Edward Baker Lincoln
Vorlage:More footnotes Vorlage:Infobox person
Edward Baker "Eddie" Lincoln (March 10, 1846 – February 1, 1850) was the second son of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. He was named after Lincoln's friend Edward Dickinson Baker. Both his mother and father spelled his name "Eddy";Vorlage:Citation needed the National Park Service uses "Eddie",[1] which is on his gravestone.[2]
Early life
Little is known about the Lincolns' second son. A surviving story says that one day during a visit to Mary's family, Eddie's older brother, Robert Todd Lincoln, found a kitten and brought it to the house. Despite Mary's stepmother's dislike of cats and order to throw it out, Eddie screamed and protested.[3] He nursed and cared for the helpless kitten, which he loved.[4] Eddie was described by his parents as a tender-hearted, kind, and loving child.
Death
Eddie died a month before his fourth birthday. Although census records list "chronic consumption" (tuberculosis) as the cause of death, it has been suggested that Eddie died of medullary thyroid cancer[5] given that: (a) "consumption" was a term then applied to many wasting diseases, (b) cancer is a wasting disease, (c) his father and two of his brothers had several features compatible with the genetic cancer syndrome multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2b (MEN2B), (d) Eddie's thick, asymmetric lower lip is a sign of MEN2B, and (e) 100% of persons with MEN2B develop medullary thyroid cancer, sometimes as early as the neonatal period.[6]
Eddie's body was buried at Hutchinson's Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois.[2] Both parents were devastated. Some historians believe Eddie's death began Mary Todd's journey to instability.Vorlage:Citation needed A week after Eddie's death, Mary and Abraham wrote a poem (though authorship is sometimes questioned) entitled "Little Eddie." It was printed in the Illinois State Journal newspaper.
The final line is on the boy's tombstone. This is most likely a reference to Matthew 19:14 KJV "But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." The next child of Abraham and Mary (Willie Lincoln) was born ten months after Eddie's death. After the death of President Lincoln, his remains were transferred to the Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield.[2]
See also
References
External links
- Edward Baker Lincoln biography with photo
- Edward "Eddie" Baker Lincoln via Lincoln Family Home National Historic Site
- Eddie Lincoln's grave
Books
- Doris Kearns Goodwin: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Simon & Schuster, Mt. Vernon, VA 2005, ISBN 0-684-82490-6.
- John Sotos: The Physical Lincoln: Finding the Genetic Cause of Abraham Lincoln's Height, Homeliness, Pseudo-depression, and Imminent Cancer Death. Mt. Vernon Book Systems, Mt. Vernon, VA 2008 (physical-lincoln.com).
Vorlage:Refend Vorlage:Abraham Lincoln
- ↑ Edward Baker "Eddie" Lincoln. National Park Service, abgerufen am 19. Februar 2014.
- ↑ a b c Edward Baker "Eddie" Lincoln in der Datenbank Find a Grave
- ↑ Michael Burlingame: Abraham Lincoln: A Life. Band 1. JHU Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8018-8993-6, S. 239 (google.com).
- ↑ Richard Lawrence Miller: Lincoln and His World. Band 2. Stackpole Books, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8117-0392-5, S. 439 (google.com).
- ↑ Sotos
- ↑ C.D. Moyes, F.W. Alexander: Mucosal neuroma syndrome presenting in a neonate. In: Dev Med Child Neurol. 19. Jahrgang, Nr. 4, 1977, S. 518–534, doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.1977.tb07947.x, PMID 892250.