Lucy Lambert Hale (1841-1915)

Lucy Hale, daughter of New Hampshire Senator John Parker Hale, was a Washington D.C. society belle with a bevy of suitors, including Robert Todd Lincoln. On Valentine’s Day 1862, she received a handwritten card from John Wilkes Booth, a stage celebrity. Miss Hale arranged for Booth to be invited to Lincoln’s second inauguration. They were allegedly engaged by early 1865. It is unlikely that Lucy Hale knew of Booth’s plot to kidnap the president. On the fateful evening of Lincoln’s assassination, Booth dined with Hale and her mother. At eight o’clock Booth looked at his watch and took his leave. Lucy Hale refused to marry for many years.