Lincoln, the unknown

240 • LINCOLN THE UNKNOWNUnable to attain social popularity herself, she was bitterlyjealous of those who had achieved it. The then reigning queenof Washington society was the renowned beauty Adele CuttsDouglas, the woman who had married Mrs. Lincoln's formersweetheart, Stephen A. Douglas. The glamorous popularity ofMrs. Douglas and Salmon P.Chase's daughter, inflamed Mrs.Lincoln with envy, and she resolved to win social victories withmoney—money spent on clothes and jewelry for herself."To keep up appearances," she told Elizabeth Keckley, "Imust have money, more money than Mr. Lincoln can spare me.He is too honest to make a penny outside of his salary; consequently,I had, and still have, no alternative but to run indebt."In debt she plunged, tothe extent of seventy thousand dollars!A staggering sum when we remember that Lincoln'ssalary as President was only twenty-five thousand, and that itwould have taken every penny of his income for over two yearsand nine months to pay for her finery alone.I have quoted several times from Elizabeth Keckley. She wasan unusually intelligent negro woman who had bought her freedomand come to Washington to set up a dress-making shop.Within a short time she had the patronage of some of the capital'sleading social figures.From 1861 to 1865 she was with Mrs. Lincoln almost dailyin the White House, making dresses and serving her as a personalmaid. She finally became not only Mrs. Lincoln's confidanteand adviser, but her most intimate friend. The nightthat Lincoln lay dying, the only person Mrs. Lincoln kept callingfor was Elizabeth Keckley.Fortunately for history, Mrs. Keckley wrote a book abouther experiences. It has been out of print for half a century,but dilapidated copies can be purchased now and then fromrare-book dealers for ten or twenty dollars. The title is ratherlong: "Behind the Scenes, by Elizabeth Keckley, Formerly aSlave, but More Recently Modiste and Friend to Mrs. AbrahamLincoln: Or Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the WhiteHouse."Elizabeth Keckley records that in the summer of 1864, whenLincoln was running for a second term, "Mrs. Lincoln was almostcrazy with fear and anxiety."Why? One of her New York creditors had threatened to sueher; and the possibility that Lincoln's political enemies might