Perhaps you relate a lot more with the term out-laws when you think of your spouse's family. Needless to say you wouldn't be the first. In honor of President's Day we did a little light historical research to see what we could find about the in-laws of the beloved Presidents whose birthdays we celebrate this week. The following is information that I found on a webpage that has articles from the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. The particular article that I used is from Volume 17 (Winter 1996). It sources a number of biographies on Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham's wife.
Mary Ann Todd was born in Kentucky. For those of you geographically challenged Kentucky is just barely in the South and the time that Lincoln was in the White House was a slave state. For those who may be historically challenged Abe Lincoln waged a war on the South (commonly known as the Civil War) and Kentucky was on the opposite side of the war. According to this article several of her half-brothers and one full brother served in the Confederate Army. Several of her half-brothers were actually killed in the war. You can imagine the type of tension that existed there. There is also mention of her siblings having appealed to Abe for better jobs upon his rise to fame before the war. Sound like familiar behavior to you? Needless to say, it sounds as though you have an empathizer in Abraham Lincoln if there is conflict between you and your out(cough oh I meant to say in)-laws.
Disclaimer: Ever since I was young I learned the importance of primary and secondary sources (neither of which I have consulted in compiling this post). I add this disclaimer as part of my personal commitment to not proliferate false information (acting as truth) on the web. If I were to take the time to fact check the information I found in an adequate way it would no longer be relevant to post for the blog. We do, however, know that Lincoln's wife was born in the Kentucky which was infamous at the time for having a lot of families splitting in their loyalties during the Civil War. That's enough to excite all sorts of possibilities.
Mary Ann Todd was born in Kentucky. For those of you geographically challenged Kentucky is just barely in the South and the time that Lincoln was in the White House was a slave state. For those who may be historically challenged Abe Lincoln waged a war on the South (commonly known as the Civil War) and Kentucky was on the opposite side of the war. According to this article several of her half-brothers and one full brother served in the Confederate Army. Several of her half-brothers were actually killed in the war. You can imagine the type of tension that existed there. There is also mention of her siblings having appealed to Abe for better jobs upon his rise to fame before the war. Sound like familiar behavior to you? Needless to say, it sounds as though you have an empathizer in Abraham Lincoln if there is conflict between you and your out(cough oh I meant to say in)-laws.
Disclaimer: Ever since I was young I learned the importance of primary and secondary sources (neither of which I have consulted in compiling this post). I add this disclaimer as part of my personal commitment to not proliferate false information (acting as truth) on the web. If I were to take the time to fact check the information I found in an adequate way it would no longer be relevant to post for the blog. We do, however, know that Lincoln's wife was born in the Kentucky which was infamous at the time for having a lot of families splitting in their loyalties during the Civil War. That's enough to excite all sorts of possibilities.
Digression: My husband and I have been reading the book Founding Myths by Ray Raphael. It's incredible. As the review on the cover says, "Ray Raphael [suggests] a new patriotism based on truth rather than myth." There are certain stories in history that have been morphed and flat out passed down incorrectly for whatever reason. Example: the story of Paul Revere, which has been so morphed that it hardly even resembles what actually happened. The best part is that what actually happened is so much better than the story that we find in our history books. He goes to the primary sources and tells you what actually happened and then explains how and why the story ended up getting changed over the years.
Absolutely fascinating! I recommend it whole heartedly.
Absolutely fascinating! I recommend it whole heartedly.
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