Ruth Painter Randal was the wife of James Garfield Randall, a historian who specialized in the era of the American Civil War, and daughter of Franklin Painter, author of books on American and English literature. She assisted her husband’s studies and shared his re-search before turning to writing herself, thereby thereupon producing a well-researched, scholarly biography of Mary Lincoln. Her book, Mary Lincoln: Biography of a Marriage, covers many details during Mrs. Lincoln’s life during the Civil War. While it shares some similar details with other biographies on Mary Lincoln, its contents contain a description of two specific occurrences she withstood during of the war. Because she was scorned by the society ladies of Washington, Mary lacked