Letter to Madame Berghmans

Mary remained secluded in her room in the White House for over a month following her husband’s death. On May 22, 1865, as she finally prepared to leave, she wrote to her friend Madame Berghmans and bid her farewell. She wrote, “I go hence, a broken hearted woman, without my beloved husband, who was every thing to me, I do not have the least desire to live.”