Ann Rutledge

…husband’s former law partner, that Ann Rutledge, a family friend who had died in 1835, was the only woman Abraham ever loved, bewildered and saddened her. In 1868 she traveled to Europe with her youngest son and lived for a time in Germany and England.

…Salem, Lincoln became acquainted with Ann Rutledge. Apparently he was fond of her, and certainly he grieved with the entire community at her untimely death, in 1835, at the age of 22. Afterward, stories were told of a grand romance between Lincoln and Rutledge, but these stories are not supported…

…“romance of much reality” with Ann Rutledge. Lincoln loved no one but Rutledge and, after her death, never ceased to grieve for her. His memory of her both saddened and inspired him. As for his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, she married him out of spite, then devoted herself to making…