A “generous donor” has gifted the Mary Todd Lincoln House in Lexington, Kentucky, two Todd family pieces tied to Mary Lincoln’s half-siblings, the museum said.
The donation includes a portrait of Alexander “Aleck” Todd and a brooch owned by Martha Todd White. Aleck and Martha were half-siblings of Mary Todd Lincoln.
The brooch depicts a wheat sheaf, a symbol associated with eternal life, abundance and prosperity, the museum said. The piece could have been created to commemorate Martha’s 1850 marriage, or it may have been a mourning brooch, according to the museum.
The Mary Todd Lincoln House is the childhood home of the former first lady. The site was the first historic property restored to honor a first lady, and its mission is to cultivate public interest in the multilayered past by sharing the stories of Mary Lincoln and her life, the museum said.
