Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, Wife of the President Elect, And Sons
From a Photograph by P. Butler, of Springfield, Ill
Mrs. Lincoln, the wife of the President elect, is a Southerner by birth, the daughter of a planter, and brought up in all the traditions of conservatism. Mrs.Lincoln (n e Mary Todd) is the daughter of the Hon. Robert S. Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky, and was educated with great care by her excellent parents, and is much respected and beloved by all who come within the sphere of her social influence. She was united in marriage with the President Elect in November, 1842, and the fruits of this marriage were four sons, three of whom are now living. The eldest., a lad of seventeen, is now studying at Harvard College, and is highly esteemed by his comrades and tutors. The two youngest are represented in the picture we this day present to our readers, and are fine specimens of our Western youth.
Our engraving is from a photograph by P. Butler, of Springfield, Ill.
Related material:
Mary, Willie, and Tad Lincoln, c.1860
A surviving 1861 carte de visite print shows the family in approximately the same poses. It was likely printed from the same negative that was used for the print that the engraving for Frank Leslie’s paper was based on or another negative that was shot during the same photo session.