The Grief of Widowhood

This letter, written on customary mourning stationery less than two months after her husband’s death, begins with an expression of Mrs. Lincoln’s gratitude for the letter of condolence she had received from the wife of Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts. It provides a vivid insight into Mrs. Lincoln’s emotional state early in her widowhood. She writes: “My precious Boys and myself, are left very desolate & brokenhearted, the deep waters of affliction have almost overwhelmed us and we find it very difficult, to bow in submission, to our Heavenly Father’s will, the light of our life, has been taken away. . . . me, my Boys, are all deprived of their Counsellor & protector, my all, & the one, so devoted always to me, is removed from our sight forever!”