I don't remember this but then HFR was so long ago I only had one gray hair. I think the ones I've started sprouting since then are now so numerous they may actually outnumber the people who've caused them.
- I'd forgotten as well. I only found it accidentally after looking for the reference to Jeb Stuart having more than one son. Incidentally, we are told that Stuart has "sons" of his own, but that isn't followed up on. TR 14:48, September 29, 2009 (UTC)
- Makes sense. Jeb was only 31 when he died, and his wife was widowed at 28. They would have remained reproductive long after that in all likelihood.
- By the way, Googling them to learn their ages tells me that they lost a daughter in childbirth in 1857. Did we account for this and add him to Grieving Parents? Turtle Fan 15:38, September 29, 2009 (UTC)
- It does also partially explain the Jeb Jr gaffe, but only partially. HT didn't necessarily mean for Jeb Jr to be a historical character. He just didn't account for the fact that there was already a Jeb Jr; a renamed one, but one nonetheless. TR 17:00, September 29, 2009 (UTC)
- Could be, though Jeb Jr was pretty well known as one of the founders of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Unlike Jeb III, I find it hard to imagine Jeb Jr being overlooked and unwittingly replaced with a fictional character.
- If only someone had brought this up in the chat session days. This might well be the oldest inconsistency in the series.
- By the way, I've since given up on trying to find pictures of either Jeb Jr or Jeb III, having contented myself with Jeb III's (entirely invalid) gravestone and nothing at all for Jeb Jr. However, I did once find pictures of Jeb IV, Jeb V, and Jeb VI. Turtle Fan 18:39, September 29, 2009 (UTC)
Why did HT have him die earlier? Didn't he die young enough already? And wouldn't the timing of Willie's death line up close enough to the PoD, anyway?
- Certainly adds to Lincoln as a tragic figure who nonetheless carries on with his usual good grace. I do faintly wonder if HT meant Willie, but Willie died before the POD. I only throw that out there because I used to get Tad and Willie mixed up often. TR 14:48, September 29, 2009 (UTC)
- I often mix them up as well. I remember watching some made-for-TV movie in the mid-90s (back when there were a lot of really good made for TV movies) that had Tad narrating the life of his father. I remember him playing with a toy cannon that shot matchsticks. As Lincoln was going into a meeting with his Cabinet to weigh his options in response to Sumter, Tad shot him and said "Aren't you going to return fire on the cannon?" and Lincoln said "Not yet." Then Tad's and Willie's nanny, who had been Elmer Ellsworth's sweetheart (not true, he was engaged to an Illinois girl who had not joined him when he moved to Washington) watched him take down the offending Rebel flag. Then at Ellsworth's funeral Tad got bored and snuck off; he'd been sitting next to Winfield Scott who was apparently consumptive (also ahistorical) and coughed through the whole thing. The next thing I remember is Willie's death, then Robert arguing with his parents because he wanted to join up, and Lincoln asking Grant to find him a non-combatant position. Then Tad expressed excitement at seeing Our American Cousin and Mary told him he was going to see some kiddie show instead. Some servant pulled him out of it halfway through, much to his disappointment, and when he got home no one would tell him anything except an old black man who was crying and said "Oh Lawd Jesus, He done been crucified agin!"
- Wow, I've surprised myself by remembering so much about it. What I don't remember is when Tad was supposed to narrate all of this if he died as young as he did.
- Anyway, I too would think HT got Tad and Willie crossed. Barring acts of war, and slip-ups like John Shakespeare (and naming the wrong son would qualify as well) HT generally doesn't kill people before their time just because he felt like it.
- Well, Mary Lincoln apepars to have died primarily because HT felt like it. TR 17:00, September 29, 2009 (UTC)
- That might have been plot convenience. He wanted Old Man Lincoln to be able to travel the country without worrying about her.
- However, if he wanted Lincoln unencumbered by Tad (not that an adult son would be much of an encumbrance if he were independent) he need only have left the date of death where it was. And if he wanted to emphasize that Lincoln's Presidency had been personally and professionally disastrous, there was already Willie.
- Besides, if you were writing an alternate history and had the chance to kill that horrible woman before her time, wouldn't you also be sorely tempted? If only Ann Rutledge had lived. She would have made a far better match for him. Turtle Fan 18:39, September 29, 2009 (UTC)
- Still in all, the name Tad's been submitted, and there's not enough to suggest inconsistency. Do we still have that page of people who died younger in HT's AH floating around? Turtle Fan 15:38, September 29, 2009 (UTC)
- No, I did away with those pages long ago. They were a pain to update. Subcats may make sense at this point. TR 17:00, September 29, 2009 (UTC)
Poor poor TL-191 Lincoln. Burying three sons, none of them adults--I'd forgotten about young Eddy, actually. Just looked him up to refresh my memory. There's a three-year-old daguerrotype of him on Wikipedia that is so adorable it just breaks your heart to think of his evil fate. Turtle Fan 05:45, September 29, 2009 (UTC)