Mary Todd Lincoln A Classmate Remembers Mary Todd

John Hartwell

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This comes from the Portland Oregonian, of February 12, 1911. I do wish they had not been quite so respectful of the old lady's anonymity. It would have been interesting to know who she was.

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" I wondered how she was going to manage about the theater going. " So many of these have plain Truth running through them, don't they? And it was so baffling, how easily this Southern aristocrat, who grew up familiar with every ' name ' in the Confederate government because they showed up at family parties ( or the Todds were related to them ), was written off and schmeared as ' bumpkin ' in the Northern press. Married to the enemy-est enemy of them all, the Southern press sure did not fly to her defense. A couple of sisters, including one we still believe today ( guessing because she's so pretty.... ) skewered her and her marriage, interestingly sparing Lincoln.

This is one of quite a few, and lovely- they were ignored, mostly. Mary Hating was both lucrative and popular, a barbaric sport engaged in by Lincoln haters and lovers, each with agenda, so she had just no hope of winning.
 
These sites refuse to come up. All I can say is goggle Mme. Mentelle's School and you will get these sites.

Many prominent young ladies of Lexington went to this school with Mary Todd. One of her friends was Mary Wickliffe. She later married William Preston of Louisville. He was a Major General in Confederate Army.

She could be person quoted in newspaper.
 
Mentelle's Boarding School was operated by Madame Mentelle and her husband, Augustus Mentelle. They had fled Paris, France in 1792 during the French Revolution. They were very cultured and well educated. They moved to Lexington, Ky. in 1798 and opened a French School at Transylvania Seminary. Shortly later, they were given a tract of land and opened school there. The land was across the street from Henry Clay's Estate, Ashland. One of Mentelle's most notable students was Mary Todd (Lincoln). The school closed in 1860 when Madame Mentelle passed away.
 
In book, "The True Mary Todd Lincoln", by Betty Boles Ellison, there is references to the school and that Mary was an exceptional student.

"Called one of the most intelligent girls at Mme. Mentelle's school, Mary always had the highest marks and took biggest prizes. One of her former classmates recalled her as being "a merry companionable girl with a smile for everybody. She was really the life of the school, always ready for a good time and willing to contribute even more than her own share in promoting it."
 
I presume the quote not from Margaret Wickliffe Preston as she died on Feb. 2, 1898. She is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Ky. There were many other girls from prominent Lexington families at the school when Mary went there. I am trying to find out who they were and see if can find who gave quote in paper.
 
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