LINCOLN, Mary Todd, First Lady. Autograph letter signed ("Mary Lincoln") to an unidentified correspondent [probably Elizabeth Slataper of Chicago], n.p., n.d. [Chicago, August or September 1871]. 2 pages, 8vo, mourning stationery, second leaf neatly inlaid to larger sheet. THE DEATH OF "TAD" LINCOLN. Following the tragic death of her youngest son Thomas, called Tad, at age 18, the widowed Mary Lincoln writes to a trusted friend: "My very dear friend, I have returned from my business a little sooner than I had anticipated, & cannot resist the temptation, if you are disengaged, of requesting you to come to my room. Excuse me for so selfishly troubling you. My anxiety to be with you is so great." The letter was very likely written to Eliza Slataper (Mrs. Felicien Slataper) of Chicago, where Mary was residing at this time. In her intense grief during this period, she often wrote to Eliza Slataper begging her "from the depths of an agonized bereaved heart to come to me if only for a day or two." (Turner & Turner: Life and Letters, p.591) Apparently unpublished.