DALY, MARIA LYDIG

DALY, MARIA LYDIG. [1861–1865] A patrician who, over her family’s strong objections, married the son of Irish immigrants, Charles Patrick Daly, a Democratic reformer and one of the most respected jurists in New York. A northern Democrat, Lydig expressed contempt for New England abolitionists whose zeal she blamed for inciting the Civil War. Her published journal reveals her particular antipathy toward Abraham Lincoln. Her entries cover the Civil War and its aftermath. Caustic and amusing observations upon New York society. Published as Diary of a Union Lady, 1861–1865. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln. Copyright 1962 by Funk and Wagnalls Company. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Introduction to Bison Books Edition copyright 2000 by the University of Nebraska Press.