So did a few old Lincoln friends who could extend words of sympathy, but little more. He suffered horribly, and was confined to a chair with an iron bar across it to prevent him from falling forward or lying down, a position that made breathing impossible. Whatever the actual cause, all aforesaid possibilities were extremely serious without modern antibiotics. The diagnosis was (by various sources) dropsy, or pleurisy, or tuberculosis. He had trouble breathing, and was feverish. Tad’s cold had become serious and required Dr. The tensions created sufficient turmoil for the Widow to pack up as well, and move with Tad to the Clifton House Hotel on Wabash Avenue. Then Robert and his wife, also named Mary, had a baby daughter – yet another Mary Lincoln. They remained off-and-on there for three years, with Tad either with tutors and classes, or as companion to his mother. Pathologically concerned about finances, the Widow Lincoln believed it was cheaper to live abroad and Germany offered the best educational opportunities in the world. Mary and Tad went to Washington for the wedding – and then sailed to Europe.

In 1868, Robert Lincoln, now 25, got married. His speech impediment made things even harder.

Mary enrolled him in school, but since he was so far behind other boys his age, private tutoring was essential. He had to learn to do things for himself. While he was unschooled and still juvenile, he definitely understood that he was an ordinary boy now. Despite her own cares, she realized Tad’s education had been woefully neglected, and it became a priority. Instead, she and her two remaining sons went to Chicago. Barely able to cope, former First Lady Mary Lincoln refused to return to Springfield and its memories.

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