WASHINGTON, DC.- The Library of Congress has recently acquired two letters written by former first ladies Martha Washington and Mary Todd Lincoln. These letters provide researchers and the public with a rare glimpse into the private lives of remarkable women who each stood beside formidable men: America’s first president and its Civil War commander-in-chief.

“What is already the world’s richest and most expansive collection of materials related to American history is constantly growing – sometimes one letter at a time,” said Kevin Butterfield, acting chief of the Manuscript Division. “These two documents help us to tell fascinating stories that we simply couldn’t tell before.”

Mary Todd Lincoln Letter

On Feb. 15, 1865, a mere two months before the assassination of her husband, Mary Todd Lincoln corresponded with Mrs. Caroline R. Wright, wife of the former governor of Indiana. In her letter, Lincoln mentions a “beautiful wreath of hair,” which historians believe to be the “Hairy Eagle,” a framed woven figure of an eagle sitting on a globe, made entirely of hair contributed by notable politicians and several of their respective wives, including President Lincoln and the first lady. Mrs. Wright commissioned the piece to raise money to help sick and wounded Civil War soldiers and intended for it to be a gift to the Lincolns.

Mary Lincoln’s stationery contains a thin black mourning band around the edge of the first page, likely acknowledging the death of the Lincolns’ son William three years earlier. Mrs. Lincoln enclosed a notice of “our last dinner,” which may have been an article about the state dinner held the day before. She also mentions that due to painting taking place in the Executive Mansion, “we will be deprived of several charming visitors, yourselves included on the 1st of March, yet if you locate yourselves at Willard’s…,” suggesting a possible stay at what was the mid-19th century predecessor to today’s Willard InterContinental on Pennsylvania Avenue. The visit may be a reference to President Lincoln’s second inauguration on March 4, during which he proclaimed, “With malice toward none; with charity for all….”

This letter joins the Mary Todd Lincoln Correspondence collection, which is now available online at https://www.loc.gov/item/mm79004881/.

Martha Washington Letter

In this letter written Sept. 29, 1760, to Margaret Bolan Green, Martha Washington describes the recovery of her four-year-old daughter “Patsy” (Martha Parke Custis) from a recent illness that included “fitts & fevours.” The widowed Martha Dandridge Custis married George Washington in 1759 and together they parented two surviving children from Martha’s first marriage: Patsy and John “Jacky” Parke Custis. Patsy would later die at the age of 17 from her continued illness. Martha Washington outlived all four of her children; she and Washington raised two of her grandchildren after the death of Jacky in 1781.

The letter, written after George Washington was commander of the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War but before he became the first president of the newly formed United States, provides rare documentation of Martha’s daily life and personal history, as few of her letters survive. The Library’s George Washington Papers contain 11 letters written by Mrs. Washington, but none in her own hand.

The letter was purchased through the James Madison Council's Edwin L. Cox Legacy Trust, which serves as a permanent endowment to support the acquisition of a wide range of Americana materials for the Library of Congress.

The Library’s Manuscript Division holds a rich body of collections related to former first ladies, including the Dolley Madison Papers, the Lucretia Garfield Papers and the Edith Wilson Papers, as well as materials related to first ladies embedded within the division’s 23 collections of presidential papers.