Hildene and the Robert Todd Lincoln family

Hildene

Hildene - Historic Home of Robert Todd Lincoln in Manchester, Vermont

The PBS special, "Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided" has renewed a lot of interest in the Lincoln's and their kin. The beautiful Hildene, the home of Abraham and Mary's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, is a good place to start. Hildene is remarkably reminescent of the ancient home of Landon Carter, Sabine Hall (pictured below), located on Virginia's Northern Neck...which also shares Lincoln/Todd roots. (See post below)


Sabine Hall

Robert Todd Lincoln & the Lincoln Family

Robert Todd Lincoln, the only son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln to survive to maturity, married Mary Harlan, the 22 year old daughter of a U.S. Senator from Iowa. They had three children - Mary, Abraham II and Jessie. Abraham II, their only son, died at the young age of 16. Mary married Charles Isham and had a son, Lincoln Isham. At this point I would direct the reader to composer and musician, Mark Isham, whose music if often as glorious as a Lincoln address.
Jessie bore two children by her first husband, Warren Beckwith -- Robert "Bud" Lincoln Beckwith and Mary "Peggy" Lincoln Beckwith. Peggy never married and was the last Lincoln descendant to occupy Hildene. Lincoln Isham and Robert "Bud" Beckwith both married, but neither bore fruit. Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith died in 1985.

Warren Beckwith's ancestry includes the ancestors of Marmaduke Beckwith of England and Matthew Beckwith of Connecticut.


The Beckwiths


"Mary Lincoln Beckwith, more affectionately known as "Peggy," inherited Hildene in 1938 at the age of 40. She was an active woman with a fondness for animals and a love of the outdoors. Peggy piloted her own planes and flew in and out of Manchester from a hangar and airstrip which existed on Hildene's Meadowlands. Photography, art, sculpting and skiing were just a few of her hobbies. She was known by Manchester residents to be a shy, but generous and caring person. Never married, Peggy lived at Hildene until her death in 1975."


Peggy Beckwith and Dog