thumb|right|250px|A [[Keystone Marker for Rutledge, Pennsylvania, named after Ann Rutledge]]

Ann Mayes Rutledge (January 7, 1813 – August 25, 1835) was allegedly Abraham Lincoln's first love.

Early life

Born near Henderson, Kentucky, Ann Mayes Rutledge was the third of 10 children born to Mary Ann Miller Rutledge and James Rutledge. In 1829, her father, along with John M. Cameron, founded New Salem, Illinois.

Alleged romantic relationship with Lincoln

Many of the facts of her life are lost to history, but some historians believe that she was the first love of Abraham Lincoln. The exact nature of the Lincoln–Rutledge relationship has been debated by historians and non-historians since 1866.

John McNamar (aka McNeil, 1801–1879), was, according to his son, engaged to marry Ann Rutledge. But McNamar left for New York to bring his family to Illinois and promised to marry Rutledge upon his return. According to his son, "While absent he was taken with a fever and was away three years. In the meantime Ann and Abraham Lincoln became engaged, thinking my father dead. My father, however, returned before the wedding came off." McNamar (who owned the land on which the Rutledges were tenants) never married Rutledge. After she died he married his first wife in 1838.

Death and burial

In 1835, a wave of typhoid hit the town of New Salem. Ann Rutledge died at the age of 22 on August 25, 1835. This left Lincoln severely depressed. Historian John Y. Simon reviewed the historiography of the subject and concluded, "Available evidence overwhelmingly indicates that Lincoln so loved Ann that her death plunged him into severe depression."

After Lincoln's first election as president, Isaac Cogdal, a friend of Lincoln's, ventured to ask whether it was true that Lincoln had fallen in love with Ann. Lincoln is said to have replied:

Gannett wrote in 2005 that "Nearly sixty years after James G. Randall delivered a seeming coup de grâce to the Ann Rutledge legend, the legend may be nearing a second death,"

Increasing academic interest in Lincoln and Rutledge's relationship has, however, been inversely paralleled by diminishing popular interest and investment, reflecting shifting ideological concerns and conceptions of Lincoln; Ann Rutledge, and the controversy over her mooted romance with Lincoln, are today relatively obscure. tells a fictionalized version of the romance between Ann Rutledge (Anne Seymour) and Abraham Lincoln (Ernest Chappell). Narrated by Abe, he tells of his journeys away from home where Annie has been awaiting his return for many months. Promising himself he will "write her back tomorrow," he never followed through and wonders how he will be able to face her after being away so long without communication. As he nears home, he stops to purchase a Valentine for her, but is interrupted when she arrives at the store. He hides, and she purchases the last remaining Valentine for him. They proclaim their love for each other later that day. The episode was written by Wyllis Cooper and also featured Jack Arthur as Offutt and Leora Thatcher as Hannah, with music by Albert Buhrmann.

The Lincoln-Rutledge relationship plays an important part in the growth of Lincoln in Seth Grahame-Smith's novel Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. In it, MacNamar is a vampire. When he learns that Rutledge has fallen in love with Lincoln, he returns to New Salem and kills her by infecting her. The symptoms of her infection resemble those of typhoid fever.

An earlier, more traditional novel on the subject is Bernie Babcock's The Soul of Ann Rutledge, Abraham Lincoln's Romance, published in 1919.

In the 2016 TV movie series Signed, Sealed and Delivered, in episode 6 "From the Heart," the Postables find a valentine from Ann to Abe telling him goodbye, and the episode mentions Abe's visiting her while she was ill.

Notes

Citations

General and cited works

  • Chapter 6, pp. 105–115, covers Rutledge, McNamar, and Lincoln.
  • Ann Rutledge
  • Mr. Lincoln and Friends: Anne Rutledge
  • "Ann Rutledge in American Memory: Social Change and the Erosion of a Romantic Drama"
  • Eric Wolfson's Ann Rutledge Blues (a response to "Ann Rutledge in American Memory: Social Change and the Erosion of a Romantic Drama")
  • Ann Rutledge: Abraham Lincoln’s First True Love?