Video: 'The Death of Willie Lincoln'

(Thursday, February 20, 1862, 5:00 p.m. local time; during the American Civil War) — William Wallace “Willie” Lincoln, the third son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln, died today of typhoid fever at the White House in Washington, D.C. He was only 11 years old.

Video: 'Ken.Burns.The.Civil.War.2of9.A.Very.Bloody.Affair.' (Willie Lincoln's death at 12:46)

Both parents and Willie’s 8-year-old brother, Tad, were deeply affected by Willie’s death.

Lincoln said, “My poor boy. He was too good for this earth. God has called him home. I know that he is much better off in heaven, but then we loved him so much. It is hard, hard to have him die!”; after the burial, he shut himself in a room and wept alone.

Video: 'Abraham Lincoln Biography - PBS Lincoln The Making of a President 1860 1862 1 4' (Willie Lincoln's death at 44:00)

Mary Lincoln remained in bed for three weeks and was unable to attend Willie’s funeral or look after Tad. Abraham Lincoln took solace in caring for and comforting Tad, who remained very ill and was grieving himself for his brother’s death.

Video: 'Dead, White & Blue Ep. 8: Willie Lincoln'

Willie was interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown. After Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, he was re-interred at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, first in a temporary tomb and in 1871 in a state tomb alongside his father and his brother Eddie, who had died in 1850 at age 4 from tuberculosis.