Lincoln Memorial was dedicated today in 1922

(The picture was taken on our last trip to Washington, D.C. to see the cherry blossom April 1.)

Today (May 30) in 1922 the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated and Robert Lincoln must have watched it with a solemn and exhilarating emotion knowing his father would live as long as America does. Robert was then 79 years old and he died at age of 83 in 1926.

Lincoln’s second son, Edward, died at age of 4 in Springfield, Illinois. In his farewell speech while leaving Springfield for Washington to take up the Presidency, he said, “Here I have been a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried.” It always saddens me to read this unscheduled speech, he went on, “I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, . . .”

His second son, Willie, died at the White House. The 4th son, Tad (Thomas, but Lincolns called him Tad, as he had no hair as a child, looking like a tadpole) went with his mother, Mary, to live in Europe (mainly France, Mary was fluent in French) for 3 years, and died of probable tuberculosis at age of 18 in Chicago.

While defending Mary Lincoln at Sermo (a physicians-only online site) last year, I had mixed opinion on Robert Lincoln.