Mary Lincoln, 1872

LINCOLN, Mary Todd (1818-1882) Autograph letter signed ("Mrs. A. Lincoln") to "Mrs. Col. Eastman," Chicago, 26 May 1872.

Two pages, 172 x 113mm, on her personal mourning stationery (marginal fold separations repaired).

Mary Lincoln sends money to place flowers on graves for fallen soldiers on "Decoration Day" — what would later become known as Memorial Day. Headed "Private," Lincoln's long-bereaved widow declines an invitation to attend ceremonies in Chicago marking the occasion on 30 May 1872, but offered "ten dollars for the purchase of flowers for 'Decoration Day' to strew over the graves of our brave and honored soldiers." She admits that he was "so much of an invalid [state] at present that I cannot participate in this Scared duty…" The roots of the modern observance of Memorial Day lie among a variety of local sources with numerous locals claiming priority as the first observance. In Chicago, Decoration Day had been observed there since the end of the war, according to newspaper coverage of the 1872 ceremonies at Rose Hill Cemetery that Mary Lincoln was unable to attend (See "The Dew and the Daises … Details of the Observance of Decoration Day." Chicago Evening Post, 31 May 1872, p. 1)"