The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1916-02-12

in Springfield. Her sister was the wife OF Ninlan
W.. Edwards, one of the most prominent men CT
Springfield. Miss Todd was bright, witty, highly
educated, ambitious, and at once became the
belle of Springfield. Few young women have hau
more great men suitors for their hand than hau
Miss Todd within one month of her arrival
Among those who paid ardent attention TO her
were Stephen A. Douglas, James Shields, VINO
later was senator from three states and VINO
made a glorious record in three wars; Abraham
Lincoln, and a dozen others.
The Edwards family protested against Miss
Todd's Partially for Lincoln. They thought his
family was plcbeian; they thought, too, he was
too grave a man. But Miss Todd loved Lincoln
and they became engaged.
They were not altogether happy in their en-
gagement. Miss Todd was jealous and exacting'
She loved balls and parties, frivohties OF all SORTS
that are so dear to women. Lincoln did not care
much for those things and was shocklngly
thoughtless and inattentive for an engaged man.
When there was some ~merrymaking, If he didn't
want to go, he didn't think she'd care. She, how
ever, thought it a slight, She complained that
he neglected her. Then, to make him feel pad
about it, she would go with Shields or with
Douglas. There were tears, reproaches, quar-
rels. They would make up and fall out again.
All this had a very bad effect upon Lincoln. He
became extremely morbid. He began to search
his soul to answer the question as to whether or
not he would make the woman's life unhappy.
They were to have been married on January /,
1912. Something happened and the wedding did
not take place. There was a story, which was
credited to w. H. Herndon, that Lincoln failed
to appear, but this has been pronounced untrue
by those who ought to know. 1t is more likely
that one of their many quarrels led to the break
between them.
Some of Lincoln's letters written about this
time disclose his sufferings. In one of them he
says:
81 I'M now the most miserable man living. If
what l feel were equally distributed to the whole
human family there would not be one cheerful
face on earth. Whether l shall ever be better
l cannot tell. l fear l shall not. To remain as
l am is impossible"
Reconciliation and Marriage.
One of his friends in Kentucky invited him
there in the hope of cheering him up. He had a
hard time arousing Lincoln from his melancholia,
but he finally succeeded in a manner he never
expected. The friend fell in love himself and
began to feel qualmish as to whether he would
make his beloved happy. He became so miser-
able over his doubt in this regard that Lincoln
tried to cheer him up, and in trying to cheer his
friend, Lincoln cheered up himself.
When Lincoln returned to Illinois he was
much better. He and Miss Todd met and there
was a reconciliation.
On November 4, following, Lincoln and Mary
Todd were married. While the marriage cere.
mony was being performed one of the greatest
storms in the history of Springfield was raging.
Did you ever write out a story in your mind?"
Lincoln once asked a friend. 81 did when / was
a young fellow. One day a wagon with a lady
and two girls and a man broke down near us. and
while they were fixing up they cooked in our
kitchen. The woman had books and read US
stories, and they we're the first of the kind l ever
had heard. l took a great fancy to one of the
girls, and when they were gone l thought of her
a great deal, and one day when ! was sitting out
in the sun by the house l wrote out a story in
my mind.
81 thought l took my fathers horse and fol-
lowed the wagon, and finally l found it, and
they were surprised to see me. / talked with the
girl and persuaded her to elope with me; and
that'night l put her on the horse and we started
off across the prairie. After several hours we
came to a camp, and when we rode up we found
1t was the ons we had left a few hours before,
and we went in.
THE next night we tried again, and the same
thing happened-the horse came back to the
same place; and then we concluded that we
ought not to elope. / stayed until / had per-
suaded her father to give her to me. ! always
meant to write that story out and publish 1t,
and / began once. but l concluded 1t was not
much of a story. But | think that was the be-
ginning of love with me-"