Museum wins bidding for Mary Todd Lincoln papers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A Louisville history museum has made the winning bid for Mary Todd Lincoln's insanity commitment papers.

The Courier-Journal of Louisville reports that the Frazier International History Museum agreed to pay $32,000 for the historic papers.

The auction was conducted Friday by a Cincinnati auction house.

The papers were found in the home of a Louisville family that was related to the owners of the Illinois asylum where Lincoln was committed briefly in 1875 by her son Robert Todd Lincoln.

The papers, including her arrest warrant, were recently authenticated and provide a paper trail of an episode whose motivations are still being debated.