2. As former First Lady, Julia was hit hard by a financial crash and then her own brother sued her over their mother’s will
The former President hit Julia hard, including on a financial level. What’s more, the Civil War meant that she lost around 60 slaves and some 1,100 acres of land. Before long, she decided to move back to New York. Her brother David had moved out of their mother’s old house, so Julia moved, bringing a couple of her own children with her. Them, three years after her husband’s death in 1862, her own brother hit Julia with a lawsuit. The siblings went to court, with David alleging that Julia had exploited their mother’s supposed “mental incapacity” to get the lion’s share of the inheritance.
Shockingly for Julia, the courts sided with David and declared their mother’s will invalid. The family inheritance was then re-distributed, with Julia losing out. To make matters worse, the financial crisis of 1873 – known then as the Panic of 1873 – further hit Julia hard. As a result, Julia moved to Virginia in 1873. She moved in with her children and was forced to rely on them for money. The days of enjoying the good life and the luxuries that came with being the First Lady were well and truly over.