Abraham Lincoln and Myra Bradwell

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Lifespan: Feb. 12, 1809-April 15, 1865

In History: 16th president of the United States.

Connection to Myra: It is not known when Myra Bradwell first met Abraham Lincoln. She and her husband had a long, intimate acquaintance with him before and after his presidency (Jane M. Friedman, author of America’s First Woman Lawyer: The Biography of Myra Bradwell; presentation of bronze bust  of Mrs. Myra Bradwell, First Woman Lawyer of Illinois by Mrs. Eleanor Gridley; Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society, 1931). 

Behind the Novel: Myra Bradwell and Abraham Lincoln shared a birthday on Feb. 12.  Abraham Lincoln marked his birthday with modest dinners among close friends, and it is plausible that the Bradwells and Lincolns enjoyed shared birthday dinners. James Bradwell was a member of the Chicago delegation—the Committee of One Hundred—that escorted Lincoln’s remains to Springfield, Ill., for burial following his assassination in 1865.