William Wallace Lincoln

William Wallace Lincoln (December 21, 1850 – February 20, 1862) was the third son of President Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. He was named after Mary's brother-in-law, Dr. William Smith Wallace. He died of typhoid fever at the White House, during his father's presidency. Life Willie Lincoln was born in Springfield, Illinois, on December 21, 1850. He was born just ten months after the death of his older brother Eddie, who died of tuberculosis earlier that year just shy of his fourth birthday. Along with his younger brother Tad, Willie was one of the most recognizable members of Lincoln's family. William Herndon, Abraham Lincoln's law partner, wrote about the times Lincoln would bring the boys to work with him: "The boys were absolutely unrestrained in their amusement. If they pulled down all the books from the shelves, bent the points of all the pens, overturned inkstands, scattered law papers over the floor or threw the pencils into the spittoon, it never disturbed the serenity of their father's good nature."