Finally Made It!!!

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Last March I wrote a discussion about a little history I stumbled over regarding the house that Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of the 16th president, lived in. Since that discovery I’ve been yearning to visit the Mary Todd Lincoln House in Lexington (about 80 miles away from me). Waddaya know, I finally made it!!!! I had a hot date with my niece for lunch, so while I was in Lexington — and the Mary Todd Lincoln House was reopening for the season (it’s closed in the winter because of lack of tourists in the area) — it was time to keep another hot date…this one with history! The house that the Todd family owned was built in the early 1800s. It was owned by a man whose business failed, so patriarch Robert Todd bought it for about $1,500 in 1832. Mary moved to Springfield, Illinois, where she’d marry the future president, in 1839. While there are endless tributes to the Todd family, Lincoln’s presidency, and his wife (by the way, this was the first museum established for a former First Lady in the U.S.), there is no mention of what I discovered and wrote about last year: after the Todds sold the property it became a brothel. Yes, Texas isn’t the only place that has a wh*reshouse in it. Anyway, the story of the Todd family, including their slave ownership (they were “kindly” slave owners, having more “servants” than “slaves” by all accounts, not “beat them with a whip” owners), Mary’s life before, with, and after Lincoln (sad fact: Abe and Mary were holding hands when Abe was assassinated), and the controversy surrounding her being considered “insane” are told within the walls of the house. It’s furnished mainly with period furnishings, although some of the furniture did belong to the Todd family. The cashier/historian advised us all to rub the banister, because Abraham Lincoln had used it when he and Mary stayed there! It’s a lovely house with a rich history of Kentucky and the United States. I’m so glad I finally got to see it! COLLAGE: (Top left) Second story hallway (Top right) Washroom (there still is no plumbing in the house) with a 19th century “bath tub” (Bottom left) The family parlor room (Bottom right) The stairs to the second floor, complete with the banister