New Mary Lincoln Letter Surfaces
A brief request to George Harrington, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
Trying to get this Substack up and running again, and my dad just called to tell me there was a new Mary Lincoln letter out (he saw it on Fox News!), so it seemed like the perfect opportunity!
I initially was sure that I’d already seen the text of this letter, and that the actual autograph was just up for sale for the first time, but when I double-checked, this did not appear to be the case.
From the Fox News article (emphases mine; the NY Post ran a similar article):
A newly discovered letter written by former first lady Mary Todd Lincoln shows a side of her that is rarely seen, an author and historical document expert told FOX Business.
The letter is addressed to George Harrington; his descendants reportedly found it in their family archives. At the time, Harrington was assistant secretary of the Treasury.
In the letter, Mrs. Lincoln was trying to get a Treasury Department job for a woman, which Nathan Raab told FOX Business was very unusual for a woman during that time period.
…Raab is president of The Raab Collection, a firm that sells historical documents, and is the author of "The Hunt for History." He's located in Philadelphia.
My understanding is that giving such jobs to women had become much less unusual by 1864, and I think what was going on with Treasury clerks and government hiring practices generally during this time deserves further study and discussion.
From The Raab Collection (throughout this post, the simultaneous bold and italics are my emphases; otherwise they’re in the original):
George Harrington was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and also handled personal financial matters for the Lincolns. After the Civil War, he was appointed chief clerk under his friend Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice of the United States.
This is one of Mary’s letters helping a young woman get a job with the Treasury Department. It demonstrates Mary Lincoln’s good will, generosity, and goal to aid women get jobs. Autograph letter signed as First Lady, Washington, no date but matching letterhead used by her in 1864, to Harrington, trying to find a job in the Treasury Department for a girl. “The girl whom I promised a place in the Treasury has not acted worthily, therefore I request that I may insert another name in the place. I am sure it will be an unimportant matter to you, and your compliance will gratify me.” It seems that the first girl had antagonized Mary in some way and she wanted her replaced with a more acceptable candidate.
The full text of the letter reads:
March 9 [1863 (see below)].
Mr. Harrington
The girl whom I promised a place in the Treasury has not acted worthily, therefore I request that I may insert another name in the place.
I am sure it will be an unimportant matter to you, and your compliance will gratify me.
Mrs. Lincoln
The rest of the known correspondence surrounding this matter is somewhat interesting, but I don’t know what to make of it, and haven’t had a chance to study it closely yet. The rest of the correspondence, which was written subsequent to the newly discovered letter, strongly suggests that this letter is actually from 1863, not 1864.
According to Mary Todd Lincoln: Her Life and Letters, page 149, n4, a “girl” named Ellen Shehan had been appointed on March 17, 1863, at Mary’s request, to a job in the note-cutting room of the Treasury Department.
Assuming Mary dated the March 9 letter correctly, then it would seem that Harrington either overlooked, ignored, or refused her request to suggest a different appointee, allowing the appointment of Ellen Shehan to go through.
The next day, March 18, presumably upon hearing that the appointment had gone through, Mary had written a letter to Harrington, of which I think we still only have an excerpt:
"The girl, Ellen, is not worthy the place, has made use of some expressions which I cannot countenance in one I have recommended to so eligible a station."
I have no idea what she was referring to hear, but I can think of meanings unrelated to personal antagonism, so I would not jump to conclusions on that.
I think it’s plausible that Ellen Shehan was the same “Ellen” that Mary referred to in a June 1861 letter to her friend Mary Brayman:
…the girl Ellen, whom I brought from S[pringfield, Illinois to serve as a dressing maid and seamstress]…is not expert wth her needle, or does not understand arranging or dressing a lady. Yet she is the most reliable, truthful, kindhearted girl about children, I have ever known…She is so kind I dislike to part with her, now as my boys, have grown too large, to require a nurse…”
Since Mary also indicated that she had hired a more competent dressing maid and seamstress, she may have ended up “phasing out” Ellen, while promising to keep an eye out for a suitable position that she (Mary) could use her position to secure. This would allow Ellen to support herself in DC doing respectable work, meaning she would not have to return to Springfield and could remain in the orbit of the Lincoln household.
It does not sound like Ellen had much in the way of “professional” or “worldly” experience, but it deos not seem like the position she was appointed to was one that required much in the way of skills or judgment.
Since these descriptions of Ellen do not suggest much political or social sophistication on her part, it may have been that she said something indiscreet about a matter of public interest, or made comments that came across as vulgar, flippant, etc. Mary’s seeming lack of anger and vagueness in describing Ellen’s misconduct (“not act[ing] worthily” and “us[ing] certain expressions” incompatible with the position) make my thoughts go in this direction. But this is just a theory.
In any event, Ellen Shehan was dismissed from the position on March 19, the day after Mary reiterated her desire to replace Ellen with a new appointee. On March 20, Mary wrote another letter to Harrington, which was published in Life and Letters (page 149):
Executive Mansion
[March 20, 1863]
Dear Sir:
I am under many obligations to you, for your frequent kindnesses to me, and will only request you to add another name, in the place of Ellen Shehan, & will promise, not to trouble you again.
The woman, who is most estimable, is named Elizabeth Keckley, although colored, is very industrious, & has just had an interview with Gov Chase, who says he will see you & I am sure, it rests with you. She is very unobtrusive, and will perform her duties, faithfully. I do not believe, I am making a vain request of you-and I will not again trouble you-
Please insert her name in place of the other, I presume you will not, object, to her not entering upon her duties, until the middle of April. You see Mr Harrington, I am calcu[la]ting on your kindly agreeing to my proposal.
Very Respectfully,
Mrs Lincoln.
As a close read of the earlier correspondence indicated, Mary was not actually offering to replace the name with that of another “girl”; by 1863, Keckley was in her forties, the owner of a successful dressmaking business, and a well-respected and leading member of DC’s Black community.
The tone of the March 20th letter is definitely interesting, and I have my theories as to why, but at this point they’re mostly speculation. I plan to look into the matter more closely, but would be interested in hearing any thoughs readers have in response to this piece. Feel free to share them in the comments section (questions, etc., also always welcome!)—direct replies are also welcome from subscribers who would prefer not to post publicly.