Jessie Harlan Lincoln

Jessie Harlan Lincoln (November 6, 1875 – January 4, 1948) was an American woman known for her familial connections to President Abraham Lincoln. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Robert Todd Lincoln and Mary Harlan Lincoln. Her father practiced law in Chicago at the time of her birth. Jessie was the second daughter among three children; her siblings included Mary "Mamie" Lincoln (October 15, 1869 – November 21, 1938) and Abraham "Jack" Lincoln II (August 14, 1873 – March 5, 1890).

During her childhood, Jessie resided in various locations due to her father's diplomatic and political appointments. From 1881 to 1885, she spent part of her childhood in Washington, D.C., where her father served as Secretary of War. Subsequently, from 1889 to 1893, she lived in London, England, when her father was the U.S. Minister to Great Britain. Her brother, Abraham Lincoln II, died in London at the age of 16 on March 5, 1890. After this event, the family returned to the United States, residing in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, specifically in the home of her maternal grandparents.

In her youth, Jessie and her sister Mary studied piano during a summer session at Iowa Wesleyan College in 1886. She was initiated into the P.E.O. Sisterhood, a women’s organization, on December 31, 1895; her sister Mamie had joined the organization earlier.

In 1919, her father established a trust fund for Jessie and her sister, Mary Lincoln Isham. The trust included significant holdings of stock, notably shares of Commonwealth Edison and National Biscuit (later known as Nabisco). Specifically, Jessie’s trust contained approximately 1,000 shares of Commonwealth Edison stock valued at around $101,750 at the time (equivalent to approximately $1,845,000 in 2024) and 1,000 shares of National Biscuit stock valued at about $85,000 (equivalent to $1,542,000 in 2024). In 1920, her father added further stock holdings into her trust. Reports indicated that Jessie received a larger share of the inheritance, purportedly due to financial irresponsibility.

Jessie Harlan Lincoln's personal life included three marriages. On November 10, 1897, she married Warren Wallace Beckwith in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The marriage was reportedly opposed by her father, Robert Todd Lincoln, who believed their relationship had ended until he learned of their elopement. Jessie and Warren Beckwith had two children: Mary Lincoln Beckwith (1898–1975), born in Iowa, and Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith (1904–1985), born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Robert Beckwith became recognized as the last undisputed descendant of Abraham Lincoln. Jessie and Warren Beckwith divorced in 1907.

Her second marriage was to Frank Edward Johnson in 1915, with this union ending in divorce in 1925. In 1926, she married Robert John Randolph, an electrical engineer from a Virginia family. This marriage also ended in divorce, and they had no children.

Later in life, Jessie lived at her family’s summer estate, Hildene, in Manchester, Vermont, from 1946 until her death. She died at Rutland Hospital in Rutland, Vermont, on January 4, 1948, at the age of 72.