There were no ceremonies to mark the day when Mary Todd Lincoln left the White House. She had remained secluded in her room for a month following her husband’s assassination, too distressed to attend his funeral. Now she and her son Tad boarded a train to Chicago, Illinois, leaving the White House for the last time. They would not stay in Chicago for long. Mary was restless, and many believed her grip on reality was slipping. She moved from hotel to hotel, resided with her sister, and even stayed in a mental institution for a short time. Mary Todd Lincoln would live a shattered and isolated life until her death in 1882, 17 years after her husband’s death.

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