Mary Lincoln Beckwith
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Mary Lincoln Beckwith (August 22, 1898 – July 10, 1975) was a prominent descendant of
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
. Beckwith was one of the last two descendants of Abraham Lincoln, along with her younger brother
Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
.


Early life

Beckwith was born to
Jessie Harlan Lincoln Jessie Harlan Lincoln (November 6, 1875 – January 4, 1948) was the second daughter of Robert Todd Lincoln, the granddaughter of Abraham Lincoln, and the mother of Mary Lincoln Beckwith and Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith. Early life Jessi ...
and Warren Wallace Beckwith on August 22, 1898, in
Mount Pleasant, Iowa Mount Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Iowa. The population was 9,274 in the 2020 census, an increase from 8,668 in the 2010 census. It was founded in 1835 by pioneer Presley Saunders. History The first permanent s ...
. She got the
nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
"Peggy" from her grandfather
Robert Todd Lincoln Robert Todd Lincoln (August 1, 1843 – July 26, 1926) was an American lawyer, businessman, and politician. He was the eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. Robert Lincoln became a business lawyer and company presid ...
, who described her hair as "flying in the sun" when he wrote to his Aunt Emile Todd Helm. People who were close to her called her "Peggy." Raised with her brother in Manchester, VT at the home of her grandfather, Robert Todd Lincoln, at a farm known as
Hildene Hildene, the Lincoln Family Home is the former summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln and his wife Mary Harlan Lincoln, located at 1005 Hildene Road in Manchester Center, Vermont. History Robert Todd Lincoln was the eldest of the four sons of Pres ...
, the family estate in Vermont, she later grew up in Washington, D.C., and was said to have become "a squat, fair-haired, blue-eyed, chain smoker who golfed and dabbled in oil painting and sculpture." Beckwith attended the
Madeira School The Madeira School (simply referred to as Madeira School or Madeira) is an elite, private, day and boarding college-preparatory school for girls in McLean, Virginia, United States. It was established in 1906 by Lucy Madeira Wing. History Ori ...
, then called Miss Madeira's School, a private prep school, but she did not go on to
college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
afterwards. Prior to
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, she was a representative on the committee on public information in Cuba. In 1918, she returned to the family farm to fill positions left by men who had gone to war. Beckwith took an agricultural course at
Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, and wanted to organize young women to work the farm. Beckwith was interested in
aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...
. Her first time flying was to ask for a ride in a plane at the Curtiss airport in
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in 1930 and afterwards "she announced without any further formalities that she would like to learn to fly by herself." She earned her private pilot's license by 1931. In the 1930s, she built a private landing strip in Manchester VT, and purchased a number of airplanes. One of them was a three-seat sports plane. She also owned a Cutliss Gypsy Moth and a Traveler. During this time she was living at Hildene with her grandmother, Mary Harlan Lincoln. By 1938, Beckwith was operating a 412-acre
dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...
at Hildene. She had inherited this property following the death of her grandmother, Mary Harlan Lincoln in 1938.


Later life

Beckwith later in life became an eccentric recluse at Hildene. She never married or had children. Beckwith ran the estate "as a farm" and dabbled in art and sculpture. Despite her desire to eschew publicity, she was well-known by the local farm community. She was known to conduct errands in the town around Hildene "dressed in
blue jeans Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and paten ...
overalls, with a shirt and a man's cap." Beckwith christened the submarine ''
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
'' on May 14, 1960. She died on July 10, 1975 at around 2:15 a.m. at Rutland Hospital in
Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may refer to: *Rutland (city), Vermont * Rutland (town), Vermont *Rutland County, Vermont *West Rutland, Vermont West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. The t ...
. She had requested that her ashes be spread over her estate; this request was granted and there was no funeral or memorial service held. Upon her death, her brother
Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith (July 19, 1904 – December 24, 1985) was an American gentleman farmer known as a great-grandson of Abraham Lincoln. In 1975, he became the last undisputed descendant of Lincoln when his sister, Mary Lincoln Bec ...
became the last living descendant of Abraham Lincoln.


See also

*
Lincoln family tree The Lincoln family is an American family of English origins. It includes the fourth United States Attorney General, Levi Lincoln, Sr., senators Levi Lincoln, Jr. and Enoch Lincoln, and Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United Stat ...


References


Notes

''Dallas Morning News'' obituary, July 12, 1975 gave her name as "Miss Mary Todd Lincoln Beckwith". {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckwith, Mary Lincoln 1898 births 1975 deaths Lincoln family People from Mount Pleasant, Iowa American aviators American women aviators Aviators from Iowa People from Henry County, Iowa 20th-century American women