | Died at three. Sources1 | |
| William Wallace LincolnThird son | 1850–1862 | Died at the White House. Sources1 | |
| Thomas LincolnYoungest son | 1853–1871 | Known as Tad. Sources1 | |
 | Mary Lincoln IshamGranddaughter | 1869–1938 | Known as Mamie. | |
 | Abraham Lincoln IIOnly grandson | 1873–1890 | Known as Jack. | |
 | Jessie Harlan LincolnGranddaughter | 1875–1948 | Mother of Peggy and Bud. | |
| LI | Lincoln IshamGreat-grandson | 1892–1971 | Son of Mamie. Sources6 | |
 | Mary Lincoln BeckwithGreat-granddaughter | 1898–1975 | Known as Peggy. Sources6 | |
 | Robert Todd Lincoln BeckwithGreat-grandson | 1904–1985 | The last descendant. |
Questions about the family tree of Mary Todd Lincoln
Who were the parents of Mary Todd Lincoln
Robert Smith Todd of Lexington and his first wife, Eliza Parker.
Are there living descendants of Mary Todd Lincoln
No. Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, who died in 1985, was the last direct descendant.
People and sources
A page of its own lists the nine numbered sources this article cites. It also gives the credits of the portraits and this page as a reference in the APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard styles, ready to copy.