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THIS DAY IN LINCOLN HISTORY On JULY 17, 1849 Mary Todd Lincoln’s father dies at age 58 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Robert Smith Todd (February 25, 1791 – July 17, 1849) was an American lawyer, soldier, banker, businessman and politician. He was the father of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.

Todd studied law, first by apprenticing in the office of Thomas Bodley. He was admitted to the bar on September 28, 1811, however, Todd never practiced, instead, choosing to go into business.

After the War of 1812 ended, where he served in various capacities, Todd began running a dry goods store with his partner, Bird Smith. He frequently traveled to New Orleans to buy French brandies, Dutch gin, and green coffee, which they sold in Lexington and Todd used to entertain many prominent friends with at his home.

He later became a partner in a cotton factory in Fayette County and by 1835, he served as president of the Lexington branch of the Bank of Kentucky. In 1827, he was appointed a trustee to his alma mater, Transylvania University.

On November 13, 1812, Todd married his second cousin, Elizabeth "Eliza" Parker (1794–1825), the mother of Mary Todd Lincoln. Eliza died during complications of childbirth, and six months later, Robert Smith Todd proposed to Elizabeth "Betsy" Humphreys, whom he married.

Todd died suddenly from cholera on July 17, 1849, aged 58, in Liberty Heights, a neighborhood in Lexington.

Info from Wikipedia. Photo from the Mary Todd Lincoln House. Learn about visiting the house at:
https://www.mtlhouse.org/

THIS DAY IN LINCOLN HISTORY On July 16, 1882, Mary Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln, dies in the Springfield home of her sister, Mrs. Ninian W. Edwards-the same home where she and Lincoln married.

On July 15, eleven years after her youngest son died, Mary collapsed at her sister's home and lapsed into a coma. She died the next morning on July 16 of a stroke at age 63. Her funeral was held First Presbyterian Church in the sanctuary of the current church at the corner of Seventh and Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.

Learn more about the First Presbyterian Church, and its connections to the Lincoln family at:
https://www.lincolnschurch.org/history