The Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 24, number 4, June 1941

              416 lillian krueger june for a second visit in 1885 he and his wife mingled with a crowd of 3,000 at bethesda park on a saturday morning drinking at the spring and listening to the music of a mili tary band an ordinary omnibus was their means of trans portation which took its passengers to any point in the city for five cents adlai stevenson vice-president during the second cleveland administration and his family chose the fountain spring house for several seasons perhaps the most distinguished woman guest during this glamorous period was melancholy mary todd lincoln widow of president lincoln.36 since the name lincoln ranks high in interest to those of historical bent her visit will be discussed in detail mary todd lincoln came quietly to take the bethesda water cure for a dropsical condition and lived unobtrusively at a small private home her arrival early in the first week of july 1872 was inconspicuously indicated by a brief item under the about home column of the freeman her visits to the spring were made almost daily and when she appeared was closely veiled a correspondent who wrote his impressions of the bethesda cure for the ohio state journal columbus , after observing and visiting the invalids in the park among whom was mrs lincoln said that the cure was of great benefit to her health that she lived in seclusion was seldom seen abroad and then closely veiled poor mrs lincoln carries a heavy heart and she is much of the time in tears.'37 a feature story written for a milwaukee paper in 1930 makes the indefinite claim that mrs lincoln was entertained one day by friends at the fountain spring house f or din 36 the late w h orvis of madison who formerly was a waukesha resi dent recalled that mrs lincoln was a summer visitor for several weeks in his home town along in the 60's or 70's.5 freeman may 10 1934 waukesha plaindealer september 10 1872 excerpt from ohio state journal story written at waukesha august 22 1872