This blog is by Josie Darkins, an intern studying MA Public History at Queen’s University Belfast.
Did you know that a Lisburn man almost sued the wife of an American President?
Alexander Turney Stewart (1803-76) was born at Lissue, near Lisburn, but had made it big in New York, opening one of the world’s first department stores. He became a multimillionaire and had some very high-profile clients.
Mary Lincoln (1818-82), the wife of President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), was a big spender. She bought plenty of fine clothes and jewellery for her public appearances. These appearances were seen as a method to keep morale high during the American Civil War as her husband navigated the conflict and announced the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
Her shopping habits were well known, and she was followed from store to store by the press who wanted to know what she was buying, much like a modern influencer. She, like many First Ladies, enjoyed customising the White House interior to her own tastes.
She bought imported fabrics, damasks, and lace from Stewart at his Broadway department stores, dubbed the ‘Marble Palace’ and the ‘Iron Palace’. If Mrs Lincoln had good taste, maybe the White House was decorated with Lisburn linen, which Stewart is reported to have sold in his stores?
Much of this was paid for with government funds, but Stewart was all too happy to extend some personal store credit to Mary who would indulge him some small favours in return. She would pass Stewart’s letters to her husband seeking commissions, military promotions for his friends, or to have his own political opinions heard.
However, Mr Lincoln’s presidential salary was seemingly unable to keep up with his wife’s spending and her debt to Stewart grew and grew. She was reported to have purchased a $3,000 pair of earrings from a ‘well known Broadway jewellery store’ and a $5,000 imported lace shawl from Stewart & Co. That’s $103,223 in today’s purchasing power for a single shawl! Stewart threatened to sue Mary Lincoln in a $27,000 lawsuit for money she owed him.
The extent of Mary’s spending was soberingly clear after her husband’s assassination when she bore personal debts of around $70,000. She auctioned most of her fine clothes to clear these debts. Possibly out of respect or sympathy, Stewart never carried out his threatened lawsuit, sparing the widowed Mary more financial stress than she had already endured.