McClure's Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 5, April, 1896Various
History
McClure's Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 5, April, 1896
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Literature -- Periodicals
From a photograph loaned by Mr. Jesse W. Weik. Miss Jayne afterward
became Mrs. Lyman Trumbull.]
The breaking of the engagement between Miss Todd and Mr. Lincoln was
naturally known at the time to all their friends. Lincoln's melancholy
was evident to them all, nor did he, indeed, attempt to disguise
it. He wrote and spoke freely to his intimates of the despair which
possessed him, and of his sense of dishonor. The episode caused a
great amount of gossip, as was to be expected. After Mr. Lincoln's
assassination and Mrs. Lincoln's sad death, various accounts of the
courtship and marriage were circulated. It remained, however, for one
of Lincoln's law partners, Mr. W.H. Herndon, to develop and circulate
the most sensational of all the versions of the rupture. His story
would not be referred to here were it not that it has been generally
accepted as truthful by even his most conservative biographers,
including Mr. John T. Morse and Mr. Carl Schurz. According to Mr.
Herndon, the engagement between the two was broken in the most violent
and public way possible, by Mr. Lincoln's failing to appear at the
wedding. Mr. Herndon even describes the scene in detail:
"The time fixed for the marriage was the first day of
January, 1841. Careful preparations for the happy occasion
were made at the Edwards mansion. The house underwent the
customary renovation; the furniture was properly arranged,
the rooms neatly decorated, the supper prepared, and the
guests invited. The latter assembled on the evening in
question, and awaited in expectant pleasure the interesting
ceremony of marriage. The bride, bedecked in veil and
silken gown, and nervously toying with the flowers in her
hair, sat in the adjoining room. Nothing was lacking but
the groom. For some strange reason he had been delayed. An
hour passed, and the guests, as well as the bride, were
becoming restless. But they were all doomed to
disappointment. Another hour passed; messengers were sent
out over town, and each returning with the same report, it
became apparent that Lincoln, the principal in this little
drama, had purposely failed to appear. The bride, in grief,
disappeared to her room; the wedding supper was left
untouched; the guests quietly and wonderingly withdrew; the
lights in the Edwards mansion were blown out, and darkness
settled over all for the night. What the feelings of a lady
as sensitive, passionate, and proud as Miss Todd were, we
can only imagine; no one can ever describe them. By
daybreak, after persistent search, Lincoln's friends found
him. Restless, gloomy, miserable, desperate, he seemed an
object of pity. His friends, Speed among the number,
fearing a tragic termination, watched him closely in their
rooms day and night. 'Knives and razors, and every
instrument that could be used for self-destruction, were
removed from his reach.' Mrs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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