Mary Todd Lincoln Smuggled Letters

In 1875, former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln was institutionalized at Bellevue Place in Batavia, Illinois, after her only surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, initiated proceedings against her. She then smuggled letters to her lawyer James B. Bradwell, his wife Myra Bradwell, and other sympathizers to fight her confinement. The pressure worked, and Mary left the sanitarium after about three months, later moving into the care of her sister in Springfield, Illinois.

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