Mamie Lincoln Isham

Mary Todd "Mamie" Lincoln Isham (October 15, 1869 – November 21, 1938) was a granddaughter of Abraham Lincoln, the first daughter of Robert Todd Lincoln and the mother of Lincoln Isham.[1]

Mamie Lincoln Isham
Isham in 1891
Born
Mary Todd Lincoln

(1869-10-15)October 15, 1869
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedNovember 21, 1938(1938-11-21) (aged 69)
New York City, New York, U.S.
OccupationChoir Mother
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1891; died 1919)​
ChildrenLincoln Isham
Parent(s)Robert Todd Lincoln
Mary Eunice Harlan
RelativesAbraham Lincoln (paternal grandfather)

Early life

Mamie was born Mary Todd Lincoln to Mary Eunice Harlan and Robert Todd Lincoln at the Robert Lincoln home in Chicago, Illinois. As a child, she was called by the nickname of "Little Mamie". Her father would often bring Mamie to visit his mother, Mary Todd Lincoln. It is believed that Robert addressed Mamie as Mary's "favorite grandchild". On one visit, Mary Lincoln gave her grandchild two very expensive dolls.

Mamie and her siblings were described as "bright, natural, unpretentious children, well liked by the people of the town". Mamie and her sister, Jessie, were piano students in the summer session of Iowa Wesleyan in 1886.[2]

Mamie later became a member of the Mount Pleasant Chapter A of the P.E.O. Sisterhood one month before her birthday, on September 17, 1884. Her sister Jessie was later accepted by the same organization on December 31, 1895, more than 11 years later.[3]

Personal life

Mamie Lincoln became engaged in London and then married Charles Bradford Isham, the son of merchant and banker William Bradley Isham, on September 2, 1891, and bought a place in Manchester, Vermont, known as the 1811 house.[4] In 1892, she had her only child in New York City:

  • Lincoln Isham (1892–1971),[5] who married Leahalma Correa (1892–1960), the daughter of the Spaniard Carlos Correa and the Englishwoman Mary Gooding in August 1919.[6] They did not have any children together.[7]

She lived the rest of her life in New York City including the address 19 East 72nd Street, where she was a choir mother of Grace Church on Broadway. On June 9, 1919, her husband died, leaving her a widow,[8][9] but she continued to live in New York City for the next 19 years until she became gravely ill herself in 1938. She died in NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital on November 21, 1938, at around 10:05 a.m. at the age of 69.[10] She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City.

At the time of her death, Isham was the owner of the Healy Portrait of Lincoln, which had been left to her by her mother. It was given to the White House collection when she died.[11]

See also

References
  1. "Biography and Family Line of the Lincolns Lincoln "Linc" Isham (June 8, 1892 – September 1, 1971) was a descendant of Abraham Lincoln. He was one of three great-grandchildren of Abraham Lincoln and the only child of Mary "Mamie" Lincoln. Biography Isham was born to Mary "Mamie" and Charles Isham. Being a drop out at Harvard, a newspaper once said "his frail body was unequal to the strain". Later on, Isham was said to have been a secret operative for the U.S. government in World War II. On August 30, 1919, Isham married Leahalma "Lea" Correa, a New York 'Society Girl of Spanish Descent', and helped raise her daughter, Frances Mantley. He was a frequent visitor at Hildene and once when young was allowed to drive his grandfather Robert Todd Lincoln's, 1905 Thomas Automobile but rolled it in a ditch. Later in his life, Isham and his wife settled in Dorset, Vermont where they owned a 22-acre (9 ha) farm. A talented amateur musician, he would often play music while his wife wrote children's stories. On September 1, 1971 at 12:30 am, Lincoln Isham died at Putnam Memorial Hospital at the age of 79. He left most of his estate to the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and American Cancer Society. He also left a US$440,000 trust fund for his stepdaughter, and sent his grandmother's 'Chicken Leg Coffee Set' and 'White House china' to the Smithsonian. The rest of his family artifacts were auctioned off".
  2. "Photograph of Mary "Mamie" Lincoln". Archived from the original on 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  3. Haselmayer, Dr. Louis A. (Fall 1968). "Jessie Harlan Lincoln in Iowa". Annals of Iowa. Des Moines: 417.
  4. "Photograph of Mary "Mamie" Lincoln in her wedding gown". Archived from the original on 2007-09-10. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  5. "Lincoln Isham Dead at 79; Great‐Grandson of Lincoln" (PDF). The New York Times. 3 September 1971. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  6. "LINCOLN ISHAM MARRIED; His Wedding to Miss Leaholma Carrea Last Saturday Just Told" (PDF). The New York Times. 3 September 1919. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  7. Winkler, H. Donald (2004). Lincoln's Ladies: The Women in the Life of the Sixteenth President. Cumberland House Publishing. p. 215. ISBN 9781581824254. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  8. "Charles Isham Dies at 66" (PDF). The New York Times. June 10, 1919. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  9. "CHARLES ISHAM". New-York Tribune. June 10, 1919. p. 8. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  10. "Mrs. Charles Isham Dies; Lincoln's Granddaughter". N.Y. Tribune. October 23, 1938.
  11. "MRS. ISHAM DIES; WAS LINCOLN'S KIN; Granddaughter of President a Daughter of Robert Todd Lincoln, Ex-War Secretary OWNED FAMOUS PORTRAIT Emancipator's Likeness Now to Hang in White House if a Position Suitable Is Found" (PDF). The New York Times. 22 November 1938. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
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