Did Mary Lincoln go to New Orleans in the 1870s?
Her friend Rhoda E. White was involved in litigation there.
In December of 1871(?), Mary Lincoln wrote to her friend Rhoda E. White that she was in poor health and “advised to seek a much warmer climate, for the winter.”1
Mary reported that Robert planned to go off and “rest” somewhere after Christmas, and then she was hoping to spend time in the South with a “sympathizing companion” like Rhoda. She was probably writing in late 1871, shortly after both Tad’s death and the Great Chicago Fire.
Her letter to Rhoda said—in part—:
“All I write you, I am sure you will consider strictly private - and when I place my plan & proposal before you. I will trust to your noble heart & unfailing kindness, even if your ideas do not coincide with mine not to feel displeased. Of course, I cannot go alone & in my state of mind, a congenial, sympathising companion, is every thing to me. Now, for my plans. If you will go with me & pass the winter, where we both may find distraction of mind, I will so gladly pay the way for us both every where we go - the board - South is so much less than N.Y. or Chicago, is said to be half as little that each one of us can meet that separately. If you consent to going & the arrangement about my son's plans agree we can cross over to New Orleans & it may be extend our voyage to Havana & Cuba.”2
There’s no evidence that the suggested trip South occurred, but there is evidence that in late 1874 or early 1875, a few years later, Rhoda E. White traveled to New Orleans to testify in litigation related to the case of Myra Clark Gaines. It appears Rhoda had been there several times in her life.
I found a February 1875 newspaper that reports on Rhoda’s testimony in the case, which also involved the husband of Rhoda’s daughter, Rhoda Mack, who was also a friend of Mary’s.3
Mary visited the Southern states during early 1875, but there is so far no evidence she traveled with Rhoda to New Orleans during the 1870s. What is known is that Mary embarked on a solo tour of several Northern states during 1872, mainly visiting spiritualist venues. In fact, she wrote to Rhoda from St. Charles, Illinois, home to a noted spiritualist community, where she temporarily relocated soon after the Great Chicago Fire.
This was the time of her greatest interest in spiritualism, undoubtedly related to the death of Tad in July of 1871 and the increased intensity of her desire to reconnect with lost loves ones.
Lincoln, Mary Todd, “Mary Lincoln to Rhoda White,” Chronicling Illinois, accessed March 23, 2025, https://chroniclingillinois.org/items/show/8202.
Ibid.
The New Orleans Bulletin, February 16, 1875, p. 8.