Eyewitness 1861: Pittsburgh gets to know new White House ladies
-
Mary Todd Lincoln: "Mrs. Lincoln does not chew snuff, does not dress in outre style, does not walk 'al a Zouave,' does not use profane language, nor does she on any occasion, public or private, kick up shindies."
Share with others:
Curiosity about presidential spouses is not a 21st century phenomenon. The election of 1860, in which Abraham Lincoln became president, placed Mary Todd Lincoln in the national spotlight as well.
On March 4, 1861, the day that her husband was inaugurated as the nation's 16th president, the Pittsburgh Daily Gazette had a story describing the appearance and character of the new First Lady. The next morning, March 5, The Pittsburgh Post ran a shorter report on Lincoln's vice president, Hannibal Hamlin, and his second, much younger, wife, Ellen.
The lengthy feature on Mary Lincoln was written by an anonymous New York Times correspondent who had traveled with the president-elect and his family on their trip from Springfield, Ill., to Washington.
Previous newspaper reports had made Mrs. Lincoln out to be either a Roman goddess or a frontier hick, the story said. Those diverse views of Mrs. Lincoln appeared to depend primarily on whether the writers backed or opposed her husband's election.
The Gazette's "Portrait" first sought to dispel misconceptions about her: "Mrs. Lincoln does not chew snuff, does not dress in outre style, does not walk 'al a Zouave,' does not use profane language, nor does she on any occasion, public or private, kick up shindies."
Whatever journalists had compared Mrs. Lincoln's walk to that of a Zouave had meant to be insulting. Zouaves originally were French North African soldiers who wore baggy, brightly colored, Oriental-influenced uniforms. The style later was adopted by military units from both sides during the Civil War. To "kick up a shindy" was a 19th century term for starting quarrels or causing commotion.
"Her form inclines to stoutness, but is well fashioned and comely, while her hands and feet are really beautiful," the reporter wrote of Mrs. Lincoln. Her lovely extremities and her "well-shaped ear" indicated that "she has come from a race of people who were well born," he concluded.
First Published May 15, 2011 12:00 am
