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Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith

Descendant of Abraham Lincoln (1904–1985)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 26, 2026
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith was an American gentleman farmer and the great-grandson of Abraham Lincoln. In 1975, he became the last known undisputed legal descendant of Lincoln when his sister, Mary Lincoln Beckwith, died without children.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith” as descendant of Abraham Lincoln (1904–1985). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1975—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Robert, Todd and Lincoln can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as descendant of Abraham Lincoln (1904–1985). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 26, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1975.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith primary sources, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith archive and Robert research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.