Robert Todd Lincoln was just 21 when his father was assassinated.

The Responsibility of Robert

Only hours before Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, the President spent a little time with his oldest son, on leave from the Army following Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, which he had witnessed.

Lincoln and his son had a rare “personal” chat. While the POTUS was making plans for the country, Robert was making plans for his own future. He wanted to return to Harvard (once he was discharged from military service), to finish his law studies, and sought his father’s approval. Lincoln approved. He believed Robert would make a fine lawyer, gain a couple of years “experience” in Illinois, and perhaps, once Lincoln’s second term ended, Lincoln and Son could open a practice, probably in Chicago, a much larger venue than tiny Springfield. 

By midnight, everything had changed.

Now, at 21, Robert was the man of the Lincoln family. His mother Mary, always emotionally fragile, was completely incapacitated. His kid brother Tad was only twelve, and still babyish with a spotty education. Abraham Lincoln had no brothers or close kin; Mary had long been semi-estranged from her family. 

Knowing his youthful limitations and seeking the kind guidance of Supreme Court Justice David Davis, who had been Lincoln’s close friend for a quarter century, Robert began charting a future course, immediately awash with heavy responsibilities. Asking Judge Davis to handle Lincoln’s estate (AL had never made a will) was the easy part. 

He also knew that returning to Harvard was now out of the question. He would need to “read” law, still a satisfactory path to a legal education. But Robert was a Harvard graduate, had served in the Union Army, and was a young man of good character. And, as the POTUS son-of-Illinois, he had little trouble finding a law firm happy to take him on.

Lincoln’s Stuff

Unbeknownst to Robert and Mary – and Judge Davis, Lincoln’s “financial” stuff was a mess. There were several of his monthly paychecks that had never been cashed. Figuring out the whats and how-muches was complicated task; Abraham Lincoln was a poor record keeper. Then there were the surprise bills that had started pouring in from purchases that Mrs. Lincoln had made during her tenure as First Lady. The amount owing was staggering, and had been completely unknown to her husband. It took Judge Davis the better part of two years to settle the estate.

Then there was the serious stuff: Lincoln’s papers. State papers, such as Inaugural Addresses, State of the Union addresses, the “original” Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address, treaties, formal appointments, etc., naturally belonged in the archives of the country. But there was also a huge amount of personal correspondence, drafts and memoranda, appointment diaries, telegraph messages, letters and war correspondence. There were even documents dating from his law practice, years before the presidency. He had brought many of his personal papers with him.

“Presidential Libraries” were decades in the future. Personal ephemera belonged to the President – personally.

Now it belonged to Robert – or at least in his care. The old axiom is “when in doubt, don’t.” And since Robert Lincoln did not have to make an immediate decision about the disposition of his father’s “stuff,” he put it in storage in the vault of the National Bank of Bloomington, IL, Judge Davis’ home town. Many years later, they were transferred to the vaults of the US State Department, and finally returned to RTL, and placed in his personal safe.

During the next decades following Lincoln’s assassination, only a rare few had been given permission (by RTL) to have access to the material, notably John G. Nicolay and John Hay, Lincoln’s devoted secretaries – and now biographers.

But as he aged, the matter of final disposition of Abraham Lincoln’s Papers was very much on Robert Lincoln’s mind. He had no legacy-heirs, so to speak. His only son, Abraham Lincoln II, had died as a teenager years earlier. His daughters had married and there were offspring, but they showed little interest in their august heritage. 

May 22, 1922

A magnificent edifice to the memory of Abraham Lincoln had recently been built in Washington, DC, and an 80-year-old Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s only remaining son, was guest of honor at its dedication. He was a notable person in his own right. His resume included a successful law practice, tenure as Secretary of War, Minister to England and president of the Pullman Company. But he was also a generally reclusive man, whose personal tragedies and traumas left internal scars. It would be his last public appearance.

In the sea of attendees at the Lincoln Memorial dedication was Herbert Putnam, the Librarian of Congress, who had been engaged for nearly twenty years in conversations/correspondence with RTL about providing a final home for the papers at the Library of Congress. The matter had been postponed. And postponed. And still postponed. Finally, in 1919, eight trunks (containing 10,000 manuscripts) were sent to the LOC – for safekeeping, along with many caveats, particularly keeping them from the public.

Some eight months after the Lincoln Memorial dedication, Robert Lincoln formally agreed to donate the Lincoln Papers (and some other valuables) to the Library of Congress, “for the benefit of all the People,” along with another few caveats. The most important condition was that the material remain sealed for twenty one years after RTL’s death.

Robert Todd Lincoln died on July 26, 1926. He was just shy of his 83rd birthday.

At midnight on July 26, 1947, a large crowd of Lincoln historians waited outside the LOC for the momentous event: Opening the treasure trove of Lincoln documents.

It was the largest donation ever made to the Library of Congress.

Sources:

Emerson, Jason –Giant in the Shadows: The Life of Robert T. Lincoln – Southern Illinois University Press, 2012

Mearns, David C. – The Lincoln Papers: The Story of the Collection – Doubleday & Co. – 1948

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Todd-Lincoln

https://www.loc.gov/collections/abraham-lincoln-papers/about-this-collection/

https://www.loc.gov/item/n85185518/herbert-putnam-1861-1955/