Remembering History: William Wallace Lincoln, 11-year-old son of Abraham and Mary, died at the White House on February 20, 1862. He apparently died of Typhus, contracted by contaminated water. Elizabeth Keckly, the former slave who designed Mrs. Lincoln's beautiful wardrobe, washed and dressed him. When the President gazed at him, he mourned, "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth. God has called him home..."

William Wallace Lincoln, 11-year-old son of Abraham and Mary, died at the White House on February 20, 1862. He apparently died of Typhus, contracted by contaminated water. Elizabeth Keckly, the former slave who designed Mrs. Lincoln's beautiful wardrobe, washed and dressed him. When the President gazed at him, he mourned, "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth. God has called him home..."

William Wallace Lincoln, 11-year-old son of Abraham and Mary, died at the White House on February 20, 1862. He apparently died of Typhus, contracted by contaminated water. Elizabeth Keckly, the former slave who designed Mrs. Lincoln's beautiful wardrobe, washed and dressed him. When the President gazed at him, he mourned, "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth. God has called him home..."