Practical Strangers: The Courtship Correspondence of Nathaniel Dawson and Elodie Todd, Sister of Mary Todd Lincoln

New Perspectives on the Civil War Era

by Stephen Berry (Editor), Angela Elder (Editor)

These letters chronicle the wartime courtship of a Confederate soldier and the woman he loved--a sister-in-law of Abraham Lincoln. It is a relative rarity for the correspondence of both writers in Civil War letter collections to survive, as they have here. Rarer still is how frequently and faithfully the two wrote, given how little they truly knew each other at the start of their exchange. As a romantic pair, Nathaniel Dawson and Elodie Todd had no earlier history; they had barely met when separated by the war. Letters were their sole lifeline to each other and their sole means of sharing their hopes and fears for a relationship (and a Confederacy) they had rashly embraced in the heady, early days of secession.

The letters date from April 1861, when Nathaniel left for war as a captain in the Fourth Alabama Infantry, through April 1862, when the couple married. During their courtship through correspondence, Nathaniel narrowly escaped death in battle, faced suspicions of cowardice, and eventually grew war weary. Elodie had two brothers die while in Confederate service and felt the full emotional weight of belonging to the war's most famous divided family. Her sister Mary not only sided with the Union (as did five other Todd siblings) but was also married to its commander in chief.

Here is an engrossing story of the Civil War, of Abraham Lincoln's shattered family, of two people falling in love, of soldiers and brothers dying nobly on the wrong side of history. The full Dawson-Todd correspondence comprises more than three hundred letters. It has been edited for this volume to focus tightly on their courtship. The complete, annotated text of all of the letters, with additional supporting material, will be made available online.

Genres: History

338 pages, Hardcover

Published June 15, 2017

About the author

Some of his books have been published as Stephen W. Berry II


Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful mix of romantic memoir and history pulled from the saved letters of this couple who courted by way of letters during the war of the North and South. She was the sister of the wife of Abraham Lincoln and he was a twice-widowed man who was going off to fight for the South. He stopped by and asked her to marry him and she accepted, and then off he went. They got better acquainted through writing while waiting for the war to be over. I love the old fashioned way they spoke and wrote back then, it made reading their letters to one another very enjoyable for me. The letters were edited for the book to mostly cover just the courtship, but there is also a link to a website where the letters are posted in full for those interested in seeing them.

(My thanks to NetGalley, the University of Georgia Press and the author for providing me with an ARC in return for my honest review.)
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[Tatyana · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You are an angel of love to me, and I hope
it will be my privilege to prove how grateful I am to you for having given me your love. There is nothing in my power that I would not do for you and to die for you would be a pleasure."

"I love you dearly, ardently, entirely, devotedly. Do you object ? Do you call me lovesick ?"

"… the more you write me the more admiration I have for your head and heart and the more deeply do I feel how much I should thank God for having given me your love."

"… wish I had wings that I might visit you sometimes when you write me that you would be glad to see me."

"… wish I had wings that I might visit you sometimes when you write me that you would be glad to see me."

"Ours is not the first love affair in which the parties were separated by time and distance, but it has produced its natural results. I think, tho I may be wrong, that if we had not been separated as we have been, we would not have loved each other so much …"

"I imagine no picture of the future that is
not gilded by your presence and think of no joy that is not doubled by having you to share it, and no privation that is not lessened because you will divide it with me."

"All of my devotional feelings are aroused, and in the general effusion I find that my affection for you leads me to have higher and finer aspirations for Heaven."

"If you wish to make me do just
as you wish in all things you have only to be affectionate. I will be unable
to resist your love. It is all powerful and overpowering …"


"I see your image in the beautiful morning and in the beautiful country around me. You color everything."

"I love you as the friend and intimate sharer of all my thoughts, in whose ear I can think aloud and upon whose bosom, in the day of trial and trouble, I will have a right to confide and to ask sympathy."

"Do you imagine how much I love you ? I measure your love for me by the measure of my own."

[Becky Loader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love compilations of letters, and this is a doozie.

Elodie Todd is the youngest Todd sister, and she is being groomed to remain single so that she will stay at home and take care of her mother, aging Betsy Todd. She catches the eye of Nathaniel Dawson, twice widowed at the age of 32, and he falls truly, madly, deeply in love at first sight.
Unfortunately for him, the Civil War is imminent, and his local regiment needs him as an officer. He manages to become engaged to Elodie without really knowing her, and he leaves for the army. Their correspondence is riveting because they are virtual strangers, and they become acquainted (and fall in love) through the letters.

It is unusual to have letters from both sides during a wartime correspondence, but Dawson sends all of Elodie's letters home for safe keeping. They ask questions, answer questions, fight, make-up,flirt, and debate almost on a daily basis--in writing. This is definitely a different time!

I was engrossed by the details of the time, and their discussion of the Confederacy, the Union, their neighbors, and life in general. Interestingly enough, Dawson never attacks Lincoln as a person, and he even defends his character, but he is dead-set against his policies and attacks on the Confederacy. It was a time of great turmoil in all aspects of life.

Excellent read.

Oh, and Elodie corresponds with her older sister, Mary, on a regular basis. She also tells Dawson that "she is a Todd, and someday he may know what that means." Indeed.

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical Strangers looks at the letter courtship of Elodie Todd and Nathaniel Dawson. The letters were sent between 1861-1862 while they were separated by the Civil War. Elodie, a younger half sibling of Mary Todd Lincoln, despaired of ever marrying, but soon caught the eye of twice widowed Dawson. Their letters are effusive and detailed. The authors provided thorough details of the backgrounds of the two before the reader is introduced to the letters. Anyone who is interested in family history or is a Civil War buff will enjoy this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.