I’m going to post research leads here because I need all the help I can get! Usually, I’ve already made efforts to track the items in question down, but have been unsuccessful. I figure maybe someone out there might happen to know something useful, and I’d rather someone else get the scoop than the let the lead go cold.
This one’s interesting. The following clip is from The York (Pennsylvania) Dispatch, November 8, 1935.
Now, in 1935, there were few people living who could have remembered Mary Lincoln. Anyone who did would have had to have been a teenager meeting her in her later years. Because women generally live longer than men, this meant the best hope was getting responses from elderly women who remembered the 1870s or early 1880s. They’d probably be at least 75 at this point. But by 1935, the Associated Press could get this relatively minor story published in every national and local paper in the country, and it appears to have put quite an effort in. I assume he had an AP connection, or even wrote for the A.P. himself, based on other articles about Madison.
Back in 1931, Madison was described as a “Washington D.C. news paper writer,” and it was announced he had put a poem of Mrs. Calvin Coolidge to music, and it would be sung for a national radio audience. This was the second time he had done this for Grace Coolidge—he had previously received her permission to use the words of her poem “The Quest.” Madison, the article reported, was “born in Kentucky” and composed his first song at the age of sixteen. “He continued writing music until his work was interrupted by the World War, then resumed his efforts in Paris when hostilities had ceased He is now engaged in compiling a book of poems set to music by himself, of other wives of former presidents of the United States.” (The Meriden Daily Journal, November 25, 1931)
This was an unusual hobby, and Madison seems to have been a persistent man. We can track his progress through the newspapers—his connection to the press community made this easy. In 1932, it was reported that “Maury Madison, New York song writer, is delving again in the Library of Congress. A year ago, inspired by the writings of Mrs. Grace Coolidge, he began his quest of an anthology of presidential poetry. Now he has collected poetic excerpts from the writings of 25 Presidents and 10 Presidents' wives for setting to music.” He hoped to make his collection complete, noting “Presidents' wives must have poems tucked away here and there. The high lights of life in the House should prompt poetry. The problem is to find out where they are tucked away.” (Youngstown (Ohio) Vindicator, November 27, 1932).
He searched through libraries in Los Angeles, New York and Boston, and used what material he could find to make songs: political speeches, correspondence, etc. “Madison has found in the prose of Woodrow Wilson many sentences he deems worthy of fellowship with poesy. Grover Cleveland, too, takes high rank . . . ‘But Theodore Roosevelt, I think, surpassed them all in poetic prose,’ he says.”
He’d reviewed Lincoln’s surviving poetry, but preferred to use Lincoln’s prose. “He enumerated among the ‘finds’ in the writings of the first ladies,” one of which was “A poem Mary Tod[d] wrote poking gentle fun at Lincoln before she married him.” Apparently he was still searching for more three years later—but did he indeed have this poem?
He could have been searching for a document mentioned in many newspapers upon Mary’s death in 1882. The story circulated that she had written a letter announcing her engagement to Lincoln to her childhood friend Margaret Wickliffe Preston, back in Kentucky. In 1882, it was said to be in the possession of her husband, General Preston, of Lexington, after having been found in her father’s papers. The letter allegedly contained a "playful description" of Lincoln and the following quote: "But I mean to make him President of the United States all the same. You will see that, as I always told you, I will yet be the President's wife." Some time after this, inquiries were made to Preston descendants, but nothing came of it. Could it have been in some library somewhere, discovered by Madison? Or had he just mentioned it, and the reporter had misunderstood?
It does seem that Madison completed a draft of the pictorial book, and only needed the foreward. Whether he got an offer, and what happened to the draft, remains unknown. Some mystery surrounds Maury Madison and his work—I’ve been unable to track down any work he did related to Mary, despite some of his papers being held in several archives (I may have to go look in person—I’ve only asked staff to take a look). This is complicated by the fact that Maury Madison was not his real name.
On November 6, 1959, the Kentucky New Era reported that he was responsible for another musical contribution. “‘Ole Man River’ was written not by Jerome Kern, as most people believe, but by a Negro named Smith, who wrote tunes in Paris in the under the name of Maury Madison. He wrote the tune early in 1927 under the title ‘Long-haired Mama.’ Born in Kentucky, he drew on Negro folk tunes of his native state in composing the air. The tune became a hit about eight months later as ‘Ole Man River,’ the top song in Kern and Hammerstein's ‘Show-boat.’ When Smith learned of this, he claimed damages and was paid in an out- of-court settlement. We are glad the tune of ‘Ole Man River’ turns out to be of Southern origin.”
A biography from the papers linked above gives more information:
Born William Renick Smith in Kentucky, musician and composer Maury Madison (1893-ca. 1962) lived and worked in Los Angeles, California, and Paris, France, in the 1920s through 1950s.
He seems to have had an interesting career, but a little studied one. But his own research paid off—I only wish I could find it.
While the story mostly drops off in November 1935, later that month, the AP had an update. He’d gotten some responses from readers, which I’d certainly like to track down. Most weren’t too interesting—they came from people who knew someone, now deceased, who knew Mary, but that was little help. Or they’d caught a glimpse of her once. Two were more significant. The first one was sad to read.
Mrs. Mason D. Starring, New York, reported: "I knew Mrs. Lincoln when she was living in Chicago in 1874. She was a wonderful woman, and came to our home very often. Mrs. Lincoln came to my father for advice. He was a minister, David Swing. I have several books Mrs. Lincoln gave to my father and me, also a gold locket and chain, and a silver water goblet which was used in the White House. Mrs. Lincoln when I knew her was a very unhappy woman and needed someone to be kind to her."
Starring would have been a teenager at this time. Her nephew, Jewett E. Rickert, Jr., also spoke kindly about Mary Lincoln, in much more detail, a few years later, before his local historical society.
The other interesting response is yet another research lead that has brought me to a dead end.
Harriett F. Milligan, Cambridge, Mass: "She visited Boston in 1869-70 and stayed at a hotel that was managed by my father. I have written an account of my mother's experience with her and possess two letters written to my mother. (The others were destroyed as per agreement)."
1) Mary Lincoln was in Europe in 1869-1870, so Harriett was clearly off as to the year, but this would be understandable so many years later. I don’t think Harriett had been born yet. I suspect that this actually took place around 1872.
2) She has written an account, but does not mention for whom or if it was published, or if she sent it to Madison/Smith.
3) She has letters that remain unpublished, and destroyed others “as per agreement,” whatever that means, possibly referring to an agreement with Robert Lincoln, who wished his mother’s letters be destroyed if possible.
I looked into this for a long time. It seemed like a pretty promising lead, and I live in Boston. Confirming that any Milligan ancestors owned a hotel took forever.
At last, I found this, from The Boston Globe, October 8, 1872.
The old stand known of late years as the Park’s House, has been leased by Mr. Francis Milliken, who has entirely refitted the hotel throughout, and proposes to keep it up to the high standard desirable for such establishments. As the new proprietor has had experience in catering for the public for a generation, it may safely be surmised that the new management of the Milliken House will be in every way satisfactory to the patrons. The location of the house, just off from Washington street, and nearly opposite Milk street, renders it a favorite resort for business men.
Her parents’ names, based on genealogical data, seem to have been James and Isabella. Francis may have been a relative who employed her father—the spelling of both her first and last name is erratic. (A John F. Milliken of Boston was once interviewed about his relationship with the Laurie/Lawry family of spiritualist mediums, known to have interacted with the Lincolns). I still can’t figure out the relationships here, but having parents who knew Mary through their management of a Boston hotel is a weird story to make up. I’m guessing this may be related to Mary’s spiritualist activities around 1872, following the death of Tad. She was reclusive, and possibly Harriet’s father managed a smaller hotel earlier that year.
Harriett Milligan lived her entire life in Cambridge, MA, and died in 1936—one year after she got in touch with Madison. She worked at the Cambridge water plant and appears to have been fairly well known in the community. I suspect she may have published something in the Cambridge papers or read something before a local historical society, but have had no luck finding it.
If you have any ideas, let me know! (The PO Box listed is a substack default — I don’t have one currently. The best way to respond is by replying to the email newsletter or leaving a comment here.)
I’ve been trying to do more frequent posts, and I welcome any feedback. Please share with others who might be interested.