Mary Lincoln
Mary Ann Todd Lincoln – The President’s Wife
What is your persona name?
Mary Lincoln. Having been married over 160 years I don’t use my maiden name very much. I also don’t use my middle name very much either. I signed all of my correspondence Mary Lincoln.
Do you belong to a group?
There is a group called the association of Lincoln Presenters. They have attempted to locate everyone in the country who do this portrayal. At last count I think there were one hundred fifty Abraham Lincolns and about two dozen (24) Mary Lincolns. Some of the Mary’s portray her by them selves, but 10 or 12 work as a team with a Mr. Lincoln.
What is your real name?
Donna Daniels
What do you do in real life?
For the past 10 years this has been my husband’s and my full time occupation. We have been actually doing this for 18 years. When we started Max (the husband) worked as chief of maintenance at a bank and I was a receptionist at a law firm. This started as a hobby for us and then became a business on the side in addition to our other job. In 1994 the bank he worked at was bought out and the whole department was downsized. We thought that maybe this was just God’s way of saying it’s time for you to do this now. I am so glad he looks like Abraham Lincoln and not Grover Cleveland, because I don’t think we could make a living portraying Grover Cleveland.
Why did you pick this role to portray?
Well the most obvious reason is because my husband looks like Abraham Lincoln. However, the most important part of my role is to redeem the honor of Mary Lincoln. I think there is a lot of bad press that was undeserved. I try to show people that there were good things about Mary’s character that tend to get overlooked because people are more interested in how much money she spent. I endeavor to show that I am more than a one dimensional character. There is more to me than shopping!
Please tell me more about Mary’s history.
Mary was born in Lexington, Kentucky. Her father was a wealthy business man and very involved in local and state politics. Like most wealthy families in the south Mary’s family did own slaves. Mary’s father was not really a pro-slavery man and that helped to fashion Mary’s views as well. Her father recognized that educated women attracted better husbands. Unlike other women of the period Mary was allowed to get a very good education. Being well educated means that one could speak French and do needlepoint! Mary was quite frustrated that she was not allowed to study higher education subjects and go on to University as her brothers were.
Mary’s father was also grooming his daughters to become political wives so Mary and her sisters were permitted to listen in while political conversations were going on. This was unusual because girls were not supposed to know very much about politics. I believe that it was instrumental in preparing Mary to become the best possible partner for her husband in furthering his political career.
Have you ever regretted the choice of role?
Sometimes on hot sticky days we look at each other and say “why did we say we would do this? But, generally speaking it has been very rewarding and we have enjoyed the opportunity to educate as well as entertain. Sometimes people make the comment “ oh you guys are the best Lincoln, we’ve seen other Lincolns and they are not nearly as outgoing as you are.” I don’t think that is fair to some of the other Lincolns. They may be more accurate than we are. Lincoln may have been more aloof, distant and withdrawn, especially late in the war. And who wouldn’t be with the pressure of the war. But, max and I feel that we are here not only to be historically accurate but, also to entertain the public and you can’t be entertaining if people feel they can’t approach you.
What did you do to prepare for this role?
Research, research, research. We felt that if we were going to do this we had a responsibility to do it well and to have our facts straight. I do other things to increase the resemblance between Mary and myself but, some things you just cannot change.
What is your favorite question from a child?
They usually don’t ask me as many questions from me as they do from Mr. Lincoln. They usually ask him are you the real one? We try to make sure that children understand that we are pretending to be the Lincolns. From me they usually want to know about the children we (the Lincolns) had.
Where did you find your dresses?
I have them made for me. Many of the Civil War ladies make their own clothing, but, I am not talented that way. It is a big challenge for me to sew on a button, though my husband says I am very good at writing checks. I have the good fortune to know several ladies who’s business it is to make reproduction dresses. My goodness, they wouldn’t be able to support their families if I didn’t give them work!
Can you share with me who makes your dresses?
Verna Metz form Elgin, Illinois who runs Ivory Tower. Linda Wetter and Betty Essling, my sister-in-law, have both sewn for me. Marta Vincent from the Ladies Bodice in Hampshire made my most recent dress for me. It is a reception dress that has a train on it. It is a stand in line to greet people dress.
What is your favorite reenactment and why?
Keokuk is high on the list because it is the first one of our season and it gives us a chance to visit with friends we have not seen all season. It gets us back in the swing of this kind of event. There is also a three day event in Jerseyville, Illinois on Labor day weekend. It is a very casual event to begin with and on Sunday night instead of everyone backing up and leaving you can stay around camp fires and visit. That is good for us because we don’t often get to do that because we always have “official duties” elsewhere on Saturday night and by Sunday everyone is gone.
