She had big debts
Many rumors were spread because of Mary Lincoln's spending patterns. She received $25,000 as part of Abraham Lincoln's estate after his passing. The money was not enough to cover her $38,000 in debt, though. An interesting fact about Mary Todd Lincoln is that she came up with the idea of selling her clothes and jewelry in order to raise the cash she so sorely needed.
To recoup debts accrued during her time in the White House, creditors started knocking on her door. She liquidated her gowns to cover part of the obligations and gave jewels and other goods back to their original retailers. She traveled to New York with her dressmaker, but from the beginning, everything went wrong. When she attempted to sell her gowns and jewelry at a public auction, her identity was quickly discovered, and she was unable to generate any revenue. She quickly became the target of derision as the news of her selling made it into the newspapers.
With a wealthy banker, she refinanced the remaining loan at a very high interest rate. To manage her finances and solicit donations for the Mary Lincoln fund, she employed Alex Williamson. Mary was able to pay off a significant portion of her obligations thanks to his efforts, albeit many others disapproved of her strategies. Whatever the case, she was pleased with herself.
