Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith was an American gentleman farmer known as a great-grandson of Abraham Lincoln. In 1975, he became the last undisputed descendant of Lincoln when his sister, Mary Lincoln Beckwith, died without children. A purported son, Timothy Lincoln Beckwith, was born to second wife Annemarie Hoffman Beckwith in the midst of divorce proceedings in 1968, but Robert Beckwith contended—and the court agreed—that his paternity was highly unlikely, as he had undergone a vasectomy in the early 1960s.
Beckwith enjoyed boating and sailing and generally avoided the media and publicity. On one occasion, a newspaper published pictures of him as a young man when he was arrested for speeding in Omaha, Nebraska. Beckwith's mother died in 1948 and in later life, he gave his profession as "gentleman farmer of independent means", his inheritance having included a working farm in Middlesex County, Virginia. Beckwith was a representative for Illinois Day as part of the 1964 New York World's Fair. In June 1965, he received an honorary doctorate degree from his parents' school, Iowa Wesleyan College. Also in 1965, he was a guest of honor at Chicago's commemoration ceremony upon the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's funeral. In 1967, Beckwith was quoted as saying he "was not especially interested" in his ancestors' life in the White House. He did however retain some Lincoln memorabilia, most of which he gave to the state of Illinois, and Lincoln's rifle which he later gave to the Smithsonian Institution.
Marriages
Beckwith married three times, first to Hazel Frances Holland, in March 1927, second to Annemarie Hoffman, in November 1967, and third to Margaret Elizabeth Hogan, in 1979. His marriage to Holland lasted nearly four decades, ending with her death in 1966, his marriage to Hoffman lasted a month shy of nine years, ending in divorce in September 1976, and his marriage to Hogan ended with his own death, in 1985. Beckwith never publicly acknowledged paternity for any child, making him the last confirmed descendant of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. However, he did have step-children through his marriages to Holland and Hogan and Hoffman alleged that her son, Timothy Lincoln Beckwith, was fathered by him, but her failure to present the child for paternity testing coupled with proof Beckwith had undergone a vasectomy some years prior to the child's birth lead to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to declare that Beckwith was not the father. Despite the court's ruling, Timothy's claims to Beckwith's estate were never terminated, and after Beckwith's death in 1985, charitable organizations that had been named as beneficiaries in Beckwith's will offered Timothy, then 17 years old, a settlement of US$1,000,000 in exchange for giving up any claims to the estate. Since 1995, Timothy has worked as an assistant state's attorney in West Palm Beach, Florida and maintained a relatively low profile, though articles as to the speculation of his paternity continue to be published.
