The Lincoln family moved to Chicago, and Mary became increasingly concerned about Tad’s lack of schooling. Well, I will try and be a good boy, and will hope to go someday to Pa and brother Willie, in heaven.” Yes, Pa is dead, and I am only Tad Lincoln now, little Tad, like other little boys. I can hardly believe that I shall never see him again. He said to a White House servant, “Pa is dead. One morning several days after the assassination, Tad faced up to his new situation in life. The next morning when Mary Todd returned from the Petersen House and news of Abraham’s death spread, Tad put his arms around his mother’s neck and said, “Don’t cry so, Mamma! Don’t cry, or you will make me cry, too! You will break my heart!” Tad was taken back to the White House and comforted by a member of the White House staff, Tom Pendel. Hess stepped onto the stage and announced the tragedy to the audience. During the play information about the President’s shooting was whispered in the tutor’s ear.Īfter Tad had departed, theatre manager C. On April 14, 1865, Tad went to the Grover Theater to see ‘Aladdin and the Magic Lamp’ with his tutor while his parents attended ‘Our American Cousin’ at Ford’s Theater. He personally appeared in at least two plays when his dad was in the audience. He was quite a hit with the stage workmen. Tad often went to rehearsals at Grover’s Theatre and became a familiar figure backstage. Like Abraham and Mary Todd, young Tad loved the theater. His oldest brother Robert was in college. In February,1862, Willie died, leaving him with no one to play with. Regarding Tad, the President’s secretary, John Hay, wrote, “He had a very bad opinion of books and no opinion of discipline.” The attitude of the parents was basically “let the children have a good time.” Lincoln hired tutors for the boys, but only Willie took education seriously. He received a pretend military commission from Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Because of the times, some of Tad’s games were war-related. Tad seemed to enjoy the idea of throwing the White House and its staff into a dither. Abraham generally laughed at his sons’ tricks, and any kind of discipline was generally lacking. In the White House, Tad sprayed dignitaries with the fire hose, broke mirrors, locked doors, interrupted Cabinet meetings, constructed wagons and sleds out of chairs, set up a food shop in the lobby, rang the call bells, and drilled the servants (as if they were soldiers). Although Tad was more rambunctious than his brother, Willie, both boys enjoyed playing pranks around the Executive Mansion. Tad was eight years old when the Lincoln family moved into the White House in 1861. Tad’s behavior and manners were often unpredictable and sometimes difficult to deal with. He was imaginative, sensitive, exasperating, loving, and highly emotional. Tad was quick in his movements and talked rapidly.
Growing up, Tad had an appealing boyish face with dark hair like his dad’s. His diet was limited to foods that were easy to bite or chew or had been given much preparation in advance. Many current historians suspect that Tad was born with a cleft palate which, without modern corrective surgery, resulted in teeth that did not grow in straight, and he a spoke with a lisp. Abraham, viewing the contrast between the large head and tiny baby figure, thought he resembled a tadpole, which was the origin of a nickname that stuck for the rest of Tad’s life. Tad was named after Thomas Lincoln, Abraham’s father who had died in 1851. Thomas “Tad” Lincoln (Ap– July 15, 1871) was the fourth and youngest son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln.
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