When discussing his relationship with his in-laws, Abraham Lincoln was known to say, “One d was enough for God’s name, but not for the Todds.” (Gerald J. Prokopowicz: Did Lincoln Own Slaves and Other Frequently Asked Questions about Abraham Lincoln. Pantheon Books, 2008, p. 61). Apparently, it was an insult Lincoln used frequently.

Or did he?

In 1839, Mary Ann Todd came from Lexington, Kentucky, to Springfield, Illinois, to reside with Elizabeth and Ninian Edwards (Elizabeth was Mary’s eldest sister). Elizabeth had one goal for her sister – find a suitable husband.

Mary found one: Lincoln – however, her relatives felt differently. They thought Lincoln was an honorable and likeable fellow, but “his future was nebulous, his family relations were on a different social plane. His education had been desultory. He had no culture, and he was ignorant of social forms and customs.” (Katherine Helm: Mary, Wife of Lincoln. Harper Brothers, 1928, p. 82). They found Lincoln coarse and considered him a plebeian.

Even when Lincoln was nominated for the presidency 18 years after he and Mary wed, Helen Edwards, a sister-in-law to Ninian, thought, “It seemed impossible that this should ever be. There were so many others that we could name who seemed so much better fitted for this position than he.” (Mary Edwards Raymond: “Some Incidents in the Life of Mrs. Benjamin S. Edwards,” no known publisher. Sangamon Valley Collection, Biography E26r, Main Lincoln Library, Springfield, IL, p. 6)

Yet, despite their cultural differences, Lincoln had many positive relationships with the Todds. The man who helped him become an attorney and was his first law partner was a Todd cousin, John Todd Stuart. Mary’s brother-in-law C. M. Smith, husband of Ann Todd, regularly walked to work with Lincoln. The Lincolns named their third son after another brother-in-law, William Wallace, who was married to her sister Frances.

The Lincolns’ family medical care was overseen by members of the Todd family. All of the Todds were frequent visitors in one another’s homes; Lincoln and Mary developed an especially close relationship with her half-sister Emily who visited for several months. When Mary stayed with family in Kentucky while Lincoln was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, she was friendly with the daughter of her father’s political and personal enemy; Lincoln wrote a letter cautioning her to be sure there was “no danger of wounding the feelings of your good father.” (David Herbert Donald: Lincoln at Home. Simon & Schuster, 1999, p. 62).

So would Lincoln truly say something so spiteful as ““One d was enough for God’s name, but not for the Todds”?

No, he would not. The tale is often used by historians to show a rift between Lincoln and his in-laws, or to show a rift between Abraham and Mary. But the truth reveals neither.

As president, Lincoln frequently met with politicians, one of whom was Hon. David Tod, Governor of Ohio from 1862 – 1864. Tod tells a different version of the story. He recalled: “One evening while visiting the White House Mr. Lincoln said, ‘Look here, Tod, how is it that you spell your name with only one d? I married a Todd, but she spelled her name with two d’s. All of her relations do the same. You are the first Tod I ever knew who spelled his name with so few letters.’ Mr. Tod, smiling, replied, ‘Mr. President, God spells His name with only one d, and what is good enough for God, is good enough for me.” (George B. Wright. “Hon. David Tod, Biography and Personal Recollections.” Ohio Historical and Archaeological Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 1, July 1899, p. 119).

It has been said that President Lincoln used to repeat this story to some of his intimate friends with great hilarity. One can easily imagine Lincoln, the great jokester, pulling John Todd Stuart and a few other Todd relatives aside in an after-dinner conversation and saying, “Hey Stuart, I have got to tell you this funny story . . . .”

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