# Mamie Lincoln Isham

**Mary Todd "Mamie" Lincoln Isham** (October 15, 1869 – November 21, 1938) was an American granddaughter of President Abraham Lincoln, the first child of [Robert Todd Lincoln](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-todd-lincoln) and Mary Eunice Harlan, and the mother of Lincoln Isham.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.friendsofthelincolncollection.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/LL_1959-05.pdf)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name and dates | Mary Todd "Mamie" Lincoln Isham, October 15, 1869 – November 21, 1938, aged 69<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup> |
| Family position | First child of Robert Todd Lincoln, the president's only surviving son, and Mary Eunice Harlan; granddaughter of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln<sup>[2](https://www.friendsofthelincolncollection.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/LL_1959-05.pdf)</sup> |
| Birth | October 15, 1869, Chicago, Illinois<sup>[2](https://www.friendsofthelincolncollection.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/LL_1959-05.pdf)</sup> |
| Marriage | Married Charles Bradford Isham on September 2, 1891, in London, England<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.friendsofthelincolncollection.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/LL_1959-05.pdf)</sup> |
| Only child | Lincoln Isham (1892–1971), born in New York City; his 1919 marriage to Leahalma Correa produced no children<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup> |
| Later life | Lived in New York City, including at 19 East 72nd Street, where she served as a choir mother of Grace Church on Broadway<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup> |
| Death and bequest | Died at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital on November 21, 1938; buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, the Bronx; her Healy Portrait of Lincoln passed to the White House collection<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup> |

## Childhood and family

Mamie was born at the Robert Lincoln home in Chicago, the first of three children; her siblings were Abraham Lincoln II (1873–1890), who died at 16 of blood poisoning, and [Jessie Harlan Lincoln](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessie-harlan-lincoln) (1875–1948).<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=305782)</sup> As a child she was called "Little Mamie," and her father often brought her to visit his mother, [Mary Todd Lincoln](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-todd-lincoln), who reportedly regarded her as a favorite grandchild; on one visit the grandmother gave her two expensive dolls.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup> The Lincoln children were described by contemporaries as "bright, natural, unpretentious children, well liked by the people of the town."<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup>

Her girlhood included musical study: she and her sister Jessie were piano students in the summer session of Iowa Wesleyan in 1886, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, near their mother's family home.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup> On September 17, 1884, a month before her fifteenth birthday, Mamie joined the Mount Pleasant Chapter A of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, a women's organization; Jessie joined the same chapter more than eleven years later, on December 31, 1895.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup>

## Marriage

Mamie became engaged in London and married Charles Bradford Isham on September 2, 1891.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup> Isham, born July 20, 1853, in New York City, was the son of the merchant and banker William Bradley Isham and Julia Burhans.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://bransoncook.systemaxonline.com/gedcoms/lincoln/pafg17.htm)</sup> A genealogical account drawing on published [Lincoln family](https://www.edgepedia.org/lincoln-family) histories describes him as "a ripe scholar," Robert Todd Lincoln's secretary, and a distant cousin of Robert Lincoln's law partner Edward S. Isham; at the time of the marriage he was librarian of the New-York Historical Society, and he later returned to New York City to establish a law practice.<sup>[4](https://bransoncook.systemaxonline.com/gedcoms/lincoln/pafg17.htm)</sup> The couple bought a place in Manchester, Vermont, known as the 1811 house, near the Lincoln family estate Hildene.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup>

The couple had one child, Lincoln Isham, born June 8, 1892, in New York City.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://bransoncook.systemaxonline.com/gedcoms/lincoln/pafg17.htm)</sup> Charles Isham died on June 9, 1919, in New York, leaving Mamie a widow after 27 years of marriage.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://www.singletonfamily.org/getperson.php?personID=I348150&tree=singleton)</sup>

## Later life in New York

Mamie spent the rest of her life in New York City, living at 19 East 72nd Street, where she was a choir mother of Grace Church on Broadway.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup> Her son married Leahalma Correa, daughter of the Spaniard Carlos Correa and the Englishwoman Mary Gooding, in August 1919; the marriage produced no children.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup>

## Death and the Healy Portrait

Mamie became gravely ill in 1938 and died at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital at around 10:05 a.m. on November 21, 1938, at the age of 69.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup> She was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup>

At her death she owned the Healy Portrait of Lincoln, the portrait of her grandfather by the painter George P. A. Healy, which she had inherited from her mother; it passed to the White House collection when she died.<sup>[1](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://yourroots.com/genealogy/isham/?lastName=isham)</sup>

## Place in the Lincoln line

Mamie's death in 1938 preceded the end of [Abraham Lincoln](https://www.edgepedia.org/abraham-lincoln)'s direct line. Her son Lincoln Isham died childless in Dorset, Vermont, on September 1, 1971, and with the later deaths of the childless [Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-todd-lincoln-beckwith) in 1985 and the unmarried [Mary Lincoln Beckwith](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-lincoln-beckwith) in 1975, the direct descent from the president came to an end.<sup>[5](https://www.singletonfamily.org/getperson.php?personID=I348150&tree=singleton)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[7](https://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/OCA/Books2012-06/lincolninphotogr00hami/lincolninphotogr00hami.pdf)</sup> A historical marker at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, records her among the Lincoln grandchildren, listed as Mary Todd Lincoln (Isham), 1869–1938.<sup>[3](https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=305782)</sup>

## References

1. [Mary Todd Lincoln (1869–1938), FamilySearch](https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L7XL-MSF/mary-lincoln-1869-1938)
2. [The Lincoln Grandchildren, Lincoln Lore No. 1415 (May 1959), Friends of the Lincoln Collection of Indiana](https://www.friendsofthelincolncollection.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/LL_1959-05.pdf)
3. [The Lincoln Descendants Historical Marker, HMdb.org](https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=305782)
4. [Descendants of Robert Lincoln, Branson/Cook Genealogy](https://bransoncook.systemaxonline.com/gedcoms/lincoln/pafg17.htm)
5. [Robert Todd Lincoln timeline, Singleton Family History](https://www.singletonfamily.org/getperson.php?personID=I348150&tree=singleton)
6. [Isham Genealogy, Family Tree & Records, YourRoots](https://yourroots.com/genealogy/isham/?lastName=isham)
7. [Lincoln in Photographs: An Album of Every Known Pose, University of Illinois Library](https://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/OCA/Books2012-06/lincolninphotogr00hami/lincolninphotogr00hami.pdf)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Government and public administration › Political spouses and families › Children of political leaders*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license