Mary Lincoln received a good education

On December 13, 1818, Mary Ann Todd was born in Lexington, Kentucky. She was the fourth child and third daughter of Robert Smith Todd and Eliza Ann Parker. The family would have two more children before Mrs. Todd passed away in 1825 when Mary was just six years old. Her father was a successful, well-educated banker and businessman who quickly found love. Sadly, there was no love lost between Mary's stepmother and the young Mary. She was the fourth child born to her parents, and she had numerous siblings. Her parents were slave owners, thus there were never any money issues in the household. Todd had grown up in a world of ease and luxury. She was assigned to a school where she took classes in social graces, theater, dance, literature, music, and drama. Additionally, she studied French and spoke it well.

Mary was thrilled to get the chance to go to Dr. John Ward's academy. Dr. Ward was a very intelligent Episcopal priest. Mary attended the academy for six years before leaving at the age of fourteen to enroll at Madame Mentelle's French school for girls. There, she continued her French studies as well as the Old World arts of sewing, writing, and math. In fact, French was used for virtually the whole talk at Madame. She enjoyed reading Shakespeare and Robert Burns, and the boarding school cultivated her passions for literature and fashion, but it had no effect on her childhood enthusiasm for politics. When she was just eight years old, she rode to the house of the orator and family friend Henry Clay and offered to be his hostess if he ever won the presidency. After spending four years at Madame's, Mary went back to Dr. Ward's for two more years of education.