# The Part Taken by Women in American History/Women from the Time of Mary Washington

MARY WASHINGTON HOUSE—FREDERICKSBURG, VA.
Prominent Women from the Time of Mary Washington.
Mary Washington, the mother of Washington, was descended from an ancient family of note which emigrated from England in 1650, and settled in Lancaster, Virginia, on the Rappahannock River. Mary, the youngest child of her father, Joseph Ball, was born in 1706, at Epping Forest, the family homestead, which he inherited from his father, William Ball, the first emigrant. Joseph Ball was made Colonel by Governor Spotswood in 1710, and known as Colonel Ball, of Lancaster. Five years before that time he executed a will in which is found the following: "I give and bequeath unto my daughter, Mary, four hundred acres of land in Richmond County, in ye freshes of Rappa-h-n River, being part of a patten of 1,600 acres to her, ye said Mary, and her heirs forever." She was then five years old. We also have the Ball coat-of-arms as follows: "The escutcheon has a lion rampant, a coat-of-mail and a shield bearing two lions and a fleur-de-lys. The crest is a helmet with closed visor. Above the lion is a broad bar, half red and half gold. On the scroll which belongs to it are these words: 'Coelumque tueri.'" When Mary was twenty-one her mother died, and she was taken by her brother Joseph, a lawyer of London, to his home near that city in 1728-29. In 1729 she met Augustine Washington, a son of an eminent and wealthy family of illustrious English descent, and described as "a stately and handsome gentleman." In the prime of early maturity, a widower with two little sons, he had come to England to look after an estate left him by his grand​ father. Renewing, it is supposed, a passing acquaintance, he was captivated with Mary Ball and married her. They returned to this country and to his Westmoreland plantation of Wakefield on the Potomac, where George Washington, their son, was born February n, 1732. In 1735 their dwelling was burned to the ground. Instead of rebuilding upon the site of the old homestead, Augustine Washington removed to his plantation "Pine Grove," in Stafford County, upon the Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg, where he died August 12, 1743, aged forty-nine years. They took him back to Westmoreland County, and laid him in the family vault at Wakefield, and the widowed mother returning to the home thus suddenly bereft of its honored head, gathered about her the fatherless children and "took up with both hands life as God had made it for her." Her own five, and the two little lads who had been left to her guardianship, with their several estates, were a burden and responsibility to appall the stoutest heart; but she shrank not from it, and so faithfully and judiciously did she carry the burden, that she won and retained the affection and respect of all till her life's end—turning over, with added value, the shares of her step-sons' property when they arrived at maturity. We know with what care and judgment she trained her own eldest born for usefulness; how her wisdom and firmness kept him from service on a British man-of-war, and saved him to his country. The civil engineer of sixteen years of age soon became the brave and successful soldier and officer, and defender and hope and pride of his country—the great General who struggled through eight weary years of war to its triumphant close. Early in the struggle her son earnestly entreated her to leave her plantation of "Pine Grove," and take refuge in the town for better protection and safety, which she finally but reluctantly did, establishing herself in a snug home near her only daughter, Betty (Mrs. Fielding Lewis), ​ where during those "weary eight years" she labored incessantly with her servants in making homespun clothing for the suffering soldiers, herself knitting the stockings. Her big Bible with its family record of births, marriages and deaths, is now the precious possession of her descendant, Mrs. Ella Barett Washington. On "Kenmore," the home plantation of her daughter, rises a gentle eminence overlooking the valley of the Rappahannock and the lovely ampitheatre of hills rising from it, where are clustered a mass of bold rocks sheltered by fine old oaks looking towards her old home, "Pine Oak." This spot was a favorite resort for the mother for meditation and prayer. The hours spent there, her children and grand-children held sacred, and never intruded upon. It is still venerated as "Oratory Rock." On August 25, 1789, after a painful illness, in unfaltering faith, she passed from earth and was buried at her own request at this spot, sacred to her for all future time unto the Resurrection Morn.
MARTHA WASHINGTON.
Though the life of Mrs. Washington was a changeful one, and had its full measure of sorrow and joy, it affords little material for the biographer. Yet, as some one said in writing about her years ago, none who take an interest in the history of the Father of this country, can fail to desire some knowledge of her who shared his thoughts and plans, and was associated with him in the great events of his life. And, indeed, few women have been called to move in the drama of existence amid scenes so varied and imposing; and few have sustained their part with so much dignity and discretion. In the shades of retirement or in the splendor of eminent station, she was the same unostentatious, magnanimous woman. Through the gloom of adverse fortune she walked by the side of the chief, ​ ascending with him the difficult path that had opened before him, and at length stood with him on the summit, in the full light of his power and renown.
She was born Martha Dandridge, in May, 1732, and was descended from an ancient family that migrated to the colony of Virginia. Her education was only a domestic one such as was given to women in those days when there were few "female seminaries" and private teachers were generally employed. Her beauty and fascinating manners, with her amiable qualities of character, gained her distinction among all those belles who were accustomed to gather at Williamsburg, at that time the seat of the government.
When but seventeen, Miss Dandridge was married to Colonel Daniel Parke Custis, of New Kent County, where she was born. Their residence, called "The White House," was on the banks of the Pamunkey River) where Colonel Custis became a highly successful planter. None of the children of this marriage survived the mother; Martha, who arrived at womanhood, died at Mount Vernon in 1770, and John died of fever contracted during the siege of Yorktown eleven years later.
Mrs. Custis was early left a widow, in the full bloom of beauty and "splendidly endowed with worldly benefits." As sole executrix she managed with great ability the extensive landed and pecuniary business of the estate. Surrounded by the advantages of fortune and position, and possessing such charms of person, it may well be believed that suitors for her hand were many and pressing.
"It was in 1758," says her biographer, "that an officer, attired in military undress, and attended by a body servant, tall and militaire as his chief, crossed the ferry called William's over the Pamunkey, a branch of the York River. On the boat touching the southern or New Kent side, the soldier's progress was arrested by one of those personages who give the beau ​ ideal of the Virginia gentleman of the old regime,—the very soul of kindness and hospitality," He would hear of no excuse on the part of this soldier, who was Colonel Washington, for declining the invitation to stop at his house. In vain the Colonel pleaded important business in Williamsburg; his friend, Mr. Chamberlayne, insisted that he must dine with him at the very least, and he promised, as a temptation, to introduce him to a young and charming widow who chanced then to be his guest. At last the soldier surrendered, resolving, however, to pursue his journey the same evening. They proceeded to the mansion. Mr. Chamberlayne presented Colonel Washington to his various guests, among whom stood the beautiful Mrs. Custis. It is not a violent presumption to suppose that the conversation at that dinner turned upon scenes in which the whole community had a deep interest—scenes which the young hero, fresh from his early battlefields, could eloquently describe; and one can fancy with what earnest and rapt attention the fair widow listened, and how, "the heavenly rhetoric of her eyes," beamed unconscious admiration upon the manly speaker. The morning passed; the sun sank low in the horizon and the hospitable host smiled as he saw the Colonel's faithful attendant, true to his orders, holding his master's spirited steed at the gate The veteran waited and marvelled at the delay. But Mr. Chamberlayne insisted that no guest ever left his house after sunset, and his visitor was persuaded, without much difficulty, to remain. The next day was far advanced when Colonel Washington was on the road to Williamsburg. His business there being dispatched, he hastened again to the companionship of the captivating widow.
A short time after his marriage, which took place about 1769, Colonel and Mrs. Washington fixed their residence at Mount Vernon. The mansion at that period was a very small building compared with its present extent. It did not receive ​ many additions before Washington left it to attend the first Congress and thence to the command-in-chief of the armies of his country. He was accompanied to Cambridge by Mrs. Washington, who remained some time with him and witnessed the siege and evacuation of Boston, after which she returned to Virginia.
It was not often that the interest taken by Mrs. Washington in political affairs was evinced by any public expression, though an address which was read in the churches of Virginia and published in the Philadelphia paper in June, 1780, as "The Sentiments of an American Woman," was attributed—it cannot be ascertained with what truth—to her pen.
She passed the winters with her husband during his campaigns and it was the custom of the commander-in-chief to dispatch an aide-de-camp to escort Mrs. Washington to headquarters. Her arrival in camp was an event much anticipated; the plain chariot, with its neat postilions in their scarlet and white liveries was always welcomed with great joy by the army and brought a cheering influence, which relieved the general gloom in seasons of disaster and despair. Her example was followed by the wives of other general officers.
It happened at one time while the ladies remained later than usual in the camp on the Hudson, that an alarm was given of the approach of the enemy from New York. The aid-de-camp proposed that the ladies should be sent away under an escort, but to this Washington would not consent. "The presence of our wives," said he, "will the better encourage us to brave defense."
Lady Washington, as she was always called in the army, usually remained at headquarters till the opening of the succeeding campaign, when she returned to Mount Vernon. She was accustomed afterwards to say that it had been her fortune to hear the first cannon at the opening, and the last at the ​ closing of all the campaigns of the Revolutionary War. How admirably her equanimity and cheerfulness were preserved, through the sternest periods of the struggle, and how inspiring was the influence she diffused, is testified in many of the military journals of that time. She was at Valley Forge in the dreadful winter of 1777-78, her presence and submission to privation strengthening the fortitude of those who might have complained and giving hope and confidence to the desponding. She soothed the distresses of many suffering, seeking out the poor and afflicted with benevolent kindness, extending relief wherever it was in her power, and with remarkable grace presiding in the Chief's humble dwelling. In a letter to Mrs. Warren she says: "The General's apartment is very small, but he had a log cabin built to dine in, which has made our quarters much more tolerable than they were at first."
The Marquis de Chastellux says of Mrs. Washington, whom he met at the house of General Reed, in Philadelphia,—"she had just arrived from Virginia and was going to stay with her husband as she does at the end of every campaign. She is about forty, or forty-five, rather plump, but fresh, and of an agreeable countenance." One little incident when she came to spend the cold season with her husband in winter quarters illustrated how those in the humblest sphere regarded her presence. In the quarters there was only a frame house without a finished upper story, and the General desiring to prepare for his wife a more retired apartment, sent for a young mechanic and asked him and one of his fellow-apprentices to fit up a room in the attic for the accommodation of Lady Washington. On the fourth day Mrs. Washington came up to see how they were getting on. As she stood looking round, the young mechanic ventured diffidently: "Madam, we have endeavored to do the best we could; I hope we have suited you." She replied smiling: "I am astonished! Your work ​ would do honor to an old master and you are mere lads. I am not only satisfied, but highly gratified with what you have done for my comfort." And seventy years later the mechanic—then an old soldier—would repeat these words with tears running down his cheeks, the thrill of delight that penetrated his heart at the approving words of his General's lady, again animating his worn frame and sending back his thoughts to the very moment and scene.
At the close of the Revolutionary War when the victorious General was merged in "the illustrious farmer of Mount Vernon," Mrs. Washington performed the duties of a Virginia housewife, which in those days were not merely nominal. She gave directions, it is said, in every department, so that without bustle or confusion the most splendid dinner appeared as if there had been no effort in the preparation. She presided at her abundant table with ease and elegance and was indeed most truly great in her appropriate sphere of home. Much of her time was occupied in the care of the children of her lost son.
A few years of rest and tranquil happiness in the society of friends having rewarded the Chief's military toils, he was called by the voice of the nation to assume the duties of its chief magistrate. The call was obeyed. The establishment of the President and Mrs. Washington was formed at the seat of government. The levees of Washington's administration had more of courtly ceremonial than has been known since, for it was necessary to maintain the dignity of office by forms that should inspire respect for the new government; In this elevated station Mrs. Washington, unspoiled by distinction, still leaned on the kindness of her friends, and cultivated cheerfulness as a study. She was beloved as are few who occupy exalted positions.
On the retirement of Washington from public life, he prepared to spend the remnant of his days in the retreat his taste ​ had adorned. It was a spectacle of wonder to Europeans to see this great man calmly resigning the power which had been committed to his hands and returning with delight to his agricultural pursuits. His wife could justly claim her share in the admiration, for she quitted without regret the elevated scenes in which she had shone so conspicuously to enter with the same active interest as before upon her domestic employments. Her advanced age did not impair her ability nor her inclination to discharge housewifely duties. But she was not long permitted to enjoy the happiness she had anticipated. It was hers too soon to join in the grief of a mourning nation for the death of Washington—its great Chief and President—her husband. From all quarters came tributes of sympathy and sorrow, and many visits of condolence were paid by the President and others to her in her bereavement, but in less than two years she was attacked by a fever that proved fatal. When aware that her hour was approaching, she called her grandchildren to her bedside, discoursed to them on their respective duties; spoke of the happy influence of religion, and then, surrounded by her weeping family, died as she had lived—bravely and without regret. Her death took place on the 22nd of May, 1802. Her remains rest in the same vault with those of Washington in the family tomb at Mount Vernon.
MARY A. SITGREAVES.
Among the intimate friends of "Nellie Custis" was Mary A. Sitgreaves, the second daughter of Colonel Daniel Kemper of the Revolutionary Army. She was born in New York, April 1774. During the occupation of New York by the British, her father removed to Morristown, New Jersey. The headquarters of General Washington were in the neighborhood and through her frequent visits to the camp Miss Kemper became an intimate friend of Mrs. Washington. During a visit to her uncle, Dr. David Jackson of Philadelphia, she met in the drawing-room of the President Honorable Samuel Sitgreaves, a member of Congress, and they were married June, 1796. ​
SUSAN WALLACE.
Mrs. Susan Wallace, the mother of Horace Binney Wallace, lived opposite Washington's house in Philadelphia. She was the daughter of Mrs. Mary Binney of Philadelphia, and married John Bradford Wallace, who died in 1849. He was the nephew of Mr. Bradford, the second attorney-general of the United States. Mrs. Wallace was also one of the close friends of Mrs. Washington.
ABIGAIL ADAMS.
The letters of Abigail Adams form a valuable contribution to the published history of our country, laying open as they do the thoughts and feelings of one who had borne an important part in our nation's history. Mrs. Adams' character is worthy of contemplation for all her countrywomen even to-day, for though few may rise to such pre-eminence, many can emulate the sensibility and tact which she combined with much practical knowledge of life, as well as the firmness that sustained her in all vicissitudes.
​ Her marriage to Mr. Adams took place October 25, 1764, and she passed the ten years that succeeded, devoting herself to domestic life and the care of her young family. In 1775 she was called to pass through scenes of great distress amid the horrors of war and the ravages of pestilence.
She sympathized deeply with the sufferings of those around her. "My heart and hand," she wrote, "still tremble at the domestic fury and fierce civil strife. I feel for the unhappy wretches who know not where to fly for succor, and I feel still more for my bleeding countrymen, who are hazarding their lives and their limbs." To the agonized hearts of thousands of women went up the roar of the cannon booming over those hills, and many a heart joined in breathing her prayer: "Almighty God! Cover the heads of our countrymen and be a shield to our dear friends."
But in all her anxieties her calm and lofty spirit never deserted her; nor did she regret the sacrifice of her own feelings for the good of the community. During the absence of her husband, when Mr. Adams had been sent as a joint commissioner to France, she devoted herself to the various duties devolving on her, submitting with patience to the difficulties of the time.
​ As was to be expected, neither she nor her husband were exempt from annoyances growing out of the late controversy. She writes to Mrs. Warren : "Whoever in Europe is known to have adopted republican principles must expect to have all the engines of war of every court and courtier in the world displayed against him."
Yet, notwithstanding the drawbacks that sometimes troubled her, her residence in London seems to have been a most agreeable one, and, with the unaffected republican simplicity and exquisite union of frankness and refinement in her manners, she seems to have won her way even in the proud circles of the English aristocracy.
Her letters are a faithful transcript of her feelings, and there is a surprisingly modern note and almost prophetic suggestion in the following observation from one of her letters to her sister: "When I reflect on the advantages which people in America possess over the most polished of other nations, the ease with which property is obtained, the plenty which is so equally distributed, their personal liberty and security of life and property, I feel grateful to Heaven, who marked out my lot in that happy land; at the same time I deprecate that restless spirit and that baleful ambition and thirst for power which will finally make us as wretched as our neighbors." When Mr. Adams, after having returned to the United States with his family, became Vice-President, his wife appeared, as in other situations, the pure-hearted patriot, the accomplished woman, the worthy partner of his cares and honors.
​ In this elevated position, the grace and elegance of Mrs. Adams, with her charm of conversation were rendered more attractive by her frank sincerity. Her close observation, discrimination of character and clear judgment gave her an influence which men and women acknowledged. Her husband appreciated her worth, and was sustained in spirit by her buoyant cheerfulness and affectionate sympathy in the multiplicity of labor which the highest office of his country brought him.
It was hers, too, to disarm the demon of party spirit, to calm agitations, heal the rankling wounds of pride, and pluck the root of bitterness away.
After the retirement of her husband, Mrs. Adams continued to take a deep interest in public affairs. Her health was much impaired, however, and from this time she remained in her rural seclusion at Quincy.
MARTHA WAYLES JEFFERSON.
Mrs. Martha Wayles Jefferson, wife of the third President of the United States, was born in 1748 in Charles County, Virginia, and died September 6, 1782, at Monticello, the famous country home of Thomas Jefferson, near Charlottesville, Virginia. Her father, John Wayles, was a wealthy lawyer, who gave his daughter all the advantages of refinement and education which were afforded at this time. Her first husband was Bathurst Skelton, whom she had married at a very early age, becoming a widow before she was twenty. In January, 1772, she married Thomas Jefferson. In 1781 Mrs. Jefferson's health became so precarious that her husband refused a foreign mission. In the autumn of 1782 she died. She was the mother of five children, three of whom survived her.
MARTHA JEFFERSON.
Perhaps no better reason why the biography of Martha Jefferson is important can be given than the following estimate of her, found in a history of our young Republic: "As a child, she was her father's only comforter in the great sorrows of his life, in matured years she was his intimate friend and compan​ ion; her presence lent to his home its greatest charm, and her love and sympathy were his greatest solace in the troubles which clouded the evening of his life." Thomas Jefferson, going, a lonely widower, on his first mission to France, took with him his little girl, "Patsy," as he lovingly called her, and while she was placed in a convent his regular and constant visits to her there brought all the comfort and happiness of life to both of them. She was only ten years old at the time of her mother's death in 1782, but her own sorrow was almost forgotten in the contemplation which was constantly before her of that greater sorrow of her father. She understood it when, one night, she entered her father's room, and found him giving away to a paroxysm of weeping. But her father would not allow her young life to be shrouded in gloom., and later on, when she was sixteen, she entered with him the world of Paris, and was introduced into the brilliant court of Louis XVI. In spite of her youth and her modest, retiring disposition, she was considered a remarkable young woman. She did credit to the excellent education she had received. She was found to be a good elocutionist, an accomplished musician, and one well versed in matters historical. She was not beautiful (and perhaps it is a relief to learn that she was not, after hearing about so many dames and daughters of a by-gone day whose wondrous fairness is forever being told in story and rehearsed in song), but she is reputed to have been "tall and stately" and to have had an interesting rather than a pretty face. Hints of Miss Patsy's good times and of the interesting people whom she met when she was a debutante in the Paris world have come down to us. We read of her acquaintance with the gay and gallant Marquis de La Fayette, who never chanced to meet the daughter of Thomas Jefferson without pausing to exchange a few merry words with her; and of her enthusiastic admiration for Madame de Stael, whom she saw very often in society, and ​ to whose wonderful conversation she invariably listened attentively. But Martha Jefferson loved her country and her father too truly to think of deserting them for the sake of any gallant of King Louis' court. Moreover, she knew that in her own country there was waiting for her some one infinitely superior to anyone she might meet abroad. When, in 1789, she and her father and her sister returned to their beloved Virginia home, Monticello, she met again this second cousin, Thomas Mann Randolph, who had been her childhood sweetheart, and on the 23d of February, 1790, "Miss Patsy," as she was called, and her cousin Tom were married. She was happy in her husband, a man, so Jefferson tells us, "of science, sense, virtue, and competence.' With him she led an ideal family life. Her home, at Edgehill, the Randolph estate, from which, in the winter, when the trees were bare, she could see the glimmer of the white columns of the portico of Monticello, became filled with a host of little people. There were twelve in all, five sons and seven daughters, all equally lovable and interesting in their mother's eyes. But the most enjoyable times of Mrs. Randolph's life were the July vacation months when, with the coming of summer, President Jefferson, tired of Washington and the affairs of state, retired to Virginia and, stopping en route at Edgehill, picked up the whole Randolph family, and carried them off with him to Monticello. When Thomas Jefferson became President, Mrs. Randolph and her sister came from the obscurity of their Virginia homes, and began their reign in the White House. The two sisters took by storm the Capital of the nation. For the first time since their girlhood days in Paris at the court of Louis XVI they became a part of the gay world. During that winter at the President's home Mrs. Randolph was very happy entertaining her father's distinguished guests and taking part in all the gayeties of the Capital. She was everywhere admired. The Marquis de Yrcijo, who was ​ then Spanish Ambassador in Washington, declared that she was fitted to grace any court in Europe, and John Randolph, of Roanoke, was so impressed with the beauty of her mind and character that years after, when her health was proposed at a gentleman's table in Virginia, at a time when "Crusty John" himself was one of her father's bitterest political foes, seconded the toast with the exclamation, "Yes, gentlemen, let us drink to the noblest woman in Virginia." In the spring that followed this winter of memorable pleasures and excitements Mrs. Randolph, with her young family, withdrew from Washington society, and returned to live in the utmost simplicity at her home at Edgehill. It was a glorious time for Mrs. Randolph when, at last, the adored father returned to her, not as President of the United States, on a hurried visit to his home and family, but as a simple country gentleman, who was never again to be deprived of that domestic peace and harmony for which he had sighed so many years. When he came this time the removal to Monticello was permanent. For the remainder of his life Jefferson and his daughter and his daughter's children lived happily on the summit of the little mountain, in the home that was so dear to them all.
DOROTHY PAYNE MADISON.
There are few figures; on the canvas of American history that stand out with such undimmed charm as that of beautiful Dolly Madison. Certainly no one of its kerchiefed dames of the early Republic made their public and private life a better example of American womanhood to American girls of the succeeding generation than the bright-eyed Quaker girl-widow, who became hostess of the White House in 1809.
By the chance of a parental visit, it was in the province of North Carolina, under the reign of King George III, that Dorothea Payne was born, on the 12th of May, 1768. By lineage and residence, however, she had a good right to call herself "A Daughter of Virginia," for her parents returned to their Hanover county plantation when she was an infant, and it was at the old school in Hanover that she learned her first lessons. Her grandfather, John Payne, was an English gentleman, who came to Virginia, and married Anna Fleming, a lady of Scottish birth, and who was descended, it is claimed, from the Earl of Wigton, a Scottish nobleman. Her father, John Payne, Jr., married Mary Coles, the daughter of an Irish gentleman from Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland. This Mary Coles was descended from the Winstons, of Virginia, a family known for its aristocratic lineage. Indeed, it is reasonable to suppose that much of Dolly Payne's conversational gift was a legacy from these Winstons. Her mother's uncle, Patrick Henry, the orator, was said to have inherited his talent' from his brilliant mother, Sarah Winston, while another cousin, Judge Edmund Winston, was a local celebrity.
Of the three strains of blood, English, Irish and Scotch, that flowed in Dolly Payne's veins, the Irish appears to have predominated. The roseleaf complexion, the laughing eyes, the clustering curls of jet-black hair, the generous heart and ​ persuasive tongue, all these were legacies from the County Wexford ancestors. The "Cousin Dolly" for whom Dolly Payne was named was the lovely Dorothea Spotswood Dandridge, granddaughter of the famous Sir Alexander Spotswood, of Virgina. Curiously enough, this "Cousin Dolly" married two of Dolly Payne's mother's cousins — first, Patrick Henry, and, after his death, when her little namesake was nine years old, Judge Edmund Winston—making a bewildering maze of cousins, as they used to do, and still do, down in Virginia. Dolly Payne's father was a Quaker, and so little Mistress Dolly wore her ashen gown down to her toes and the queer little Quaker bonnets and plain kerchiefs and long cuffs covering her dimpled arms, as prescribed for those of her sex by the decree of the "Friends." But this sober dress was not to her mind, it seems, for we read that she wore a gold chain about her neck, under the folds of her kerchief, a sin which she confessed to the old black "Mammy Rosy," and who, no doubt, after scolding her for such an impropriety, consoled her with an extra allowance of some particularly longed-for dainty.
It was on account of John Payne's religious belief that he set free his negro slaves, sold his plantation, and moved his family to Philadelphia, where he hoped to find more sympathy than was to be had from the Virginia cavaliers. But John Payne found his financial position much embarrassed with the sale of the Virginia plantation, and was, no doubt, glad when a desirable suitor, in the person of young John Todd, a Quaker lad and rising young lawyer, asked for the hand of Mistress Dolly. Mistress Dolly herself was not enthusiastic in the matter, but she finally yielded to her father's desire, and was married to Lawyer Todd on the seventh day of January, 1790, in the Friends' Meeting House on Pine Street. There were no minister, no bridal veil, no wedding music, no dancing, and no drinking the bride's health, nor any of the merrymaking her ​ gay young heart would have liked. Her wedding must have cost her many a pang in its absence of all gayety and brilliancy.
​ It was here, through his wife's influence, that Madison was induced to hold his seat in Congress until the end of the Washington administration, which concluded in 1797. When it ended Dolly Madison lived in Philadelphia, for Madison did not come to take part in national affairs again until Jefferson became President, in 1801, and in the meantime the seat of government had been moved to Washington. Then the man who had framed the Constitution of the United States, and was known as the "Father of the Constitution," was needed, and Jefferson appointed Madison Secretary of State. From this time began Dolly Madison's social reign in Washington. She became, indeed, a power to be reckoned with in political games. For, though she made no effort to mix in the affairs of state, her influence was felt indirectly in matters of great importance.
MARY WASHINGTON MONUMENT—FREDERICKSBURG, VA.
Brussels had before Waterloo fell. The bewildered crowds were employed in conveying valuables out of the city, and an endless procession of coaches and chaises, with flurried-looking occupants, went streaming out of the Capital. Mr. Madison and his secretaries were at Bladensburg, the field of battle, and his wife was unwilling to leave Washington until he returned. In spite of her great anxiety she kept brave and cheerful, and even planned a dinner party for the night which was to witness the burning of the Capital. She saw one official after another go out of the city, but heroically refused to desert her post and, though the British Admiral sent her the startling word that he would make his bow in her drawing-room, not until a messenger from her husband arrived, crying, "Clear out, clear out! General Armstrong has ordered a retreat!" did she turn her back upon the White House. And even then she took time to save a carriage load of cabinet papers and the White House silver. Then, reluctantly, she took her departure. "I longed, instead," she affirmed with spirit, "to have a cannon from every window."
​ But in the days of general rejoicing that followed the declaration of peace Mr. Madison's official blunders were forgotten, and Dolly Madison became more popular than ever. The soldiers, returning home from, their long service, stopped before her home, "The Octagon," to cheer. Her receptions in this comparatively small house were more brilliant than those of the White House had been. In the gayeties of the "Peace Winter" Dolly framed a memorable epic in the annals of Washington society. James G. Blaine wrote of her: "She saved the administration," and while, perhaps, his praise was too great, she held greater social and political sway than any other woman of her country. In the midst of her greatest social glory she had one great grief. Her son, Payne Todd, the "American Prince," had his mother's charm, but not her nobility.
After Madison's two terms were over he returned again to Montpelier, where he lived until the year 1836, when he passed out of the world in which he had left so lasting an impression.
After his death Dolly Madison returned to Washington, where the remaining twelve years of her life were spent in the house now owned by the Cosmos Club, but which is still called the Dolly Madison Mansion. Here the old lady, now in poverty, for Montpelier had been sacrificed to pay the gambling debts of her unworthy son, lived, still retaining her old popularity, and receiving attention from everybody who resided in or came to Washington. The nation settled a goodly sum upon her, and voted her "A Seat in the House."
ELIZABETH K. MONROE.
Mrs. Elizabeth K. Monroe, nee Miss Elizabeth Kortright, was the daughter of Captain Lawrence Kortright, a former captain in the British army, who had remained in New York after the declaration of peace in 1783, rearing and educating his family of one son and four daughters. One of these daughters married Mr. Heyliger, late Grand Chamberlain to the King of Denmark. Of the other two, one married Mr. Knox, of New York, and the other was the wife of Nicholas Gouverneur, of New York.
James Monroe was a senator from Virginia when New York was the seat of government, and there met Miss Kortright, who is described as tall, graceful and beautiful, with highly polished manners. They were married in New York in 1786, during a session of Congress. Soon after their marriage Philadelphia was chosen as the Capital, Congress adjourning to that city. Senator Monroe and his gifted wife took up their residence in that city. In 1794 he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France. With the prestige of his position as a senator and as a person of wealth and with Mrs. Monroe's accomplishments, they were destined to represent their country with great success.
​ When Mr. Monroe was Governor of Virginia Mrs. Monroe presided over the executive mansion with so much distinction that she won great popularity. She was eminently fitted to fill the position of First Lady of the Land when her husband succeeded James Madison as President, after the War of 1812. The White House in Washington was not what it is to-day, and Mrs. Monroe's health was poor during their residence there, but one of their pleasures was the entertaining of La Fayette, when he visited the United States in 1824. Their youngest daughter, Maria, was married in the East Room in March, 1820, to her cousin, Samuel L. Gouverneur, of New York.
After the expiration of Mr. Monroe's eight years in the White House, they retired to Oak Hill, their beautiful home, in Loudon county, Virginia, where Mrs. Monroe continued her benevolence and care of those dependent upon her and the unfortunates of the community about them. She died suddenly in 1830, beloved by all who knew her.
LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS.
​ She first met Mr. Adams in her father's house, in London in 1794. They were married July 26, 1797, in the church of All Hallows, London. Mr. Adams' father became President soon afterwards, and John Quincy was transferred to Berlin, whither he took his accomplished bride, whom, it may be said, was destined to be a conspicuous figure in the highest social circles for the rest of her life. Her career in Berlin, considering the conditions, was so successful that it might at this distance, through the lapse of time, be called brilliant. Mr. Adams returned, with his family, to the United States, and took up his residence in Boston. Mrs. Adams was soon the admired of all admirers, their popularity putting Mr. Adams in the United States Senate from Massachusetts, and they came to Washington for the sessions of the Senate. She was very happy to be near her own family, the Johnsons, of Maryland, as she had been away from them continuously from the date of her marriage. For eight years, during Mr. Jefferson's two terms as President, she enjoyed her life in Washington.
On the accession of Mr. Madison to the Presidency, Mr. Adams was made our first Minister to Russia. It was a great trial to Mrs. Adams to leave two of her children with their grandparents, as it seemed wise to do, with the many unfavorable conditions then existing. They took a third child, and set sail for Boston in August. After a long and perilous voyage, they reached St. Petersburg in October. The rigorous climate, separation from her children, and the trying position as the wife of our first Minister to that autocratic court, brought into action all her powers of endurance, diplomacy and intuition. She was equal to every emergency.
The six years Mrs. Adams spent in St. Petersburg were probably the most eventful in the history of the New World. Napoleon was at the height of his imperial sway. He had the Old World in turmoil, and was threatening Russia. The ​ War of 1812 between England and the United States broke out meanwhile, cutting off almost completely all communication with her native land, thereby intensifying her anxiety and distress on account of her separation from her children. Mr. Adams was indefatigable in his efforts in behalf of his struggling country, and by his diplomacy, culture, fine talents and loyalty so impressed Emperor Alexander that he offered to be a mediator between England and the United States. Unfortunately, this munificent offer was unsuccessful, but probably opened the way for the Treaty at Ghent, December 24, 1814. Mr. Adams represented the United States at Ghent, and was obliged to leave Mrs. Adams in St. Petersburg while he attended the commission. She had lost a baby born in St. Petersburg, and but for her remarkable courage and admirable character would have been most unhappy and a greater anxiety to her husband, already overburdened with affairs which threatened dire disaster to his country. After the signing of the Treaty she set out for Paris to join Mr. Adams and return to the United States. It was an heroic undertaking to make this long journey with her child and attendants overland through a country recently overrun by contending armies. She often told her experiences, and related incidents which taxed her genius to avoid serious embarrassment and detention. Prudence and tact finally enabled her to reach Paris on the 21st of March, 1815, immediately after the arrival of Napoleon and the flight of the Bourbons. Mrs. Adams appreciated the fact that these events were momentous, but her children were on the sea, and she was impatient to proceed to London to meet them, after being separated from them six long years. On the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Adams in London, May 25, 181 5, Mr. Adams learned that he had been appointed Minister to the Court of St. James. Hence, they again took up their residence in Great Britain, Mrs. Adams, as ever before, supplementing her illustri​ ous husband's high character and wise diplomacy with matchless intelligence, culture and gracious dignity.
Mr. Monroe succeeding Mr. Madison as President of the United States March 4, 1817, appointed Mr. Adams Secretary of State. Hence Mr. Adams and his family made haste to return home, arriving in New York August 6, 1817. Soon afterwards they established themselves in Washington, when, as wife of the Secretary of State, Mrs. Adams exerted a marvelous influence in harmonizing the various personal animosities, political rivalries, jealousies and sectional strife. They commanded the highest respect and confidence from the diplomatic corps, who depend upon the Secretary of State and his family in all matters of an official and social character.
One source of intellectual development of which Mrs. Adams availed herself was the regular correspondence with her father-in-law, the illustrious, brainy ex-President, John Adams. Their letters to each other were very long and interesting, and in them they discussed all subjects—religion, philosophy, politics, national, foreign and domestic affairs, with masterful ability on both sides. Their letters continued until the death of ex-President John Adams, July 4, 1826.
​ John Quincy Adams was the ablest and most learned man who had ever occupied the Presidential chair up to that time. Mrs. Adams was equally endowed with superior natural talents, nobility of character and rare accomplishments. And while they had appreciated the honors conferred upon them by the people of their beloved country, on account of personal bereavements and the onerous duties of public life they gladly retired to private life on the expiration of Mr. Adams' Presidential term. But they were not destined to enjoy private life long. The people of the Plymouth District insisted upon Mr. Adams representing them in Congress. He took his seat December 31. On account of advancing age they took little part in the gayeties of Washington, living quietly in their own house, on I street. In November, 1846, Mr. Adams suffered a stroke of paralysis, from which he never fully recovered. He, however, continued to discharge his duties, with intervals of protracted illness until the 21st of February, 1848. While in his seat in the House he had a relapse, and after being removed to the Speaker's room he lingered until the 23rd, when he passed away. Mrs. Adams, though very weak and ill, stayed beside her husband, soothing him until the last.
Mr. and Mrs. Adams had four children, three sons and one daughter: George Washington Adams, their eldest, born in Berlin, April 12, 1801; John Adams, born in Boston, July 4, 1803; Charles Francis Adams, born in Boston in 1807; Louisa Catherine Adams, born in St. Petersburg, August 12, 1811, and died there the following year.
After Mr. Adams' death Mrs. Adams returned to Quincy, Massachusetts, where she lived in retirement, surrounded by her children and relatives, until her death, on the 14th of May, 1852. She was buried beside her husband in the family burying place. She is remembered as one of the most remarkable women who has ever graced the White House ​ and other exalted positions as a fine representative American woman.
RACHEL JACKSON.
When, in the year 1789, Andrew Jackson, a tall, red-haired, strong-featured young man, made his appearance in the new settlement of Nashville, Tennessee, he went to live in a boarding house that was kept by a Mrs. Donelson. Mrs. Donelson was a widow. Her husband, who had been a pioneer in the settlement of Nashville, had been killed, by Indians, it was supposed. With Mrs. Donelson lived her daughter, Mrs. Robards, and the society of this lady Jackson found to be the pleasantest feature in his boarding house life.
Mrs. Robards was an interesting woman. She was of the regular pioneer type, such as was often to be met with in the frontier days of our country during the earliest days of the Republic. Courageous, daring, full of life and spirit, she was universally liked as a merry story-teller, a rollicking dancer, a daring horsewoman and, altogether, a most jolly and entertaining companion. She had been a belle among the hearty young woodmen and planters who had gone out with Colonel Donelson to take charge of the frontier region beyond the big salt lake. But it was not to one of those first Nashville settlers that she gave her heart and hand. She married a Kentuckian, Mr. Lewis Robards. The story of this marriage is not a happy one. It is that of a cruel husband and an early divorce, after which she came back to take up her life again in the valley of the Cumberland.
It is not surprising that Andrew Jackson and Rachel Donelson, living in the same house, as they did, subjected to the common peril of hostile Indians and violence and bloodshed, for which this region was noted, congenial in tastes and characteristics, should have grown to love each other. In the year ​ 1791 they were married, and their life together, from their wedding day until the death of Mrs. Jackson, is delightful to contemplate. In 1804 took place the removal to the "Hermitage," an unpretentious little block house that stood in the midst of flourishing cotton fields, and only a few miles from Nashville. And it is with the "Hermitage" that one associates all the pleasantest memories of Andrew Jackson and his wife. They were known as the "King and Queen of Hospitality." No one was ever turned away from their door. We read of times when each of the four rooms, which was all the house possessed, was filled with a whole family, and when the piazza and other places of half shelter about the house were transformed into bunks for the young men and boys of the visiting party.
In spite of its free-and-easy character, life at the "Hermitage" was a very busy affair. Mr. Jackson was a man of many occupations. He was a slave owner, and a farmer, a storekeeper, a lawyer and a soldier. We may imagine that there was much for him to do, and much also for his helpful wife to do. In his absences from home Mrs. Jackson took charge of all things at the "Hermitage," and an excellent manager she made. Unlearned though she was in the lore of schools she was very wise in knowledge of the woods, the fields, the kitchen and the dairy. The simple life in and about the "Hermitage," free from all ceremonies and conventions, was exactly suited to Mrs. Jackson. She was charming in all its phases. But it was different when, as the wife of the "Hero of New' Orleans"—Jackson having been made Major General by the National Government—she was to visit the scene of her husband's triumphs. She could not feel at home among the elegantly clothed people of that city, but confessed that she knew nothing of fine clothes and fine manners. The General himself was delighted to have his "Bonny Brown Wife," as Mrs. Jack​ son was called, with him at headquarters. He was blind to the difference between her and the other women, and he made it evident to all that he thought his wife "the dearest and most revered of human beings," and nothing pleased him so much as regard bestowed on her.
It was rather more than five or six years later that the General was appointed Governor to Florida, and he and Mrs. Jackson, with the two young nephews, one known as Andrew Jackson Donelson, went to live in this region of fruit and flowers. From Mrs. Jackson's pen which, although occasionally stumbling, was an interesting one, we have a picture of the final evacuation of Florida by the Spaniards, and the formal taking possession of the country, Jackson coming in "under his own standard," as he had vowed he would. But, hard as had been Mrs. Jackson's life with all the hardships and adventures of frontier exposure, she was homesick in the midst of the flowers and fruit of Pensacola for her log cabin home in Tennessee. "Believe me," she wrote to her friends at home, "this country has been greatly overrated. One acre of our fine Tennessee land is worth a thousand here." Mrs. Jackson's letters give a true picture of the General's state of mind. "The General is the most anxious man to get home I ever saw," she said. And it was, indeed, General Jackson's desire to return to the adopted son Andrew and his beloved wife Rachel. But though they did return to the "Hermitage" the happy days which again saw Rachel Jackson mistress there were not many. In the year 1824 Jackson was elected United States Senator. During the period of his senatorship the mighty game was played which was to make him chief magistrate of the land. From the time of Jackson's nomination his victory was sure. It is almost impossible to defeat a military hero. His nickname was "Old Hickory," and hickory poles were set up in his honor all over the country. But there are always two sides ​ to an election, and Jackson was made to taste the bitterness of malice and slander as well as the sweetness of glory. He could endure that aimed at him, but what was directed at his wife he could not endure. He raged and fumed at the insults that were dealt her with the fiery wrath of an old soldier. Mrs. Jackson herself was grieved and appalled at the cruel things that were said of her, when into the peace and harmony of her quiet, retired existence there broke as fierce a volley of taunts as ever issued from a political campaign. When the news of her husband's election reached her at the Hermitage she received it quietly. "Well, for Mr. Jackson's sake, I am glad," she said. "For my own part, I never wished it."
The ladies of Tennessee, who were all proud of Mrs. Jackson, were preparing to send her to the White House with the most elegant wardrobe that could be found, and the people of the neighborhood were planning an elaborate banquet in honor of the President-elect. On the evening before the fete, worn out with the excitement and pain of the contest through which she had been passing, the mistress of the Hermitage died. Mrs. Jackson was heard to say when she was dying that the General would miss her, but if she lived she might be in the way of his new life. It was thus that she reconciled herself to leaving him. Andrew Jackson proceeded to his place at the head of the nation, a lonely, broken-hearted man. The memory of the wrong that had been done his wife was always present in his mind. Years after, when he came to die, the clergyman bent over him, asking the last question. "Yes," said the old general, "I am ready. I ask forgiveness, and I forgive all—all except those who slandered my Rachel to death."
ANGELICA SINGLETON VAN BUREN.
President Van Buren had been a widower for seventeen years when he was elected President, consequently his daughter​ in-law, Angelica Singleton Van Buren, presided over the White House. Mrs. Van Buren, Jr., came from Sumter District, South Carolina. She was educated at Madame Grelaud's Seminary, Philadelphia. In November, 1838, she was married to Major Abram Van Buren, President Van Buren's eldest son, a graduate of West Point, and long an officer of the United States Army. Mrs. Van Buren was a lady of rare accomplishments and graceful manners, and very vivacious in conversation, and was, consequently, very popular in the White House. At the end of President Van Buren's administration Major and Mrs. Van Buren visited Europe. Her uncle, Mr. Stevenson, was then Minister to England, and she and her husband were the recipients of much attention, as London was unusually gay on account of the recent coronation of Queen Victoria. Returning, they resided throughout his retirement with ex-President Van Buren at Lindenwald, and subsequently removed to New York City, where Mrs. Van Buren remained for the rest of her life. Pier home was the resort of people of refinement and education. She was most unselfish and self-denying in the distribution of her wealth and influence for the benefit of others. She died December 29, 1878.
ANNA SYMMES HARRISON.
Anna Symmes Harrison, wife of William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States, was born the 25th of July, 1775, at Morristown, New Jersey, her mother dying soon after her birth. She was given into the care of her maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Tuthill, at Southhold, Long Island, at the age of four years. The British were then in possession of- Long Island and, notwithstanding her tender years, she realized the danger of the journey. Her father, Hon. John Cleves Symmes, a colonel in the Continental Army, assumed ​ the disguise of a British officer's uniform, that he might accomplish the perilous undertaking of transferring his little daughter from Morristown, New Jersey, to Southhold, Long Island. He did not see her again until after the evacuation of New York, in the fall of 1783. She had most excellent care by her worthy grandparents, who did not neglect to give Anna religious instruction in her earliest childhood. She was also taught that industry, prudence and economy were Christian virtues. She was educated in the school of Mrs. Isabelle Graham, of New York. In 1794 she accompanied her father and stepmother to Ohio, where her father had a small colony of settlers at North Bend, on the Ohio River. Judge Symmes was appointed one of the associate judges of the Supreme Court of the great northwestern territory. His district was a very large one, and frequently while he was attending the courts in his district Anna visited her sister, Mrs. Peyton Short, at Lexington, Kentucky. During one of these visits she met Captain William Henry Harrison, the youngest son of Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, and later married him. After his service in the army, General Harrison was appointed the first governor of Indian Territory by President Adams, and removed his family to the old French town of Vincennes, on the Wabash, then the seat of government of the Indian Territory. Here he and Mrs. Harrison and their family lived for many years. Mrs. Harrison, through her courteous manners and liberal hospitality as mistress of the Governor's Mansion, won for herself a wide reputation. She resided in the Governor's Mansion through the administration of Adams, Jefferson and Madison, till 1812, when, after the surrender of Hull, Harrison was appointed to the command of the Northwestern army. Mrs. Harrison remained in Vincennes during the absence of General Harrison, when he commanded the army which fought the battle of Prophets Town, Tippecanoe and other engagements. After his ​ victories General Harrison was appointed Major-General of the forces in Kentucky, and removed his family to Cincinnati, where Mrs. Harrison and her children remained while he conducted his campaign against the hostile Indians. She arranged for the education of her children by private tutors, and herself conducted the entire rearing of her family, displaying the greatest executive ability, loyalty and Christian fortitude, bearing bravely bereavements that came to her through the death of her children and other members of her family. When, after his election to the Presidency, General Harrison left his home to be in Washington for his inauguration, the 4th of March, 1841, he was unaccompanied by Mrs. Harrison, who was in very delicate health and, through the advice of her physician, did not accompany her husband to Washington. Consequently, she never presided over the White House. One month from the day of his inauguration President Harrison died of pneumonia. Mrs. Harrison was in her home at North Bend, and was overwhelmed for a time by this fearful blow. She rallied, however, and lived for many years in the old home. She eventually removed to that of her only surviving son, Hon. J. Scott Harrison, five miles below North Bend, on the Ohio River, where she resided until her death, the 25th of February, 1864, in the 89th year of her age. She lived to see many of her grandsons officers and soldiers in the Union Army during the Civil War and to predict the elevation of her grandson, Benjamin H. Harrison, to the office of President of the United States, which office had been filled by his grandfather, General William Henry Harrison.
LETITIA CHRISTIAN TYLER.
John Tyler, the tenth President of the United States, succeeded President William Henry Harrison, whose administra​ tion lasted only one month. His first wife was Letitia Christian, daughter of Robert Christian, of Cedar Grove, Virginia. Mr. Tyler and Miss Christian were married on the 29th of March, 1813. Young Tyler was one of the most prominent rising young lawyers of the state of Virginia. Their lives were spent surrounded by everything that could contribute to their happiness and popularity. Mrs. Tyler, to the day of her death in the executive mansion, was noted for her brilliancy of mind, liberal hospitality, wifely and motherly devotion, and was in all respects a lovely, Christian character. In the various positions occupied by Mr. Tyler Mrs. Tyler was an able helpmeet, and was as well noted for her great beauty of person, grace of carriage, delicate refinement and exquisite taste. During President Tyler's occupation of the White House there were many distinguished visitors, among them Charles Dickens, Washington Irving, and many others, who were charmed by Mrs. Tyler's gracious manners. Her children have been the most enthusiastic eulogists of her lovely character and motherly devotion. She resided in the White House from April, 1841, to September 9, 1842, the date of her death, leaving behind her an imperishable impression as one of the most accomplished women who ever presided in this historic mansion.
JULIA GARDINER TYLER.
President John Tyler married, as his second wife, Miss Julia Gardiner, on the 26th day of June, 1844, at the Church of the Ascension, New York City. Their wedding was the first instance of the marriage of a President during his term of office. Miss Gardiner was the daughter of a wealthy gentleman from Gardiner's Island who had come upon a visit to Washington in the winter of 1843, accompanied by his beautiful daughter. They were invited by Captain Stockton ​ to accompany the President and other friends to Alexandria on the trial trip of a new ship which had been manned by large guns. On their return, when opposite the fort, an explosion took place which changed the merry party to one of mourning, Miss Gardiner's father being among the number who were killed. There were a great many lost in this accident. The bodies of the killed were taken to the White House, from which they were conveyed to their last resting places. The President's marriage to Miss Gardiner took place some months after this disaster. Mrs. Tyler was a queenly woman and presided over the White House with exceptional grace and acceptability for eight months prior to the expiration of President Tyler's term of office. On his retirement they repaired to his home in Virginia. The ex-President died in Richmond, January 17, 1862. After the Civil War, Mrs. Tyler recevied from Congress a pension which was voted to her in the winter of 1879. She had suffered great pecuniary losses after the death of her husband, and it was proper that she should receive this recognition of her husband's services to his country. For many years she resided in Georgetown, D. C, and being a devout Catholic, found it agreeable to be near the Georgetown Convent, where her daughter was educated. She died in 1889.
SARAH CHILDRESS POLK.
Sarah Childress Polk, nee Childress, daughter of Captain Joel and Elizabeth Childress was born near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, September 4, 1803. She was educated at the Moravian Institute at Salem, North Carolina. She was married at the age of nineteen to James Knox Polk, of Murfreesboro. Mr. Polk was then a member of the legislature of Tennessee and in the following year was elected to Congress, ​ and after serving on the most important committees of the House of Representatives, he was elected speaker, a position for which he was especially fitted.
Mrs. Polk accompanied her husband to Washington every winter and occupied a prominent position in society. Her influence was not only social, but political. She took great pains to inform herself on political affairs, and was deeply interested in all the discussions of the day which in any way affected the welfare of her country. She had lived all her life in the atmosphere of politics and had extensive acquaintance with the public men of the time, and often counseled with her husband on national subjects. They resided at Columbia, Tennessee. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church of that city and was much esteemed for her devotion to her religious duties. Mrs. Polk was the recipient of many testimonials of high esteem from distinguished men, among them she received a copy of verses addressed to her by the eminent jurist, Honorable Joseph D. Story. In 1839 Mr. Polk was elected Governor of Tennessee and removed his residence to Nashville. Mrs. Polk as mistress of the executive mansion exercised a powerful influence in harmonizing the bitterness which then existed between rival parties.'. In the campaign of 1844, for the Presidency, in which Henry Clay was the idol of the Whig party, and James K. Polk of the Democratic party, there was the greatest excitement. Mr. Polk was elected and inaugurated on March 4, 1845. Having no children, Mrs. Polk devoted all her time to her duties as Lady of the White House, and no other mistress of that stately mansion left a more favorable impression upon the people and society of that day than did Mrs. Polk. It may be said that she maintained the dignity of the President's mansion without assuming the slightest hauteur and much has been said of her attractive manner, queenly bearing and sincere cordiality. The recep​ tions of President and Mrs. Polk were very largely attended and universally enjoyed. Her style of dress was particularly becoming to her. She had very black hair and eyes and a fair complexion and was much given to wearing bright colors and gay turbans. It was with much regret that the social circles of Washington saw Mr. and Mrs. Polk depart from the White House. It was during Polk's administration that we had the war with Mexico and much credit is due to the President and Mrs. Polk in causing the settlement of the difficulties between the United States and Mexico. Mr. Polk, on his retirement from the White House, purchased a house in Nashville, Tennessee, but did not live long in enjoyment of it. After his death Mrs. Polk lived a great many years in this Nashville home, receiving here the homage of all distinguished visitors to the capital of Tennessee. The legislature of that state called upon her in a body every New Year's Day when they were in session. During the confederate days of Nashville, Mrs. Polk received the most distinguished consideration, all general officers, both Confederate and Union, paying their respects to her by calling in person. The writer remembers hearing George Bancroft, the distinguished historian, give a graphic account of his charming visit to Mrs. Polk not long before her death, which occurred in 1891.
MARGARET TAYLOR AND MRS. BLISS (NEE BETTY TAYLOR.)
Upon the ascension of General Zachary Taylor to the office of the Presidency, much solicitude was expressed as to Mrs. Taylor's ability to preside over the executive mansion. General Taylor, when notified of his election to the office, said "for more than a quarter of a century my house has been the tent ​ and my home the battlefield," an expression which was literally true. Notwithstanding this fact he had never lost his regard for the proprieties and refinements of life. Mrs. Taylor had been his constant companion in all of his campaigns on the frontier! and during the Florida War. Her experience was really the most extensive in army life of that of any other army woman. She was known as a true American heroine. She had no fear and was never willing to be separated from her soldier husband. These experiences developed the true nobility of her character. She spent much of her time at Baton Rouge and in addition to the responsibilities of her household she devoted herself to plans for the I building of churches and establishing of schools, and exercised her influence to quiet the alarm of the people after the battle of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. It was during the war with Mexico that Lieutenant Jefferson Davis was under the command of General Taylor. It was noticed that they were not on friendly terms, and it was afterwards discovered that it was on account of General Taylor's opposition to his attention to his daughter Sarah. The General violently opposed the attentions of army officers to his daughters, on account of the fact that he considered the life of an army officer at that time, fraught with too many hardships for a woman. Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, however, succeeded in winning the affections of General Taylor's daughter and being unable to overcome the father's opposition, the young people^ ran away and were married, which General Taylor considered a dishonorable thing on the part of Jefferson Davis. Mrs. Davis died soon after her marriage, which sad event made a very deep impression upon the General's and Mrs. Taylor's lives.
General Taylor's brilliant triumphs in Mexico destined him to become the President of the United States, as much as Mrs. Taylor opposed his being a candidate for the Presidency. Upon ​ receiving the news of his election, General Taylor resigned as an officer of the army and it was with much regret that he and his family severed their connection with the service, in which they had spent nearly their whole lives. Mrs. Taylor had no taste for the gayeties of Washington and after the inauguration of President Taylor she withdrew from all participation in social functions and resigned the duties of the mistress of the White House to her youngest daughter, Elizabeth, the wife of Major Bliss, who had served as General Taylor's Adjutant General during the campaign. "Miss Betty," as she was called, was young, vivacious, accomplished) and eminently fitted to discharge the duties of mistress of the White House. Mrs. Taylor selected such rooms as suited her simple tastes, and as far as possible resumed the routine that characterized her simple life at Baton Rouge. General Taylor insisted that she should be indulged in exercising her own wishes in these matters, since Mrs. Bliss was thoroughly competent to relieve her mother of distasteful duties. During President Taylor's residency in the White House there were many illustrious men in the Senate and holding other high positions. The rivalries and jealousies in politics reached an alarming height, and as General Taylor was the victim upon whom was visited many attacks and much vituperation, his brave spirit finally succumbed, and he died July 9, 1850, surrounded by his deeply afflicted family. Accompanied by her daughter Mrs. Taylor obtained a home among her relations in Kentucky, but soon became very unhappy, because of the continued manifestations of sympathy.
ABIGAIL FILLMORE.
Mrs. Abigail Fillmore, wife of President Fillmore, was the daughter of Reverend Lemuel Powers, a Baptist clergyman of note. She was born in Stillwater, Saratoga County, New York, March, 1798. Dr. Powers was a descendant of Henry Leland, of Sherburne, England. Mrs. Fillmore's father died while she was in her infancy and she was left to the care of her sainted mother, whose small income led her to seek a home in Cayuga County, and become a teacher, so that she might be able to have her daughter Abigail educated. In her personality Miss Powers commanded the greatest admiration and her exceeding kindness of heart won for her the affection of all who knew her. She was distinguished not only on account of her great beauty, but because of her keen intelligence. She became a teacher, continuing her occupation after her mother's second marriage. She and Mr. Fillmore met in her little home village, he a clothier's apprentice, she a teacher in the village school, and they became engaged. Mr. Fillmore did not long continue in the profession chosen for him by his father, but as soon as possible began the study of law, in which he was most successful. Circumstances compelled him to move to Erie County, and the young people waited three years before their incomes permitted of their marriage, which event was consummated in February, 1826. They established their home in a small house built by Mr. Fillmore's own hands, and here they both worked very hard for the fulfillment of their ambitions. Mr. Fillmore was elected a member of the state legislature in two years after their marriage. At every rung of the ladder which he climbed, Mrs. Fillmore, with her inteltectual strength, ceaseless industry and devotion to her husband's interests, contributed materially to his success. In 1830, the Fillmores removed to Buffalo, where they continued ​ their united efforts and aspirations. Every year added to the name and fame of Millard Fillmore. Upon his election to the Presidency and their removal to the White House, they found it absolutely devoid of books and other evidences of culture. It was Mr. Fillmore's first duty to secure an appropriation from Congress for a library, and to Mrs. Fillmore belongs the credit of selecting the first library in the White House. Mrs. Fillmore had suffered the loss of a sister just before their removal to the executive mansion and consequently left many of the duties devolving upon its mistress to her only daughter. Although eminently fitted to preside over any social function with unusual grace and dignity, Mrs. Fillmore preferred a retired life and the devotion of her time to the welfare of her family. She was very proud of her husband's success and has left behind her a remarkable example of motherly and wifely tenderness. She died at Willard's Hotel, Washington, D. C., March 13, 1852.
MARY ABIGAIL FILLMORE.
Mary Abigail Fillmore, the only daughter of President Fillmore, was, on account of her mother's delicate health, mistress of the White House during President Fillmore's term. She was a remarkably intellectual young woman, highly educated, and a fine linguist. Her taste and talent for sculpture was scarcely second to that of her most intimate friend the distinguished Harriet Hosmer, and but for the cutting off of her life by cholera at the age of twenty-two years, she might have become as distinguished as this beloved schoolmate. She was much admired and attained a national reputation on account of the graceful and acceptable manner in which she presided over the White House.
JANE MEANS APPLETON PIERCE.
Jane Means Appleton, (laughter of Reverend Jesse Appleton, D.D., President of Bowdoin College, was born at Hampton, New Hampshire, March 12, 1806. She was brought up under the most refined, Christian, educational influences. Unfortunately she was delicate from her childhood and as she grew older her nervous organization became more and more sensitive, ​ but her unselfish disposition prompted her to forget herself in her desire to contribute to the happiness and pleasure of others. Soon after her marriage she was thrown into political society, which was peculiarly attractive to her. She made a deep impression by her intellectual conversation and her comprehension of political questions. Franklin Pierce was a member of Congress when they were married, in 1834, and though she shrank at first from Washington society she soon became very popular. In 1838 Mr. Pierce removed from Hillsboro to Concord, accepting the appointment of Attorney-General in the cabinet of James K. Polk. This seemed to be the beginning of his national reputation, which eventually made him President of the United States. President and Mrs. Pierce had three children. The eldest, a son, was traveling with his parents from Boston to Concord, on January 5, 1852, before Mr. Pierce's inauguration, when by an accident on the Boston and Maine Railroad, the car in which they were sitting was overturned, and although the President-elect and Mrs. Pierce escaped serious injury, their son was killed. Such a bereavement on the threshhold of their occupancy of the White House threw a pall over the festivities attending the inaugural and Mrs. Pierce never rallied completely from this fearful blow. One can imagine the effort that it cost her to go through the official functions of the White House with such a tragedy ever before her. After Mr. Pierce's retirement, in an effort to establish Mrs. Pierce's health, they sailed for Europe to spend the winter in the Island of Madeira, continuing their journey through Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and England. She never regained full health and died on December 2, 1863, at Andover, Massachusetts.
HARRIET LANE.
Harriet Lane, the niece of James Buchanan, was one of the most attractive, intelligent and gracious women who ever presided over the White House. She had accompanied her uncle and directed his establishment when he was American ​ minister to St. James. Her grandfather, James Buchanan, emigrated from Ireland in the year 1783 and settled in Mercersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, where he married, in 1788, Elizabeth Speer of Scotch-Irish ancestry. James Buchanan, ex-President of the United States, was the eldest son of this marriage. Miss Lane's mother, Jane Buchanan, was the second child. The two children, so near of an age, were boon companions. Jane, this favorite sister, married Elliot T. Lane and Harriet was their youngest child. The mother died when Harriet was but seven years old; her father died two years later, consequently she was at once adopted by her bachelor uncle, James, and was never separated from him for any length of time afterward. When Mr. Buchanan was a member of Congress he brought Harriet Lane from the Pennsylvania home and placed her in the Georgetown Convent, from which she graduated with the highest honors of that institution, and was so beloved by the nuns that they kept in touch with her as long as she lived. She was a beautiful blonde with a wealth of Titian hair and eyes as soft as those of a gazelle. All her features were cast in a noble mold. She was full of gay spirits and restless activity; always bright and cheerful. She was an omnivorous reader, whiling away many an hour for her lonely uncle reading aloud to him in her sweet and pure voice. Her administration of her uncle's household in England won for her the admiration and respect of royalty, and the people of England considered her an unusually fine specimen of American womanhood. Having spent so much of her life in the society of the distinguished people with whom her uncle was intimate, she was eminently fitted to become mistress of the White House. The gathering of the war clouds during Mr. Buchanan's administration was not accelerated in any way by Miss Lane, whose cordial greeting, cheerful manner and welcome to the White House were extended alike to war representatives of all sections of the country. There are people living to-day who cannot forget her fascinating manners and genuine hospitality in the historic White House. It was said that it was hard to "decide between uncle and niece as to which looked the proudest and greatest, the man or the woman, the earlier or the later born," as they stood together at the first reception on the first New Year's Day after Mr. Buchanan's inauguration. One can readily imagine Miss Lane's difficult position, when each day there passed into the White House alternately the bitterest secessionists and the strongest unionists before the ultimate clash of arms. It required almost superhuman tact and diplomacy to show no distinction, but Miss Lane was equal to the task.
In 1860, when the Prince of Wales, the late Edward VII, paid a visit to the United States, and was the guest of the President and Miss Lane in the White House, Miss Lane made an indelible impression upon her royal guest by her fascinating manner, sincere cordiality and faultless hospitality. Queen Victoria sent her acknowledgment of appreciation of the courtesy extended to the Prince in an autograph letter couched in the strongest expressions of friendship for Miss Lane personally, as well as for the people of the United States, who had received the Prince of Wales with so much honor, and later sent autograph pictures of the royal family, with Miss Lane's name written upon them.
After the close of Mr. Buchanan's administration Miss Lane accompanied her uncle to his beloved "Wheatland," where she remained with him until his ​ death. After that event she spent part of her time in Baltimore, when not visiting friends in other cities. She was married by the Reverend Edward Y. Buchanan in January, 1866, to Henry Elliott Johnston. They went to Cuba and spent a month or two, after which Mr. and Mrs. Johnston took up their residence in Baltimore in the beautiful home which Mr. Johnston had provided with great thoughtfulness, taste and liberality for his bride. Mrs. Johnston regained some of her former cheerfulness and brightness. She seemed very happy as a wife and mother. She had two sons and it seemed that her life was destined to be a happy one. But, alas, for human hope, on the 25th of March, 1881, her son, James Buchanan Johnston, died, and she was again overwhelmed with grief. A few years subsequently the second son died, and also Mr. Johnston, and Harriet Lane Johnston, widowed and childless came back to Washington to spend the remaining years of her life. She was the recipient of distinguished honors by the people of Washington, by whom she was greatly beloved. After her death in 1904 it was found that she had willed her residence in Washington, and endowed it, as a home for dependent women. She also left means to build and endow the National Cathedral School for Boys, at Washington, D. C.
THEODOSIA BURR.
Someone has said of this daughter of Aaron Burr: "With a great deal of wit, spirit and talent, and a face strikingly beautiful she inherited all that a daughter could inherit of a father's courage—she was a realization of her father's idea of a woman." And it is his love for this daughter, so tender and touching, that makes an appeal to our sympathy, however strong condemnation of his public acts may have been.
At the time of her birth in 1784, Burr was a successful young lawyer. Handsome, fascinating, of good family and considerable fortune, he might have aspired to the hand of a Clinton, a Livingston or a Van Rensselaer, but instead he had married a woman ten years his senior, neither rich nor pretty, and a widow with two sons. "The mother of my Theo," he was heard to say in the days when she of whom he spoke had been long dead, "was the best woman and finest lady I have ever known." It was, however, the general opinion that the coming of Theodosia, their only child, was the explanation of the success of the inexplicable marriage. It became Aaron Burr's great ambition to make of this daughter an intelligent and noble woman. One evening a volume entitled "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," by Mary Wollstonecraft, chanced to come under his notice and he sat up reading it until late in the night. In the spirit of that book he undertook the education of his daughter. He went on the principle that Theodosia was as clever and capable as a boy, and he gave her the same advantages as he would have given a son. This was an unusual principle in the days when Theodosia Burr was a girl, and in her education she may be said to be the first exponent of the college woman in America. Her father himself superintended her education even to the smallest details. From Philadelphia, where he was stationed as United States senator, he sent her fond letters of advice and criticism and at his request she sent him every week a journal of her doings and of her progress in learning. ​ These are charming pictures we have of Aaron Burr waiting about in the government building for the arrival of the post that should bring the letter or diary directed in his daughter's girlish handwriting; and again seated at his desk in the noisy senate chamber writing a reply to his "Dear Little Daughter," in time to catch the return mail to New York.
While she was still a child in years Theodosia Burr assumed charge of her father's house, and the distinguished men who gathered there were charmed with the little hostess, her playful wit, her self-poise and dignity of manner. In those days, when she was mistress of "Richmond Hill" after her mother's death, she was more than ever the object of her father's thought and love. He continued to superintend her education, and no social duties, no business or pleasure of any sort were allowed to interfere with her advancement of learning. At sixteen she was still a schoolgirl, though her companions of the same age had relinquished all study books and were giving their entire attention to gowns, parties and beaux. And in later years, in spite of her beauty and talents and her high position as the daughter of Aaron Burr, she was delightfully simple and unaffected. Such was the result of sensible education and her own sweet nature. She also had many admirers. We have a hint of them in one of the jovial Edward Livingston's puns that have come down to us. He was Mayor of New York when Miss Burr was one of the ruling belles. One day he took the young lady aboard a French frigate lying in the harbor. "You must bring none of your sparks on board," he warned her in merry raillery, "for we have a magazine here and we shall all be blown up." However, Miss Burr's "sparks" were not long allowed to remain in evidence for there came impetuous young Joseph Alston from South Carolina, who straightway routed his rivals and captured her.
Through all the period of wifehood and motherhood, as in those earlier days when she was his little daughter, his pupil and mistress of his home, she remained the dearest thing in the world to her distinguished father. On the night before his duel with Hamilton his last thoughts before going to the field were of his daughter. To her he wrote: "I am indebted to you for a very great portion of the happiness which I have enjoyed in this life. You have completely satisfied all that my heart had hoped."
​ Throughout the trial Mrs. Alston was at Richmond. Her presence there was a great help to Burr's cause. She was universally admired for her beauty, her ability and her blind faith in her father. Many believed in Aaron Burr because she believed in him. Luther Martin, her father's counsel, had the keenest admiration for the daughter of his client. "I find," wrote one statesman of this time, "that Luther Martin's idolatrous admiration of Mrs. Alston is as excessive as my own, as it is the medium of his blind attachment to her father."
Burr was acquitted, but popular feeling was so strong against him that he was forced to leave America. In the spring of 1808, the year after his trial, he sailed from New York, and his daughter, sick, sorrowful, but as true as ever, left her Carolina home and journeyed north to see him once more before he went, and to bid him good-bye. The night before his departure she spent with him at the house of a loyal friend. Father and daughter were both brave, and in the morning he parted from her and sailed away in the ship that was carrying him from all that he held most dear. The years of Burr's exile were sad years for his daughter. She realized with keen distress the bitterness of his position, and indeed she herself was made to feel some of the odium that was directed against him. She longed earnestly for his return and pleaded eloquently and pathetically with those in authority that her father might be allowed to come back to America. But when in the year 1812 he did come back to New York and his daughter started to join him there, the ship on which she had taken passage went down off Cape Hatteras and not a soul on board was saved. The father and husband waited in agonized expectancy, but at length came the news of her tragic fate. Thus Burr was left alone, but he did not complain. He was silent through his great sorrow. But there were those who remembered him in his last days, a solitary old man walking along the Battery and looking wistfully toward the horizon for ships. The look was a habit he had acquired while waiting for the ship which never brought his daughter.
ELIZABETH PATTERSON BONAPARTE.
Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte was born in Baltimore, Maryland, February 6, 1785. She was the daughter of William Patterson, who came a poor boy from Ireland to Maryland, where he became a prominent merchant, and one of the wealthiest citizens. She was a beautiful girl of eighteen when she met Jerome Bonaparte at a social gathering in Baltimore, and despite the opposition of her father, a marriage was speedily arranged, the ceremony taking place with all legal formalities on Christmas Eve, 1803, when the groom had just passed his nineteenth birthday. Mr. Patterson's fears that the marriage would be offensive to the First Consul proved to be well grounded. Attempts were unsuccessfully made, through Robert R. Livingston, the American minister at Paris, and through influential persons, to reconcile Napoleon to his brother's marriage. He ordered Jerome to return immediately to France, "leaving in America, the young person in question." Jerome refused to obey and a year was spent in travel and in residence at Baltimore. Meanwhile, Napoleon had proclaimed himself Emperor, and in 1805 Jerome, hoping for a reconciliation with his brother, took his wife to Europe. They reached Lisbon in safety, but there Jerome was arrested and taken to France, his ​ wife not being allowed to land. Her message to the Emperor was: "Madame Bonaparte demands her rights as a member of the Imperial family." She then proceeded to England where a boy was born to her and christened, Jerome Napoleon. The Emperor refused to recognize her marriage, but promised Elizabeth an annual pension of $12,000 provided she would return to America and renounce the name of Bonaparte, which conditions she accepted. She returned to Europe on occasional visits, where she was the center of attraction, winning attention not only from her husband's mother and other members of the family, but also from the Duke of Wellington, Madam de Stael, Byron, and even Louis XVII, who invited her to appear at court, but as she still received a pension from the exiled Emperor she declined. Her husband married Catharine, daughter of the King of Westphalia. He then sent to America for his son, Jerome Napoleon, but Madam Bonaparte refused to give him up, scornfully declining the offer from her husband of a ducal crown with an income of $40,000 a year. The son frequently visited his father's family in Europe, where he was treated as a son and brother. His subsequent marriage with Miss Williams of Baltimore caused his mother great anger. His cousin, Emperor Napoleon III, invited him to France, where he was legitimized and received as a member of the family. He declined a duchy, refusing the condition which demanded the surrender of the name of Bonaparte. On the death of King Jerome in i860, Elizabeth Patterson, as his American wife, unsuccessfully contested his will. The last eighteen years of her life were spent in Baltimore. She left a fortune of one million, five hundred thousand dollars, to two grandsons, Jerome Napoleon and Charles J. Bonaparte. The latter was secretary of the navy and attorney-general during the administration of President Roosevelt. Madame Bonaparte died in Baltimore on April 4, 1879.
THE MOTHER OF WEBSTER.
Daniel Webster spent his childhood in a log cabin on the banks of the Merrimac in an unfrequented part of New Hampshire. From his mother he received those lessons which formed his mind and character and fitted him for the great part he was to play in public life. She denied herself everything possible that he might go to Exeter Academy and to Dartmouth College. Her faith in his ability for future greatness being so strong, she desired to give him every opportunity for education. To her Webster always gave the credit for his success in life.
Prominent Women Who Have Wielded a Strong Influence for the Good of the Country.
MRS. LOUIS McLEAN.
In the letters of Washington Irving we find Mrs. Louis McLean mentioned as a prominent leader in the fashionable society of Washington city. She was the eldest daughter of Robert Milligan and in 1812 married the son of Alan McLean of Delaware, who was elected to Congress from that state in 1817. In 1827 he was ​ elected senator and in 1829 was sent by President Jackson as minister to England. In 1831 he returned to accept the portfolio of the Treasury in Jackson's cabinet and two years later was made secretary of state. While Washington Irving was on a visit to this country he was entertained at Mr. McLean's home. Irving also mentions a Miss Barney as a great belle and Miss Butt of Norfolk.
CORNELIA VAN NESS.
The niece of Mrs. Van Ness was universally admired and wielded a personal sway in the society of the national Capital in the winter of 1828-29. She was a Miss Cornelia Van Ness, the daughter of Cornelius P. Van Ness who was chief justice and governor of Vermont. Mrs. C. P. Van Ness, who was the sister-in-law of the wife of General Van Ness, occupied a position not less distinguished than that of her sister-in-law. Her husband was the governor of Vermont and she presided over his home sustaining her position with dignity and added an elevating social influence to its political supremacy. Her house was the resort of distinguished travelers from every part of the United States as well as Europe, and here General Lafayette was entertained when he re-visited the United States. She accompanied her husband when he was sent as minister to Spain and made, while there, an enviable reputation for her countrywomen. Their daughter, Miss Cornelia Van Ness, while on a visit to her uncle, General Van Ness of Washington city, became one of the belles of Washington. While with her parents in Madrid she became conspicuous and made a most pleasing impression, receiving marks of honor and personal favor from the Queen. She spoke both French and Spanish with fluency. After twenty months in the Spanish capital, she went to Paris on a visit, and here at the house of Mr. Reeves in the presence of a most distinguished gathering, among them General Lafayette, she was married to Mr. James J. Roosevelt of New York. In September 183 1, Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt returned to the United States and took up their residence in New York City. In 1840 Mr. Roosevelt was elected a member of Congress and the following year, accompanied by his family, he took up his residence in Washington City, and during the winters of 1842-43 Mrs. Roosevelt became prominent in society and they were among the first to introduce a new fashion of entertaining. During Washington's administration very simple forms of entertainment prevailed, and one of the rules for the President, established with the concurrence of Jefferson and Hamilton, was that the President was never to visit anyone but the Vice-President, or even to dine out. Most of the entertaining was done by the President and foreign ministers but in 1842 Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt brought about a social revolution by frequent and agreeable dinner and evening parties which President Tyler attended as an unassuming guest, and it is related by Mr. Ingersoll in giving an account of social matters in Washington at this time that he had the honor to play a rubber of whist with President Tyler, Lord Ashburton, ex-minister to England. Many letters were written to Mrs. Roosevelt by statesmen of the greatest distinction in American political life on affairs of national importance, which serve to show the high esteem in which she was entertained and the respect for her judgment and opinions in matters wherein women were not supposed (at that time) ​ to have opinions of value. Mrs. Roosevelt for many years was a leader in society in the city of New York. Her entertainments were always marked by splendor and refined taste; her dignified manner, her intellectual conversation gave a charm to the social intercourse wherever she presided. She was a patron of many of the charitable affairs and institutions of New York and she aided conspicuously in the Sanitary Fair held in New York City.
LADY WILLIAM GORE OUSELEY.
Mrs. Roosevelt's sister was also conspicuous in social life. Her husband was Sir William Gore Ouseley, connected with the British legation in Washington in 1829, when they were married. His life as a diplomat to the various European courts and those of South America was interesting. During Lady Ouseley's stay in Washington she took a prominent part in the social life of that city.
MRS. WINFIELD SCOTT.
The wife of General Winfield Scott was a prominent figure in social life. She was a Miss Maria Mayo, the daughter of Mr. John Mayo of Richmond, Virginia. General and Mrs. Scott had seven children.
MRS. MERRICK.
Mrs. Merrick, the wife of Judge Merrick of the District of Columbia was the daughter of Charles Wickliffe and was a leader in the social life of Washington.
MRS. DANIEL WEBSTER.
The wife of Daniel Webster, Caroline Leroy, accompanied her husband in 1839, when he went abroad and was received at the courts of Europe. They spent their winters in Washington, where Mrs. Webster became prominent socially. Mrs. Webster not only shared his wanderings but was a helpmeet in every sense of the word to her distinguished husband both in public and private affairs. She assisted him in his correspondence and Mr. Webster relied on her in all matters where sound judgment and discretion were required. During his secretaryship both under Presidents Tyler and Fillmore she was his efficient aid, at the same time she made his house the center of a brilliant society, drawing about them the finest minds of the century and those of high position in our country's history.
MRS. JOHN J. CRITTENDEN.
Mrs. John J. Crittenden was one of the American women who shared the glory and distinction of her husband, contributing her part as a wife to his success. The ancestors of Mrs. Crittenden were from Albemarle and Goochland Counties, Virginia. Her great-grandfather was General John Woodson, who had inherited from his father a large estate on the James River in Goochland County, called ​ Dover. He married Dorothea Randolph. One of her sisters was the mother of Thomas Jefferson. Another, Mrs. Pleasants, was the mother of Governor Pleasants of Virginia. Her only brother was Thomas Mann Randolph. A son of Mr. and Mrs. Woodson, Josiah, married his cousin, Elizabeth Woodson, and their daughter, Mary, in 1801, married Dr. James W. Moss of Albermarle County, Virginia, and they were the parents of Elizabeth Moss, who became later Mrs. Crittenden. Elizabeth was born while her parents were living in Kentucky but when quite a young girl they removed to Missouri which had just been admitted as a state to the Union. Their home was for a time in St. Louis, but later her father removed to the town of Columbia in that state. Elizabeth married when quite young a physician, Dr. William P. Wilcox, who was at that time a member of the state legislature. Dr. Wilcox survived but a short time, leaving his wife with two daughters. The eldest, Mary, became the wife of Mr. Andrew McKinley, only son of Justice McKinley of the Supreme Court of the United States. The youngest daughter, Anna, became the wife of Honorable E. Carrington Cabell, a representative in Congress from Florida and son of Honorable William Cabell late Chief Justice of Virginia. In 1832 Mrs. Wilcox married General William H. Ashley,
MRS. SLIDELL.
Mrs. Slidell, the wife of the senator from Louisiana, was conspicuous abroad among the ladies devoted to the Confederate cause and her influence in society was remarkable. Mrs. Slidell was Miss Daylond of Louisiana. Her home was on the Mississippi coast.
MRS. DUVALL AND OTHERS.
Another of the brilliant and intellectual women from the South was Mrs. Duvall, the wife of Mr. Duvall, a planter from Louisiana and son of former Chief Justice of Maryland. Among the social queens of the Confederate court in Richmond, Virginia, was Mrs. James Chestnut of Camden, South Carolina, Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Clement Clay. Mrs. Reverdy Johnson was a prominent leader of the society of Baltimore. She was very beautiful and queenly woman and helped greatly to advance the fortunes of her husband. Mrs. Myra Clarke Gaines was another southern woman prominent in the social life in Washington. Her name is familiar to everyone and her romantic history well known. The history of her claim to her father's estates, prosecuted under various discouragements for thirty-five years, and granted in her favor only a few days before her death, is considered one of the most extraordinary cases as well as one of the most interesting, in the annals of American jurisprudence.
LUCY CRITTENDEN.
Miss Lucy Crittenden who was the sister of John J. Crittenden, the distinguished senator, was a woman possessed of superior intellect and extensive social influence. She married Judge Thornton, a member of Congress from Alabama, the first land commissioner of California, and they made their home in San Francisco.
MRS. JAMES W. WHITE.
Among the women who were distinguished for their efforts for charity, for the poor and afflicted, and who wielded a wide influence through her domestic life, and who commands the admiration of all as a wife, mother and friend, may be mentioned Mrs White. Her mother was the daughter of General Whitney, a wealthy land owner. Her father was General Waterman, one of the earliest settlers of Binghamton, New York. Mrs. James W. White's name before her marriage was Rhoda Elizabeth Waterman, and when quite young she married James W. White a young lawyer of Irish descent and a nephew of General Griffin, author of "The Collegians." Mr. and Mrs. White took up their residence in the city of New York in 1834, and this home was known among her friends as "Castle Comfort." Mrs. White considered it her most sacred duty to God and her husband to deepen, purify and increase in her own heart and in his. the conjugal affection which bound them together and which she prized as Heaven's best gift. We regret that this idea and conception of married life is not more general to-day. In 1853 Mrs. White arranged a private concert in Niblo's salon in aid of charity, at which ​ Madame Sontag sang, and this proved the great fashionable event of the season. In 1856 Mrs. White was solicited by the Sisters of Charity to aid them in the re-building of their hospital, and a meeting of the ladies representing the different Catholic churches was called for the purpose of carrying out Mrs. White's plan for a fair to be held in the Crystal Palace. A storm of opposition greeted this proposal but this did not deter Mrs. White from proceeding with the plan and, though the ladies manifested their opposition to the very hour of the opening of the fair, this great "Charity Fair" cleared thirty-four thousand dollars, a splendid memorial of the indomitable energy, practical wisdom and noble zeal of the ruling spirit of this enterprise. At the close of the fair the sisters urged upon Mrs. White the acceptance of a massive piece of silver as a mark of their gratitude, but she declined the gift and asked that it be disposed of for the benefit of the hospital. In 1859, Mrs. White was president of an association which brought to a successful ending a large fair in aid of the Sisters of Mercy which was held in the Academy of Music. One of Mrs. White's contributions was a large volume, elegantly bound and valued at twenty-five hundred dollars, containing the rarest and most valuable autographs ever collected. The book was drawn in a lottery after a large sum had been raised by the sale of tickets and the fortunate winner presented it to the original donor. Mrs. White carried on during her lifetime an extensive correspondence with the learned, gifted and distinguished persons of this country and Europe, and some have called her "the Sevigne of the United States." Among these correspondents may be mentioned President Lincoln.
MRS. THOMAS ADDIS EMMET AND MRS. DUBOIS.
Among other social leaders prominent in the charitable work of the city of New York may be mentioned Mrs. Thomas Addis Emmet and Mrs. Dubois, who was Miss Delafield, at that time quite a noted artist in sculpture and cameo cutting. Mrs. Emmet was the widow of Thomas Addis Emmet, the son of the distinguished Irish patriot who was a prominent lawyer in New York City. Mrs. Emmet's father was John Thorn, of the firm of Hoyt & Thorn, noted East India merchants. Mrs. Emmet was a noted leader in the best circles of the metropolis, who devoted much of her time to public and private charities.
CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA SOUTHWICK.
Charlotte Augusta Southwick was the daughter of Jonathan Southwick a successful merchant of New York City. She is descended from some of the distinguished families of the early period of Colonial history, the Washingtons and Elys. Richard Ely came to America in 1660. John Ely was a colonel in the Revolutionary Army and a celebrated physician. In 1770 he commanded Fort Trumbull, having raised and equipped his regiment at his own expense. The eldest son of John and Sarah Worthington was Worthington Ely, the grand-father of Charlotte Southwick. His wife was Miss Bushnell, of Connecticut. Their youngest daughter, Lucretia, was the mother of Charlotte Augusta Southwick, afterward Mrs. Coventry Waddell. Soon after leaving school Miss Southwick ​ married Mr. McMurray who lived but a few months, and later she married Mr. William Coventry Waddell, who was connected with some of the noble families of England. Mr. Waddell held many important trusts under the government and was at the time of their marriage, in an official position. Their residence was at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Forty-seventh Street, called Murray Hill and occupied an entire block. Their summers were passed at Saratoga. Mrs. Waddell's graceful manners, good humor and kindness of heart, added to her intellectual charms and brilliant conversation gave her supremacy in the social circles of New York City and at Saratoga Springs, the fashionable resort of the times. In the monetary crisis of 1857 Mr. Waddell lost his fortune and he was compelled to sacrifice his beautiful home on Murray Hill and they removed to a residence two miles north of Newburg on the Hudson.
ADELICIA ACKLEN.
Mrs. Acklen, the daughter of Oliver D. Hayes, a native of South Hadley, Massachusetts, was a prominent leader in the social life of Nashville, Tennessee. Her mother was Sarah T. Hightower, the daughter of Richard Hightower, of Williamson County. Their daughter Adelicia married when quite young Mr. Isaac Franklin, a planter of Louisiana, who lived but a few years. After his death she married Colonel Joseph Acklen, of Huntsville, Alabama, who also lived but a few years. After his death Mrs. Acklen spent much time in Europe. After her return to this country she married Dr. W. A. Cheatham, making her home in Nashville, where she became noted for her cordial hospitality and her house a resort for the celebrities of that section.
EMILY MASON.
Another distinguished woman of this time was Miss Emily Mason, of Kentucky. Her mother was descended from the Marshall and Nicholson families. Her paternal grandfather and uncle were both United States Senators from that state. Her father, General Mason, moved to Kentucky and here Emily was born in the city of Lexington. Her brother was the governor of the Territory of Michigan and the family followed, residing in the city of Detroit. At the age of seventeen Emily presided over the governor's mansion at Detroit, where she entertained and exercised unlimited sway in the fashionable society of that day. Her sprightly wit and remarkable powers of conversation even at a very early age, gave her a social pre-eminence unrivalled by any woman in the western country. After her brother's death she returned to Virginia and here and in New Orleans she became a celebrity in society. Later in life, after the death of both her parents, she met with severe reverses. Her home was taken from her during the war "for military purposes," during her absence in the North. She was suspected as a Southern spy. Her property was entirely destroyed. She went into the hospital work and devoted her energies to the inmates of the Winder Hospital near Richmond. Here and in the prisons she helped to care for the sick, wounded and dying and after the close of the war she worked indefatigably for the cause of humanity among her own people in the South. ​
MRS. HILLS.
Mrs. Hills lived for many years in the city of New York where her morning receptions were quite noted. Her great passion was the cultivation of music and the promotion of the best and highest in art. The daughter of Mrs. Hills was Mrs. John Schermerhorn who inherited her mother's talent in music, and it is said that Gottschalk complimented Mrs. Schermerhorn on the playing of his compositions. Mrs. William Schermerhorn, who was also a prominent figure socially, in New York City, was a Miss Cotinet, and gave during the winter of 1867 three of the most splendid receptions ever given in that city.
WIFE OF JUDGE HUNTINGTON OF INDIANA.
Was esteemed as one of the bright ornaments of western society. She was a daughter of Dr. Christopher A. Rudd, a prominent physician of Springfield, Kentucky, who was descendant of the Carroll family of Maryland. Mrs. Huntington's first husband was Clarke Fitzhugh, of Louisville, Kentucky, a nephew of General George Rogers Clarke. While a widow Mrs. Fitzhugh went to Washington with her cousin Mrs. Florida White and became one of the well-known belles of the Capital city. It was during this visit that she met with Honorable E. M. Huntington, then commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington, and they were married soon afterward. Mr. Huntington was an especial friend of President Tyler, who appointed him to the position of Judge of the United States Court in Indiana, and they removed to that state, making their home in Terre Haute, and Mrs. Huntington became the center and leader of social life in that part of the state.
ELLEN ADAIR.
The daughter of Governor Adair, of Kentucky, was noted throughout the Gulf states for her accomplishments and charm and became one of the belles in Washington city in later years. She married Colonel White, of Florida, and was often called Mrs. Florida White in allusion to the state represented by her husband in Congress. After Colonel White's death, while on a visit to New Orleans, she met Mr. Beattie, an Irish gentleman whom she married. Her sister, Mrs. Benjamin F. Pleasants, was well known and greatly admired in Washington city and always took a great interest in public affairs.
PAMELA WILLIAMS.
SALLIE WARD.
Among the noted women of Kentucky, whose beauty and influence became world-wide, none was more entitled to distinction than Miss Sallie Ward, of Louisville, Kentucky. The high position of her family, her marvelous personal beauty and fascination of manner, placed her even in her youth among the conspicuously observed wherever she went. Her ancestors came of old Huguenot stock who had fled from France, bringing to the southern states some of the best blood which was infused into our young nation. Major Mattheus Flournoy served with distinction in the war of the revolution. Afterwards he purchased a country seat in Scot County, Kentucky, where Sallie Ward was born. Her father, Honorable Robert J. Ward, was a man possessed of the highest intellectual qualities and of that high standard of justice and moral integrity which secured for him lasting friendships. At twenty-eight he was elected speaker of the Kentucky Assembly. Mrs. Ward was one of the most remarkable women of the day, distinguished for her personal loveliness and intellectual gifts. To their daughter, Sallie, they gave every advantage of education and moral training, and while reared in the lap of luxury, enjoying everything which wealth could bestow, receiving from society the most flattering homage, Sallie Ward was unspoiled by adulation and grew up an amiable, gracious, attractive woman, well developed in mind and principles. She possessed a remarkable memory and quick perception, which enabled her to acquire foreign languages with readiness. A talented musician and possessing every accomplishment which could add to her natural charms. Every one in Kentucky seemed to take a pride in her loveliness and the fact that she was a native of their state. She was always interested in the various enterprises, patriotic and municipal. White Sulphur Springs, the noted resort of Virginia, has many legends of her beauty and charm. Statesmen, soldiers, foreign diplomats followed in her train but she gave her hand to Dr. Hart, of New Orleans, and in this city she and her husband established a magnificent home, where her sway continued. In her domestic life Mrs. Hart displayed the noble gifts of her true nature. She had but one child—a son—and after her husband's death she devoted herself to the education and rearing of this boy. Perhaps in the United States there has been no woman so flattered and courted, and the fact that she retained the pure simplicity of her haracter unimpaired, argues a truly elevated mind.
MARCIA BURNS VAN NESS.
One of the most distinguished and charming women, who gave dignity elegance and grace to the social circles of Washington City, was the wife of General Van Ness. She was the daughter of David Burns of excellent family who had inherited a fine estate near the Potomac in the District of Columbia and held the office of civil magistrate. The building now owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the building of the American Republics are now situated where was once the magnificent home and estate of General Van Ness. The seat of National Government was removed to Washington, in May, 1802. Miss Burns had returned home from school in 1800, not long before her father's ​ death, and from him she inherited a large fortune. From the very first she was one of the prominent belles of Washington City. It is said Mrs. Madison was one of her intimate friends. At the age of twenty she married Honorable John P. Van Ness, a member of Congress from New York. After their marriage he became a resident of Washington, and their home was one of the most brilliant social centers in the Capital city, Mrs. Van Ness drawing about her the refined and cultivated persons of the day. Chief Justice Marshall, Henry Clay, President Monroe, General Jackson, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. McDuffie, Daniel Webster, Mr. Hayne and many other noted celebrities of that time were on familiar terms with General Van Ness and frequent visitors in his home. The only daughter of Mrs. Van Ness was Ann Albertina, an accomplished, intelligent young woman. Mrs. Van Ness' influence was always for good, and her example noble and elevating; her friendships true and warm. She ever ministered to the sick and suffering; her deeds of charity were unostentatious. Mrs. Van Ness never recovered from the death of her daughter, which occurred soon after her marriage. A lasting monument of Mrs. Van Ness' charity was the establishing of the Washington City Orphan Asylum by her. To this she gave four thousand dollars, besides many small contributions from time to time, and her indefatigable exertions obtaining, with the aid of a few friends, from Congress an Act of Incorporation and a donation of ten thousand dollars for its permanent support. She also gave directions that a legacy of a thousand dollars should be given this institution after her death. Mrs. Madison was the first directress of the institution, but after her departure Mrs. Van Ness was induced to accept this office, which she held until her death, on the 9th of September, 1832, at the age of fifty years. Her husband, General Van Ness was mayor of Washington at the time; and it is said Mrs. Van Ness was the first American woman buried with public honors in Washington. Few women have indeed ever occupied a larger field of usefulness or been more devotedly engaged in the work for humanity than Mrs. Van Ness.
MARY TODD LINCOLN.
Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of the immortal Abraham Lincoln, was a Kentuckian, and a member of the distinguished family of Todds of Lexington. At the age of twenty-one, on the 4th of November, 1832, she was married to Abrahm Lincoln, who though a prominent lawyer of Springfield, Illinois, gave no evidence of the immortality which he was to achieve. Mr. Lincoln was elected to Congress four years subsequently and took his seat December, 1847. Mrs. Lincoln did not accompany Mr. Lincoln to Washington while he was a member ​ of Congress. They had three sons, Robert T. Lincoln who still survives, and Willie and Thaddeus, the latter better known as "Tad." When Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln came into the White House, war, grim-visaged war, threatened our country. The excitement between the North and South was so intense that Mr. Lincoln came to Washington incognito, Mrs. Lincoln and the children and servants following by another route. Many were the forebodings as to what might be the fate of the President-elect before his inauguration. Mrs. Lincoln's temperament was such that she could not bear the excitement with the repose of a woman of less emotional nature. Of all the criticisms that have been made of Mrs. Lincoln, no one has been unkind enough to accuse her of disloyalty to her husband, or lack of appreciation of his exalted position to which she had been elevated through his election to the presidency, and it is to be regretted that a keener appreciation of the trials to which she was subjected was not then understood. The political excitement and war's alarms were enough, but to these was added the great bereavement of President and Mrs. Lincoln by the death of their beloved second son, Willie, and it is recorded that the mother never afterward entered the room in which he died, or the Blue Room in which his body lay. Mrs. Lincoln's hospitality and generosity were well known, and it is a melancholy thought that just after the close of the Civil War, when they were enjoying the victories of Mr. Lincoln's second election that the tragedy of tragedies occurred and beyond question Mrs. Lincoln never rallied from this unspeakable blow. As soon as she was able to leave, she departed from the White House and went to live with her sister at Springfield, Illinois, where her paroxysms of grief were so overwhelming that those nearest and dearest to her could do nothing to alleviate her sufferings. Her sorrow was greatly increased again by the death of her son "Tad." It was suggested that she travel in ​ Europe for diversion and resignation by change of scene. Congress, in 1870, voted her a pension of $3,000 a year. After her return to the United States in 1880, she again took up her residence with her sister, Mrs. Edwards, in Springfield, Illinois, but her mind was so unsettled that it was found necessary to place her in a private asylum. Congress increased her pension to $5,000 and added a gratuity of $1,500, so that she might be properly provided for. She paid little attention to anything, her mind seeming to be a blank as to what was going on about her, and on the night of the 15th of July, 1882, she was stricken with paralysis and died on the 16th, and her remains were deposited beside those of President Lincoln and her children in the Lincoln monument vault at Springfield, Illinois.
ELIZA McCARDLE JOHNSON.
Eliza McCardle, wife of Andrew Johnson, was the daughter of a widow. She was a beautiful girl who had had some opportunities of education and was considered quite an advanced scholar. She was married to Mr. Johnson when seventeen years of age and entered with much enthusiasm upon the labor of assisting him in the acquirement of his ambition. He was a poor boy, his chief capital consisting of high aspirations and indomitable energy. While he was struggling with poverty as a tailor his loyal wife knew no abatement in her energy and vigilance in taking advantage of every opportunity to advance her husband's fortunes. They resided in Greenville, Tennessee, near a college, and the intercourse with the students in the college served to keep alive Mr. Johnson's eagerness for the acquisition of an education. Mrs. Johnson being very popular with these young students, they made many visits to their modest but hospitable home where, without knowing it they aided Mr. and Mrs. Johnson in their ​ educational desires. They continued this struggle for many years with more or less success.
Mr. Johnson being a member of the Tennessee legislature at the time of the breaking out of the Civil War he was most active as a Unionist and was subsequently elected to the Senate of the United States. Mrs. Johnson came to Washington in the spring of '61 to be with her husband during the sessions of the Senate. During the rebellion they had very trying experiences, as they were the victims of the vengeance of the Confederates. Through it all, however, Mrs. Johnson managed to command the respect and protection of the officers of the Confederate and Union armies, but Mr. Johnson dared not return to Tennessee, She displayed marvelous ability and diplomacy in her efforts to protect her family. The Convention of 1864 nominated Andrew Johnson for the vice-presidency on the ticket with Mr. Lincoln. In March, 1865, Mr. Johnson left his family in Nashville and came to Washington. The world knows of the assassination of Mr. Lincoln on the 14th of April, 1865, and of the promotion of Mr. Johnson from the vice-presidency to the presidency. It was with many forebodings and little enthusiasm that Mrs. Johnson came to the White House as its mistress. Her health was very much broken and as a result her daughters, Mrs. Patterson and Mrs. Stover accompanied her and were soon installed as the ladies of the executive mansion. Mrs. Johnson was a confirmed invalid, and was unable even to appear at any social function, but Mrs. Patterson and Mrs. Stover were quite equal to the duties of conducting the affairs of the White House. Mrs. Patterson's husband was a member of the Senate and she had been accustomed to the society of the Capital, but it seemed that the shadows which had gathered over the White House after the assassination of Mr. Lincoln were not to be dispelled during Mrs. Johnson's occupancy of the executive mansion. On ​ account of the impeachment trial of Mr. Johnson their last days in the White House were those of intense grief and anxiety. After their return to Greenville, Mr. Johnson became a candidate for the Senate as successor to Mr. Brownlow. He was defeated, but his indomitable will caused him to become a candidate the second time, when he was successfully elected and took his seat at the beginning of the session, December, 1874. He occupied that position during the extraordinary session which followed, when he made a speech of great importance to himself in vindication of his course as President of the United States. This speech was of such a personal character that it is of great doubt whether it should have been made or not. Returning home in midsummer, he was stricken with illness and on the morning of the 31st of July, 1875, he died in the home of his youngest daughter near Greenville, Tennessee.
Mrs. Johnson survived him but six months and died at the home of her eldest daughter, Mrs. Patterson, on the 13th of January, 1876. She was buried beside her husband. Their children have erected a magnificent monument to the memory of Andrew and Eliza Johnson. Mrs. Johnson was a noble woman and lived a life of self-denial and self-sacrifice.
JULIA DENT GRANT.
Julia Dent Grant was a Missourian by birth, being the daughter of Judge Dent, of St. Louis, who resided on a large farm near that city. Here Mrs. Grant spent her girlhood. Her youngest, brother, Frederick J. Dent, was appointed to West Point and formed a strong attachment for his classmate, Ulysses S. Grant, who had been appointed to the Military Academy from Ohio: This intimacy caused young Grant to come with his caciet friend young Dent, to St. Louis, when they ​ had their first furlough. The result of the meeting of young Grant and Miss Dent was their marriage on the 22nd of August, 1848, at Judge Dent's city residence in St. Louis. Through all the trials to which Mrs. Grant was subjected as the wife of a lieutenant in the army in the forties and fifties, she bore herself with much loyalty to her husband and to her children; in fact her devotion to her husband and her children was her most striking characteristic.
When the war of the Rebellion broke out Lieutenant Grant had resigned from the army and was living at Galena, Illinois. They had four children, three sons and one daughter, and were in reduced circumstances. Governor Yates in his great dilemma for mustering officers, received from E. B. Washburn a recommendation of Ulysses S. Grant, a citizen of Galena. The ex-lieutenant of the army made haste to respond to the call of Governor Yates and engaged in drilling the troops at Springfield. Soon after he was appointed Colonel of the 21st Infantry Volunteer Regiment, in May, 1861, and from that time until his victorious entry into Washington at the close of the war, Mrs. Grant remained with her family except for making an occasional visit to her husband in the field. Through every phase of her husband's brilliant promotion from one high position to another, Mrs. Grant was the same unaffected, sincere, devoted wife, mother and friend.
When General Grant was elected to the Presidency she assumed the duties of Lady of the White House with the same simplicity of manner, sincerity and cordiality that had characterized her whole life. At no time in the history of the country has any woman who presided over the White House been called upon to conduct more brilliant functions than was Mrs. Grant. Entering the White House so near the close of the war there were more distinguished visitors to Washington than there have ever been during any adminis​ tration. She received royalty and the most illustrious of our country with such genuine hospitality and graciousness as to avoid all criticisms and to win universal admiration. For eight years she was the first Lady in the Land, and it can be claimed that she made no enemies and was much beloved for her goodness of heart and sympathetic disposition.
At the close of General Grant's administration, in their journey around the world, they were received by the crowned heads of every country, and Mrs. Grant was universally admired for the simplicity of her manner and sincerity of her greeting. Her absolute devotion to her husband and children has left an example worthy of emulation. Her faithful vigilance during General Grant's long illness is especially to be admired. Weary of excitement and of being in the public eye, her children being married and away from her, she sought the National Capital for a home in which to spend her declining years. She received the continued respect and loving thought of the Nation to the day of her death in 1902. Her remains rest beside her husband's in the tomb on Riverside Drive, New York.
LUCY WEBB HAYES.
Lucy Webb Hayes was born in Chillicothe, when it was the capital of Ohio. She was the daughter of Dr. James Webb and the granddaughter of Dr. Isaac Cook. The Webbs were natives of North Carolina. Her father died of cholera in 1833, in Lexington, Kentucky, where he had gone to complete the arrangements for sending slaves, whom his father and himself had set free, to Liberia. After the death of her father her mother removed to Delaware, Ohio, in order to be near the Western University, where her sons were educated. Mrs. Hayes pursued her studies and recited with her brothers to ​ the college instructors, by whom she was prepared for the Western Female College at Cincinnati, entering that institution at the same time that her brothers entered the medical college. Mrs. Hayes was very fortunate in having a home in Ohio, which was among the first states to advocate the equal education of men and women. She was a great favorite of Rev. and Mrs. T. B. Wilbur, the principals of the college. She was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, following in that respect closely in the footsteps of her mother. It was while she was a student that she met Rutherford B. Hayes. They were married December 20, 1852. Mrs. Hayes' chief characteristics were her womanly and wifely qualities and devotion to her religion.
Rutherford B. Hayes was a graduate of Kenyon College and of the Cambridge Law School. He practiced law before the Supreme Court of Ohio and established himself at Fremont, Ohio, but subsequently removed to Cincinnati, where he remained for many years. He was made city attorney twice. At the outbreak of the Civil War he volunteered in the 23rd Ohio Regiment (Infantry) and was subsequently made major of the regiment of which General Rosecrans was colonel and the late Stanley Matthews was the lieutenant-colonel. They were assigned to the army of the Potomac. He was four times wounded and served to the close of the war notwithstanding the fact that he was urged to enter politics. Mrs. Hayes spent two summers and a winter taking care of her husband and his soldiers in the field. After his return from the service he was twice elected to Congress, after which he was made Governor of Ohio and they occupied the executive mansion at Columbus. Mrs. Hayes made a national reputation by her pre-eminently social qualities while occupying the executive mansion at Columbus. She seemed to feel that a state or national executive mansion belonged to the people of the state and the nation ​ and she threw open the doors of the executive mansions in Columbus and Washingon on all occasions that it was proper that she should extend their hospitality to the people, or to distinguished visitors from other lands. She worked with earnestness as the wife of the Governor in the interest of the charities, of the state, and was one of the most popular women of her day. Mrs. Hayes was probably one of the most highly intellectual and accomplished of the women who have ever graced the White House and was at the same time the most cordial, unaffected and genial. She had been the idol of the soldiers during the war, as well as of the people of Ohio, and when she came to Washington there was great solicitude as to whether she was worthy of her universal popularity, and people waited with impatience for her first reception. Those who attended that reception went away enthusiastic in their praises of her. While she could not be called a beautiful woman, she had a most attractive face, very bright and expressive eyes and beautiful black hair. She had wonderful health and would not admit that she experienced any fatigue, although she gave more receptions and social entertainments than any occupant of the White House.
There were very many illustrious men in this country when President and Mrs. Hayes were in the White House, and it was her pleasure to make everyone feel at home, and few who called to pay their respects failed to go away without singing her praises. The poorest person who sought alms at the White House was not denied some recognition. She was passionately fond of flowers and there was a profusion of flowers in the White House on every occasion. She created a sensation when she decided not to serve wine on the President's table during their residence in the White House. The adverse criticisms made no impression whatever upon her. She would not discuss the subject, but persisted in her decision, and many ​ time since persons have wished that her example might have been followed by her successors. She was very much interested in the missionary cause, and there is in Washington the Lucy Webb Hayes Home for Deaconesses and retired missionaries, which was named in her honor. A life-sized portrait of Mrs. Hayes by Huntington, was placed in the White House by the Temperance Women of this country. No passing of a Mistress of the White House was more sincerely regretted than was that of Mrs. Hayes, and no one has been more sincerely missed since her untimely death at Fremont, Ohio, in 1889.
LUCRETIA RUDOLPH GARFIELD.
Lucretia Rudolph Garfield was the daughter of Zebulon Rudolph, a farmer who resided near Garrettsville, Ohio. He was one of the founders of Hiram College. Her mother was
​Their marriage took place at the house of the bride's parents, November 11, 1858, Mr. Garfield then being President of Hiram College. Their resources were not very great, so they boarded for several years, each year finding them much advanced in worldly goods and reputation.
Young Mr. and Mrs. Garfield resided in Cleveland until 1860, when he was elected to the State Senate and went to Columbus. In 1861, he left the State Senate to become colonel of the 42nd Ohio Regiment. He went into the army a poor man and it was with the money he saved as an officer of the Union Army that his wife bought a house and lot in Hiram, which cost eight hundred dollars. This sum suggests the style of house which was their home until 1870, when, as a member of Congress from the state of Ohio, he came to Washington. Here his salary of $5,000 a year, with the simplicity of living in those days, enabled him to save enough money to give his family a comfortable home in the Capital of the Nation. Through the helpfulness and economy of his unusually intellectual and economical wife they were able to purchase a farm at Mentor, Ohio, which they named Lawnfield, and where was erected the historic house that was so much advertised during the campaign of 1880. This house was designed by Mrs. Garfield and is a fine specimen of architecture. During the war, Mrs. Garfield lived in her home in Hiram and directed the education of her boys, having only the companionship of Mother Garfield. After the battle of Corinth, Brigadier-General Garfield was at home for six months, suffering from malarial fever. On his return to the front he was assigned chief of staff to General Rosecrans and at the battle of Chickamauga won his major-general's star. Before his return home his baby girl died, which caused him very great distress. In 1863, the people of his district elected him to Congress, where he served for eight terms, and was elected to ​ the Senate, and from the Senate, to the Presidency. During all these years Mrs. Garfield was known as the most devoted wife and mother. Her unusual intelligence and education fitted her pre-eminently for the high positions to which her husband was from time to time promoted. She was never in any sense considered a fashionable woman or a devotee of society. Her ambitions were on a higher plane, but no woman ever received more flattering compliments from her husband and those who knew her best, than Mrs. Garfield. The control she had over her emotional nature was manifested during the ordeal through which she passed at the time of President Garfield's assassination and the eighty days of anxiety and suspense before his death. After the President's death she repaired to Mentor and no woman could have conducted herself with greater propriety, dignity and appreciation of her position than did Mrs. Garfield. The fact that her sons have attained prominent positions is as much due to their mother's care and training as to the inheritance of an illustrious name.
MRS. ELIZA GARFIELD.
Mrs. Eliza Garfield, the mother of James A. Garfield, was an admirable illustration of the true nobility of the women of the earlier days of the Republic. Her devotion to the memory of her husband, her struggle for the maintenance and education of her family, her pure Christian character, native generosity and sympathy with those about her, her self-denial, her humility, her pride in her illustrious son, make her a remarkable woman of her time. She is the only mother of a President who ever resided in the White House. The nation was deeply impressed by the honor paid her by her son after he delivered his inaugural address. Embracing her in the presence of the multitude immediately after he had pronounced the last syllable of that wonderful address, was the greatest tribute a son could have paid a mother and does credit alike to the son and the venerable mother. She survived her distinguished son but a few years.
MARY ARTHUR McELROY.
President Arthur, successor to James A. Garfield, had been a widower for many years, and Washington was much concerned as to who would preside over the White House during the presidency of Chester A. Arthur. The continuous ​ stream of visitors through the White House during President Garfield's long illness was so destructive to everything in the executive mansion that it was really almost uninhabitable when President Arthur took the oath of office, and there was much solicitude lest on account of the absence of a lady of the White House, it would be long before it would resume its attractive appearance. They little realized that President Arthur was a man of exquisite taste and perfect knowledge as to the appointments of an elegant home, and in as brief a time as any woman could have directed its rehabilitation, it presented as attractive an appearance as if a, magician's wand had been waved in every room of the historic home of the presidents. Re-furnishings, re-decoration and the addition of up-to-date accessories transformed it into a luxurious home before the meeting of Congress in December, 1881. President Arthur had selected his sister, Mary Arthur McElroy, wife of Reverend John E. McElroy, of Albany, New York, to preside over the White House and take charge of his daughter, Nellie, an attractive schoolgirl.
Mrs. McElroy, the youngest of several children of Reverend William Arthur, a Baptist clergymen of Vermont, was born in Greenwich, Washington County, New York. She was educated in the famous school of Mrs. Willard in Troy. Her mother was a most accomplished woman and transmitted many of her virtues and talents to her children. As Mary Arthur, Mrs. McElroy, had every advantage that could be given at that time. She came to the White House well fitted to grace the historic mansion. It can be said without fear of contradiction, that the social entertainments, state dinners, evening receptions and all social functions given at the White House during President Arthur's administration were the most magnificent and enjoyable of any that had ever been given in the White House by any president and the lady presiding. Mrs. McElroy, as the mistress of the White House, distinguished herself by her graciousness, hospitality, cordiality, good taste and geniality. She allowed no one to feel that they were unwelcome or that she felt bored and fatigued by their presence. She drew about her many young people, among them her own daughter and the President's daughter, Nellie, who added much brightness on every occasion. She introduced the custom of serving tea and other refreshments after every reception. The hospitality thus extended seemed to infuse much good feeling and cheerfulness among the guests, and those who were privileged to enter the White House on these occasions. Mrs. McElroy was a devout Christian and attended St. John's Church on Lafayette Square, where President Arthur, also worshipped. Mrs. Haynsworth, another sister of President Arthur, frequently assisted Mrs. McElroy in the distribution of the hospitalities of this lavish administration. She rarely failed to have about her the ladies of the Cabinet and other distinguished women of Washington. Mrs. McElroy was deeply regretted when she ended her reign and took her departure from Washington.
ROSE ELIZABETH CLEVELAND.
It was a curious coincidence that President Cleveland, President Arthur's successor, was, like Mr. Arthur, a bachelor and had to depend upon someone other ​
FRANCES FOLSOM CLEVELAND.
Rose Elizabeth Cleveland presided over the White House most acceptably for about a year, when it was rumored that she was to be succeeded by her brother's bride, and much interest was manifested as to who that fortunate person was to be. It finally developed that it was the beautiful Miss Frances Folsom, of Buffalo, New York, who immediately on her return from Europe, was married to Grover Cleveland, the President of the United States.
Miss Folsom was the daughter of Mr. Cleveland's former law partner, and she was his ward from the time of the tragic death of her father, who was killed in an accident. She had been educated at Wells College and had spent a year in Europe after Mr. Cleveland's election to the Presidency. It was claimed the engagement existed at the time of his election but desiring to spend a year abroad before assuming the grave responsibility of Mistress of the White House, the wedding was not hastened. She was but twenty-two years old at the time of her marriage. On the 27th of May, she arrived in New York from her European sojourn. It was found that unusual preparations were being made in the White House for expected guests. Miss Cleveland, Mistress of the White House, accompanied by Mr. Cleveland's secretary, Mr. Lamont, and his wife, and several of the ladies of the Cabinet, hurried to New York to meet Miss Folsom and her mother on their arrival on the "Noordland" from Antwerp. The party immediately repaired to the Gilsey House where they were soon after joined by the President and the friends who accompanied him. They returned on Monday to Washington, Mrs. Cleveland and her mother going to the White House with the party. They remained as guests until on Wednesday evening, June 3rd, when the President and Miss Folsom were ​ married in the presence of members of the Cabinet and a few friends. Every detail of the important event was characterized by refinement and dignity. After their marriage, the President and Mrs. Cleveland went to Deer Park, Maryland, where the cottage of ex-Senator Davis, of West Virginia, had been prepared for their reception. In a few days they returned to the White House and no mistress of that staid old mansion ever presided with more grace, dignity and genuine hospitality than did Mrs. Grover Cleveland. Tall and graceful with dark brown hair, worn loosely back from the forehead, the most distinguishing features of her face were her beautiful violet eyes and exquisitely mobile mouth, which imparted to the face a very sweet expression. As beauty ever paves a way for its possessor, Mrs. Cleveland was admired from the first as a woman of rare attractions. Her personality was exceedingly agreeable. She had by nature all acquirements and attained the art of pleasing in an eminent degree. Mrs. Cleveland displayed at all times wonderful tact and simplicity of manner. She was not in the least spoiled by the adulation she received. Ruth, President and Mrs. Cleveland's first child, was born in the White House. They retired at the end of Mr. Cleveland's first term, to be absent only four years, when she was again installed in the White House as its Mistress for the second time. It would be a very fault-finding person who could point out any act of Mrs. Cleveland's while she was the Mistress of the White House that could be criticised. When she took her departure for the second time she left behind her many devoted friends and admirers. No complaint was ever lodged against her as having extended scant courtesy to any visitor entitled to consideration at the National Executive Mansion.
In establishing their private home in Princeton, New Jersey, she at once became popular with the faculty, trustees and students of Princeton College. Entering at all times ​ heartily into every scheme for the pleasure of the college people, she won their imperishable admiration. Her uniform dignity and the maintenance of her high position as the widow of an ex-President of the United States has been above criticism.
Her good taste in accompanying her children to Europe to give them some opportunities in the old world, and the modesty with which she took up her residence in Geneva to quietly carry out her plans, is worthy of the highest commendation of our American Nation.
CAROLINE SCOTT HARRISON.
Mrs. Harrison was among the most highly educated and accomplished women who ever occupied the White House. Caroline Scott Harrison was born in Oxford, Ohio, October 1, 1832. Mrs. Harrison's ancestors were Scotch, emigrating to America and settling in the Valley of Neshaminy, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where the village of Hartsville now stands, twenty miles north of Philadelphia. At this place Reverend William Tennent, in 1726, founded the historic Log College, which was the original of Princeton College. Mrs. Harrison's great-grandfather, John Scott, son of the founder of the family in this country, took up his residence in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and purchased land opposite Belvidere, New Jersey, which is still known as the Scott Farm. During the Revolutionary War he was a quartermaster in the Pennsylvania line. His brother, Matthew Scott, after serving as Captain in the army, moved to Kentucky. Mrs. Harrison's grandfather, Reverend George McElroy Scott, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1793, and studied theology with the President of Princeton College, Reverend Stanhope Smith. His first charge was Mill Creek Church, Beaver ​ County, Pennsylvania, the first Presbyterian Church of that locality. He occupied the pulpit in 1799. Her father, Dr. John W. Scott, was born in 1800, while his father was pastor of the Mill Creek Church. Descending from an educated ancestry, Mrs. Harrison had superior educational advantages early in life. She graduated in 1852 from Oxford, Ohio, Female Seminary. Benjamin Harrison, her future husband, took his degree at Oxford University in the same town. They were engaged at the time of their graduation, but Mrs. Harrison taught music in Carrollton, Kentucky, for one year before her marriage October 20, 1853, and removed to Indianapolis, Indiana. When the Civil War broke out, Benjamin Harrison decided to enter the army, his wife saying to him "Go and help to save your country, and let us trust in the shielding care of a higher Power for your protection and safe return."
She took great pride in her husband's distinguished service, especially in his heroic deeds at Resaca and Peach Tree Creek, Georgia. She was a woman of strong individuality and deep sympathy for those in distress; she was generous and benevolent to a fault; she was one of the most active workers in the Presbyterian Church and Sunday school and in all patriotic and charitable organizations; she was universally popular. During Senator Harrison's six years in the United States Senate, prior to his election to the Presidency, Mrs. Harrison was one of the best known and universally beloved ladies of the Senate.
When her husband was made President, Mrs. Harrison's experiences had served to fit her for the duties of Mistress of the White House, and no criticism was ever made of her conduct. She recognized the fact that the house belonged to the Nation, but at the same time she macle it a home for her family and none of her predecessors made it more attractive for all ​ who cared to visit the White House. Her receptions and other social functions were charming in every sense of the word. Her long illness and pathetic death have left a lasting impression upon the Nation.
IDA SAXTON McKINLEY.
The wife of President McKinley was born Ida Saxton on the 8th of June, 1847, in Canton, Ohio. Her father died just as she was entering upon her young womanhood; her mother having died when she was but a child. She was therefore, early left an orphan, and lived with her sister. It was decided that she should go abroad as a diversion from the grief over the death of her father. Soon after her return, on January 25, 1871, she was married to Major William McKinley, then a rising lawyer and statesman of the town of Canton, Ohio. She had been delicate from her childhood and after the death of the two children born to her she became a confirmed invalid. The world has long since read of the matchless tenderness and devotion and thoughtfulness of her husband, who was rapidly promoted from one high position to another. She greatly appreciated the attention bestowed upon her but the story of her resignation, gentleness and beautiful character can never be told. Her most charming characteristic was her perfect sincerity and thoughtfulness for others.
President McKinley had been a member of Congress for fourteen years, Governor of the state of Ohio, and constantly occupied with public affairs before he was nominated for the Presidency of the United States. Through all of these positions Mrs. McKinley had caused herself to be beloved on account of her amiability, patience and devotion to her husband and those who ministered to her wants. She was never able to do what she desired in the White House, yet the effort she made ​ was quite remarkable, in the face of her invalidism. The whole world was deeply touched by her sufferings when she was informed of the tragic death of her husband, and no one expected that she would survive as long as she did her husband's loss. Mrs. McKinley died in 1907, and her remains were placed beside those of her illustrious husband in the magnificent monument built by the Nation to perpetuate his memory.
EDITH KERMIT CAROW ROOSEVELT.
The fearful tragedy which made Vice-President Roosevelt President of the United States was so overwhelming in its effect that no one thought of the consequences on society of such a sudden change in the administration, or seemed to give any thought as to Mrs. Roosevelt's fitness for the position of Mistress of the White House.
Fortunately there was no need of anxiety, as Mrs. Roosevelt was reared amidst the luxuries of life and had received every advantage for the cultivation of her superior mind. With a heart full of tenderness and absolutely without guile, Mrs. Roosevelt had little to learn when she assumed the duties of presiding over the White House. She was so well informed on all subjects of which many women are ignorant that she was well equipped to meet the most learned and cultured people of the land. She was so gracious and natural in her manner that she inspired the confidence and admiration of all who met her. She was a devoted wife and mother. She disliked notoriety and was so simple and refined in her tastes that critics had little ground for discussion as to what she did or what she wore. Her aversion to gossip and her reticence more than once silenced would-be detractors. Her influence was ever exerted for true loyalty, freedom and humanity and it ​ can truthfully be said that her departure from the White House was much regretted.
Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt was born at Norwich, Connecticut, August 6, 1861. She was the daughter of Charles and Gertrude Elizabeth Carow. She was educated at Cornstock School, New York. Married Theodore Roosevelt at St. George's Church, London, December 2, 1886. She is the mother of four sons and one daughter.
HELEN HERRON TAFT.
The wife of the President of the United States was born in Cincinnati, June 2, 1861, and is the daughter of John Williamson and Harriet Collins Herron. She was educated at private schools in Cincinnati, and at her home there was married June 19, 1886, to William Howard Taft. Mrs. Taft is a woman of strong character and an equal degree of intensity in her aims; she is sympathetic, straightforward, sincere, with a wholesome contempt for artificial veneers, social shams and the glitter that has no gold behind it. But for impaired health, which beset her shortly after her occupancy of the White House, she would doubtless have made one of the most forceful and brilliant mistresses of the national executive mansion. Mrs. Taft is well and broadly educated, a trained musician and has had every advantage which culture anl travel can give. She has journeyed much, and lived in many lands. She is the mother of three children—two sons, Robert, a student at Yale, and Charles, a schoolboy at Groton, Massachusetts, and of one daughter, Miss Helen Taft, an accomplished graduate of Bryn Mawr, and now her mother's right hand in all social matters.
MRS. JAMES RUSH.
The ideas which Mrs. Otis applied with such charming results in Boston were also applied by Mrs. James Rush, of Philadelphia, to the social life of that city. ​ She, like Mrs. Otis, "had learned social democracy abroad where American women are still frequently obliged to go to learn it." In spite of our pretended democracy very frequently extreme formality and ridiculous social customs prevail in this country. Mrs. Rush's husband was one of the great physicians of his day, a man of wide cultivation and a great student, and their circle gave Mrs. Rush ample opportunity for the social reforms which she inaugurated. Among the first changes she made was the abolition of the day at home, and instead she established a fashionable hour for promenade, and at this time the walk to the river in the afternoon was quite the fashionable thing of Philadelphia social life.
Mrs. Rush's dinners and receptions were quite affairs of state. She took these gatherings quite seriously and studied to bring together interesting people. Miss Wharton says Mrs. Rush's recipe for making up a party ran: "An ex-president, a foreign minister, a poet, two or three American artists, as many lady authors, a dozen merchants, lawyers, physicians, and others who are there on the simple footing of gentlemen — their wives, who come as respectable and agreeable 'ladies'—fifty young men who are good beaux and dance well, fifty pretty girls without money but respectable, well dressed, lively, charming, are always indispensable at a party."
The effect in a community of such a circle is incalculable. It breaks down prejudices and caste, it starts lines of thought and creates breadth of opinion. There is no activity of a community, political, social, philanthropic, educational, artistic, which does not receive impulses from circles made up as Mrs. Rush did hers on the base of character and achievement, which should be the basis for every social circle of every city of America, at our national Capital particularly.
Mrs. Rush was a graduate of Mrs. Emma Willard's Seminary of Troy, New York. Mrs. Willard herself was a great social leader. The life at her seminary reflected in those years in a rather unusual way the strong social instincts of its great founder, and the effect was felt all over the country as those women went out into the various sections to establish their homes.
MRS. HARRISON GRAY OTIS.
Among the women conspicuous by their leadership during the '40's and '50's, none are more entitled to mention than Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis, of Boston, who, after several years' residence abroad, undertook the task of lifting the social life of Boston from its old ruts of pretentious formality and exclusiveness, breaking up its stiffness and bringing the social life to a more enjoyable and democratic status. Only such an independent and courageous spirit as Mrs. Otis possessed would have dared such an undertaking. Mrs. Otis was the daughter of one of Boston's richest merchants. Her name before her marriage was Elizabeth Boardman, and her husband, Harrison Gray Otis, was a nephew of James Otis and of Mercy Otis Warren. Several years after her marriage she was left a widow with three sons. At this time she became a social leader and it is said among her many admirers were Daniel Webster and Henry Clay. In 1835 she went to Europe to educate her sons, and while there studied and became a ready conversationalist in several languages. The experience of these years in the flexible, ​ lively, stimulating, intellectual circles of Europe had given Mrs. Otis convincing proof of what a woman might accomplish for a community if she handled the social circle with brains and independence. So, on her return to Boston, she set out at once to build up in her home a social circle where naturalness and simplicity should rule. At that time, elaborate heavy dinners were considered the proper social entertainment for elders and balls for the younger set. There was very little informal visiting. Mrs. Otis swept all of this out of the way and ignored functions, banquets and balls, but instead opened her house every Saturday morning and every Thursday afternoon to her own set and many more invited guests. No aspiring worthy young writer, singer or artist of talent who fell in Mrs. Otis's way but was welcome in her circle. A big, wide-awake informal circle was soon about her, and instead of the previous form of entertainment, she substituted simply tea and cakes. No matter what the occasion, "tea and cakes" were all her guests received, and when entertaining even President Fillmore, Lord Elgin and many other dignitaries, tea and cakes were the only refreshment at the affairs given in their honor. But her innovations were founded on good sense and genuine love for people, and therefore they were a success from the beginning. Her book "The Barclays of Boston" embodies her ideas, and is a valuable document on the manners and customs of Boston in her time. The results of Mrs. Otis's stand were altogether beneficent and stimulating. Mrs. Otis's great passion was the life and character of George Washington. On February 22nd her house was always thrown open and she entertained elaborately. It was her work that made that date a legal holiday in Massachusetts and gave the strongest impulse toward making it a national day. It was natural that she should take a leading part in the enterprise of buying Mr. Vernon for a national monument, and the money which completed the purchase of Mt. Vernon was raised by a ball engineered by Mrs. Otis and given in the Boston Theatre on March 4, 1859. She was also one of the leading spirits in the ball to raise the money for the completion of the Bunker Hill Monument. The success of this affair was due largely to a woman—Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale—the best-known editor at that time among American women.
MRS. JOSHUA SPEED AND MRS. NINIAN EDWARDS.
Mrs. Joshua Speed and Mrs. Ninian Edwards, of Springfield, Illinois, were conspicuous leaders in their home city, the capital of Illinois. They gathered about their table and in their drawing-rooms such men as Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, John J. Hardin, James Shields, the Edwardses, John Stuart, David Davis, and Edward D. Baker, all distinguished men in the history of our country. At this time all the women were interested in politics and national affairs. Throughout all the West, indeed, there flowed an enthusiastic spirit which made up for everything else. The women of the West were a part of the great growth of that country. They felt their responsibility in the westward movement, the obligations which had been laid upon them as wives and mothers, the obligation of establishing homes while their husbands established the towns and cities, of looking after the education of their children while their husbands made ​ the money to pay for these opportunities, and of preserving and developing the morals not only of their children but of their husbands and the men about them.
ELIZABETH PALMER PEABODY.
The persistency and skill of Miss Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, called "The Grandmother of Boston," in keeping an open house for social gatherings was one of the really valuable contributions to the social life of Boston. Her little shop has been called "a kind of Transcendental Exchange," and her home was the same, and it is said she was the first woman in Boston to give a regular evening to her friends, and to the last days of her life she continued these delightful social gatherings.
MRS. BENJAMIN BUTLER.
In many instances the wife of a great man has failed to prove herself worthy even of reflected glory, but the wife of Benjamin Butler was such an active factor in his career, along military as well as civil lines, that she well deserves a biography of her own. I give it, however, in the words of her distinguished husband, as I have taken it from the story of his own life: "In the year 1830, I made the acquaintance of Fisher Ames Hildreth, the only son of Dr. Israil Hildreth, of Dracut, a town joining Lowell on the north side of the Merrimac River. That acquaintance ripened into an affectionate friendship which terminated only with his death thirty years later. Doctor Hildreth had a family of seven children, six being daughters. The son, having invited me to the family gathering of the Thanksgiving feast I there first met Sarah, the second daughter. I was much impressed with her personal endowments, literary attainments and brilliancy of mind. Doctor Hildreth was an exceedingly scholarly and literary man, who was a great admirer of English poets, especially of Byron, Burns and Shakespeare, and had early taught the great poet's plays to his daughter, who in consequence developed a strong desire to go on the stage. Her father approved of this and she appeared with brilliant success at the Tremont Theatre in Boston and the Park Theatre in New York, her talent for the delineation of character being fully acknowledged by all. When our acquaintance began I had never seen her on the stage, her home life being sufficient to attract me. She declined to leave her profession, however, until I had won my spurs in my own profession. But a most cordial and affectionate intimacy existed between us, and in the spring of 1843, I visited her at Cincinnati, Ohio, where she was a star. There we became engaged and we were married on the sixteenth of May, 1844."
Having thus concisely outlined his wife's girlhood and their courtship, the General proceeds with his tribute to her value as the helpmate of a public man: "My wife, with a devotion quite unparalleled," he says, "gave me her support by accompanying me, at my earnest wish, in every expedition in the War of the Rebellion and made for me a home wherever I was stationed in command. She went with me in the expedition to Ship Island after the attack upon New Orleans, where I was exposed to the greatest peril of my life, and only when my ship was hourly expected to go to pieces and when I appealed to her good sense that our ​ children must not be bereft of both parents did she leave me to seek safety on board a gun boat. She suffered great privation and hardships on Ship Island, while we were awaiting the attack of New Orleans.
"In 1864 she went with me to the field and remained with me during most of the campaign of 1864. Thus I had an advantage over most of my brother commanding-generals in the field in having an adviser, faithful, true and cool-headed, conscientious and conservative, whose conclusions could always be trusted. In the more military movements although she took full note she never interfered by suggestion. In other matters all that she agreed to was right. And if there is anything in my administration of affairs that may be questioned it is that in which I followed the bent of my own actions.
"Returning home with me after I had retired to civil and political life, Mrs. Butler remained the same good adviser, educating and guiding her children during their young lives with such skill and success that neither of them ever did an act which caused me serious sorrow or gave me the least anxiety on their behalf. She made my home and family as happy as could be. She took her place in society when in Washington and maintained it with such grace and dignity and loveliness of character that no one ever said an unkind or a disparaging word of her."
Mrs. Benjamin Butler died in Lowell in 1877. Her veracity and strong mental characteristics survived pre-eminently in her grandson, Butler Ames, the son of her eldest daughter, who has for some years represented the district of her birth in the National Congress.
MRS. HENRY D. GILPIN.
Mrs. Henry D. Gilpin was the widow of an eminent man, and had a ruling influence in Philadelphia owing to her intellectual superiority, her culture and refinement. She was the daughter of Dr. John Sibley, a distinguished physician in Louisiana until the close of his life and exercised throughout that state a wide influence. Leaving school at an early date she joined her father in Louisiana and married Josiah S. Johnston, then Judge of the Western District of that state. He was afterwards elected to the House of Representatives and served for three terms in the Senate of the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston resided in Washington and while there their house was celebrated for its hospitality. After the death of Mr. Johnston, Mrs. Johnston became the wife of Honorable Henry D. Gilpin, United States Attorney for the District of Pennsylvania, and whom Mr. Van Buren, after he was elected President called to his cabinet as Solicitor of the Treasury and subsequently to the office of Attorney-General of the United States. Their home in Philadelphia was the resort of distinguished strangers, artists, connoisseurs. The library of Mr. Gilpin was perhaps the largest private collection in America and was bequeathed by him (after his wife's death), to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. His works of art were left to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and to this collection Mrs. Gilpin added the portraits of Mr. Gilpin and herself. Mrs. Gilpin took a prominent part in the great Sanitary Fair held in Philadelphia: was chairman of the Ladies' A Committee, which department alone realized thirty-five thousand dollars. ​
MARY THOMPSON HILL WILLARD.
The mother of Frances E. Willard was born January 3, 1805, near North Danville, Vermont. She was the daughter of John Hill, of Lee, New Hampshire and Polly Thompson Hill. Mary Hill received her early education in the district schools. At that time these schools were largely taught by students or graduates of Dartmouth and Middlebury colleges. When she was twelve years of age her father removed to the Genessee Valley in Western New York, and in a new settlement fourteen miles from Rochester, known as the town of Ogden, Mary spent her early girlhood. At the age of fifteen she taught her first school and continued in the work as a teacher for eleven years. It is said "she possessed in an unusual degree a love for the beautiful, had a poetic faculty, a sweet voice, remarkable gifts in conversation, rare tact, delicacy and appreciation of the best in others." On November 3, 1831, she married Josiah F. Willard, the son of one of her father's neighbors. Four children were born. The second daughter was Frances Elizabeth Willard, who being rather a delicate child, her parents moved to Oberlin, Ohio, to secure for her educational advantages which were offered in that city. The lives of both Mr. and Mrs. Willard were beautiful and well ordered, their children sharing in every interest. They formed a circle for study long before women's clubs were heard of. Mr. Willard's health failing it became necessary for them to move to what was then the territory of Wisconsin, and in 1846 they settled near Janesville, Wisconsin. They soon became the leaders in the church and affairs of the community. The Willards resided in this home for twelve years, and then moved to Evanston, Illinois, near Chicago in order that their daughters might be educated without being separated from their parents and the home life. In 1862 Mary, the younger daughter, died and in 1868 Mr. Willard passed away and in 1878 the son Oliver.
Frances Willard in her early youth wrote these words of her mother. "I thank God for my mother as for no other gift of his bestowing. My nature is so woven into hers that I think it would almost be death for me to have the bond severed and one so much myself gone over the river. I verily believe I cling to her more than ever did any other of her children, perhaps because I am to need her more." "Enter every open door," was her advice to her daughter, and much of the distinguished career of Frances E. Willard was rendered possible through the courage and by the encouragement given her by her mother. Mrs. Willard preserved her mental powers to the last, and died after a brief illness, August 7, 1892, at the age of nearly eighty-eight years. These words were said at her funeral: "She was a reformer by nature, she made the world's cause her own and identified herself with all its fortunes; nothing of its sadness, sorrow or pain was foreign to her. With a genius, a consecration, a beauty and a youth which had outlived her years, a soul eager still to know, to learn, to catch every word God had for her, she lived on, a center of joy and comfort in this most typical and almost best known home in America. She stood a veritable Matterhorn of strength to this daughter. Given a face like hers, brave, benignant, patient, yet resolute, a will inflexible for duty, a heart sensitive to righteousness and truth, yet tender as a child's, given New England puritanism and rigor, its habits of ​ looking deep into every problem, its consciousness full of God, its lofty ideal of freedom and its final espousal of every noble cause, and you and I shall never blame the stalwart heart, well-nigh crushed because mother is gone." Her household name was "Saint Courageous."
MRS. JOHN HAYS HAMMOND.
The wife of this most distinguished mining engineer of the world was born Natalie Harris, the daughter of a Mississippi judge. Miss Harris was married to "the highest salaried man in the world" in 1881, and her early married experiences were sometimes of a very trying sort. To quote her own words: "We have suffered many hardships in common and during my early life at mines I have known what it was to be underfed and cold. I have slept with a baby on my breast, under a cart in the dust of the roads. We have traveled together in every known sort of vehicle—bullock wagon, Cape cart and private pullman—for days at a time my saddle has been my pillow." Mrs. Hammond has always been her distinguished husband's comrade, greatest admirer and best friend. She is the mother of four sons and one daughter. Mrs. Hammond is a brilliant woman and amply fulfils the demands made upon her, whether these take the form of philanthropic effort, as in serving as president of the woman's branch of the National Civic Federation, or high social position as wife of the special ambassador to the coronation of Britain's king. Mr. and Mrs. Hammond make their winter home at the nation's Capital and summer in their magnificent yacht "The Alcodo" or at their seashore residence at Gloucester, Massachusetts.
MRS. CHAMP CLARK.
Genevieve Davis Bennett, wife of Champ Clark, speaker of the House of Representatives, and daughter of Joel Davis Bennett and Mary McClung McAlfee, his wife, was born in Callaway County, Missouri; educated in the public schools and at the Missouri State University, and is a member in good standing of the Presbyterian Church and the Congressional Club. On both sides of the house, Mrs. Clark is descended from colonial ancestors. Her parents were both from Kentucky, her mother being born in Mercer County and her father in Madison County. Both sides of her family took part in the French and Indian War, the American Revolution and the War of 1812. In the Civil War, which divided the states, Mrs. Clark had first cousins on both sides. In one instance, she had two cousins, brothers, who served on different sides of the great struggle.
On her mother's side, Mrs. Clark comes of Scotch-Irish stock. Two of her ancestors, father and son, were at the battle of the Boyne; on her father's side she is descended from the first Colonial Governor of Virginia ; collaterally she is descended from George Rodgers Clark and Joseph Hamilton Daviess. Her grandfather, George McAlfee, served in the War of 1812 and was at the Battle of the Thames, fighting in Colonel Dick Johnson's regiment. Her great grandfather, George McAlfee, Sr., was with General George Rodgers Clark in his expedition ​ against the British and Indians, and received for his services a grant of 1400 acres of land from Benjamin Harrison, then Governor of Virginia.
On her father's side Mrs. Clark's great grandmother, Margaret Dozier, wife of Captain James Davis, was the heroine of a dramatic incident during the closing months of the Revolutionary War, which has been handed down by tradition and told in all the histories of Kentucky. Captain Davis had placed his family, consisting of his wife and four children, a negro slave woman and her child, an infant, at the fort (which was under the command of Captain Jesse Davis) while he went with a body of troops under the command of Colonel Floyd, of Virginia, to find and punish a band of marauding Indians for their depredations committed in the neighborhood of Blue Licks. While they were gone, the Indians surprised the fort, killed all the inmates with great slaughter and burnt the fort. Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Clark's great-grandmother, escaped with her infant son, and the negro servant also had the good fortune to escape with her child. Everybody else was killed but the three little Davis girls, Margaret, Rebecca and Martha or (as they were then called Peggy, Becky and Patty). These children, according to tradition were saved on account of their remarkable beauty, the Indians being actuated by the desire to extort a great ransom made them captive. In the meantime, the mother and servant with their children undertook to make their way to the nearest station to get someone to come and rescue her little girls, but they lost their way in the darkness and wandered around and were picked up after three days and taken to the station. The Indians in the meantime had gotten such a start with the children that it was impossible to overtake them. They were taken to Detroit, and kept there for eighteen months under the care of Major DePeyster who was then commandant at the fort ; the children were treated with every consideration. Major DePeyster was a man of considerable taste and accomplishments. His wife was childless and conceived a great fancy for little Peggy Davis and her sisters, and was anxious to adopt Peggy who was the oldest and promised her a life of luxury if she would consent, but young as she was she was not to be weaned from her home and country. The children were finally returned to their parents in Madison County, Kentucky, grew up to womanhood and married three brothers, Joseph, Elijah and Moses Bennett, from Maryland, and from them have descended some of the most notable families in America. It is from Peggy Davis who married Joseph Bennett that Mrs. Champ Clark is descended.
BELLE CASE LA FOLLETTE.
Mrs. Belle Case La Follette was born in April, 1859, at Summit, Juneau County, Wisconsin. Pier father's name was Anson Case. Her mother was Mary Nesbit. Their home, at the time of Mrs. La Follette's childhood, was in Baraboo, Wisconsin. She attended the public schools of that city and was a graduate later of the State University, winning at this institution in 1879 the Lewis Prize. In 1881 she became the wife of Robert M. La Follette, a lawyer, who had formerly been her classmate at school. Taking an active interest in her husband's career she decided to enter the Wisconsin Law School, where she was admitted in 1883, graduating in 1885. She was the first woman to receive a diploma from that ​ institution. During that year Mr. La Follette was elected to Congress, which prevented Mrs. La Follette from taking up the active duties of the profession which she had chosen. Mr. La Follette's career has been most successful. Having been elected to the United States Senate, he to-day occupies one of the most conspicuous positions as a member of that body. He has forged rapidly to the front by his independent thoughts and ideas, and to-day is the leader of what is known as the progressive element in politics. Their home is in Madison, Wisconsin. Mrs. La Follette has proved herself a most worthy and capable companion for her distinguished husband in his political and professional career. She is generally known in Washington social circles as one of the brainy women of the day. Their daughter, Fola, has entered the theatrical life as a profession.
BERTHA HONORE PALMER.
Bertha Honore Palmer was born in Louisville, Kentucky, where she passed her childhood, receiving a common school education. She afterward took a course in the Georgetown, D. C. Convent, where she graduated in 1871. Shortly afterward she became the wife of Potter Palmer, the Chicago millionaire, who was many years her senior. Since her marriage she has been a recognized social leader of that city. She is an accomplished linguist, musician and woman of marked executive ability. She was chosen president of the Board of Lady Managers of the Exposition of 1893, and in 1891 went to Europe in the interest of this section and succeeded in interesting many of the prominent women of Europe in the women's department of the World's Fair, and much of the success of this department is due to her work. Since the death of her husband she has spent much of her time abroad, and during the reign of King Edward, of England, occupied a house in London, where she entertained extensively gaining for herself a high position among the social leaders of the most exclusive and royal circles. She keeps her residence in Chicago, Illinois, where her large interests are located.
IDA LEWIS.
Is better known as the "Grace Darling of America." She was born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1841. Her father was Captain Hosea Lewis, and was keeper of the Lime Rock lighthouse in Newport harbor. She early became her father's assistant in his duties at this station. She made her first rescue when but seventeen years of age, saving the crew of a boat lost in a storm near the lighthouse, and landed them in safety at Fort Adams, when even men did not venture to launch a boat to aid the helpless men. She received from the United ​ States Government a gold medal, the first ever given to a woman; a silver medal from the Humane Society of Massachusetts, and also one from the Life-saving Benevolent Society of New York, and her home is filled with testimonials in recognition of her heroism. She is one of the most distinguished examples of American heroism among women.
MARY ELIZABETH LEESE.
Born in Pennsylvania, September 11, 1853. Her father was Joseph P. Clyens and her mother, Mary Elizabeth Murray Clyens. In 1873 sne married Charles L. Leese, and has since been a resident of Wichita, Kansas. She took up the study of law, and has been actively engaged in politics of recent years. The political revolution in Kansas brought her to the front and she became prominent as a Populist leader and through her bitter opposition to the re-election of Senator John J. Ingalls. During the campaign of General Weaver, the Populist candidate, she accompanied him and spoke in his interest from public platforms. She has occupied the position of president of the board of trustees of some of the charitable institutions of the state of Kansas, and other public offices. Her items are radical and her cause has been most aggressive, which has brought much criticism upon her methods.
ELIZABETH TILLINGHAST LAWTON.
Elizabeth Tillinghast Lawton, a direct descendant of Elder Pardon Tillinghast, the noted Baptist Divine, was born July 15, 1832, and died March 1, 1904. Mrs. Lawton was one of the most widely known and highly respected residents in Newport County, Rhode Island, and was always prominently identified with the educational progress of Tiverton, Rhode Island. She was one of the first women in the country on a school committee, serving as chairman and superintendent of schools, and for years was the only woman holding the office of superintendent. She was an unusually strong character with a keen intellect which she retained up to the time she was stricken with apoplexy which almost immediately caused her death. It was always said that in all action she showed the marked characteristics of her distinguished ancestor, who succeeded Roger Williams in his labors in the First Baptist Church, Providence.
ELEANOR BOYLE EWING SHERMAN.
Mrs. Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio, October 24, 1824. She was descended from a long line of Scotch and Irish ancestors. Her father, Thomas Ewing, was one of the most eminent lawyers of his day and was twice a Senator of the United States and twice a member of a President's Cabinet. Her mother. ​ Maria Boyle, was a woman of strong character and gentle mien. When a boy of nine years, William Tecumseh Sherman was adopted by Mr. Ewing on account of the strong affection he bore his family, and at the age of seventeen Eleanor Ewing became engaged to young Sherman. They were married May 1, 1850, in Washington, her father, at that time, being a member of President Taylor's Cabinet. Her husband resigned from the army in 1853 to accept a position in a bank in California, and there they went to reside, returning East again in 1857. During the Civil War, not only was Mrs. Sherman's husband fighting for the Union, but her brothers were also in the army. When grave charges and newspaper criticism were brought upon her husband she went personally to Washington and saw President Lincoln and convinced him that matters had been misrepresented to him. She again rose to her husband's defense at the close of the war when he was severely criticised for his part in the terms of the Johnson Treaty. After the war the family resided in St. Louis, where Mrs. Sherman was most conspicuous in her charitable work for the Roman Catholic Church, of which she was a devoted member. In 1869 her husband's promotion to the command of the United States army took the family to Washington, and here they resided until his retirement. Mrs. Sherman organized the Aloysius Aid Society and inaugurated this by a great charity fair held in Washington. She was very sympathetic to those persons without friends in the Capital city. Their family consisted of seven children, two of whom died when quite young. The eldest daughter, Minnie, was married in 1874 to Lieutenant Thomas William Fitch, Assistant Engineer, U. S. N. On May 18, 1879, their youngest son, Thomas Ewing Sherman, entered the Order of Jesuits, and was ordained in July, 1889. Their daughter Eleanor became the wife of Lieutenant Alexander Montgomery Thackara, U. S. N., in 1880. Lieutenant Thackara resigned from the navy and later entered the consular service of the United States and is now Consul General at Berlin. Philemon Tecumseh Sherman, another son, was a member of the New York bar. Rachel Ewing Sherman married in December, 1891, Dr. Paul Thorndyke. Mrs. Sherman died in New York City November 28, 1888, and was buried in St. Louis, where General Sherman now rests beside her.
MARGARET STEWART SHERMAN.
Mrs. Sherman was the only child of Judge Stewart of Mansfield, Ohio. She was well educated. On December 31, 1848, she married John Sherman then a young lawyer of some prominence, a brother of General W. T. Sherman, and later U. S. Senator from Ohio. During President Hayes' term, Senator Sherman was Secretary of the Treasury, and Secretary of State in President McKinley's Cabinet. Mrs. Sherman fulfilled with dignity and credit her part in all the positions of honor to which her husband was called by the people of his state.
CLARA HARRISON STRANAHAN.
Mrs. Clara Harrison Stranahan was born in Westfield, Mass., and in 1879 she became the wife of Hon. J. S. T. Stranahan, of Brooklyn, New York. In ​ all the active career of her husband, both political and municipal, Mrs. Stranahan has been a powerful factor and a recognized leader in the city of Brooklyn. Mr. Stranahan received an unusual mark of esteem from the people of Brooklyn who erected, while he was living, in June 1891, a bronze statue to his honor under the title "First Citizen of Brooklyn."
KATHERINE TINGLEY.
Mrs. Tingley was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, July 6, 1852. Was descended from one of the early colonial families and was the daughter of James P. and Susan Wescott. She attended the public schools and had private instruction. In 1879 she married T. B. Tingley, an inventor. She is the leader and official head for life of the universal brotherhood of the Theosophical Society throughout the world, "an outer head" of the inner school of theosophy, the successor of Blavatsky. From 1896-7 she conducted two theosophy crusades around the world, established relief work for Indian famine sufferers, and founded the International Brotherhood League and a summer home for children at Spring Valley, New Jersey, in 1897. Her claim for fame rests upon the society and academy, or as she calls it, the School of Antiquity and the Raja Yoga Academies, located at Point Loma and San Diego, California. She has founded three academies for boys and girls in Cuba; was one to organize relief corps in New York, and helped to establish a hospital at Montauk Point, New York, for the sick and wounded soldiers of the Spanish American War. She was quite active in carrying on this humanitarian work in Cuba, where the Government granted her permission to establish hospitals both in Cuba and Manila, P. I. She is the owner of the Isis Theatre in California, and of large properties in California, Sweden, England and San Juan Hill, Cuba. She is the editor of the Century Path, a theosophy publication, published at Point Loma, California.
MRS. JULIUS C. BURROWS.
The maiden name of Mrs. Julius C. Burrows, of Michigan, was Frances L. Peck, daughter of Horace M. Peck and Emilia Barnes of best New England stock. She was born in Michigan, and is a graduate of Rockford College, Illinois. Mrs. Burrows was always active in church work and the club life of Kalamazoo, Michigan, until the election of her husband to the United States Senate, which has necessitated her residence in Washington much of the time.
She is a charter member of the national organization of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was vice-president-general of that society, was national president of the Children's Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is a member of the Society of Colonial Dames, was president of the National Relief Association organized at the time of the Cuban War, which accomplished much helpful work.
EMILIE SCHAUMBURG.
Miss Emilie Schaumburg was a Philadelphia social celebrity. Her grand-father, Colonel Bartholemew Schaumburg, of New Orleans, was a ward of the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, and educated under the auspices of Frederick the Great at the German Military School. He was commissioned an officer in the Grenadier Guards, and was sent to this country as adjutant and aide-de-camp to General Count Donop. Colonel Schaumburg, however, never joined Count Donop, as their vessel became separated from the fleet in a storm and came up the Delaware, anchoring at Newcastle where they learned the nature of the struggle for independence. Preferring to fight for a people struggling for their independence rather than for England they joined General Washington and were incorporated into General Sullivan's German Legion and served loyally under Washington throughout the Revolutionary War. Colonel Schaumburg sacrificed his title and much of his property by espousing the American cause. He was later earnestly solicited by his relatives to return to Germany, but he refused and married a lady who was a descendant of a noted Indian chief of the Lenape Tribe who signed the Treaty of 1685 with William Penn, selling him the large tract of land on which Philadelphia is situated. Miss Schaumburg is the eighth descendant in a direct line from this aboriginal princess, and was born in New Orleans, though she spent most of her life in Philadelphia. The early portion of her education was largely directed by the Honorable H. D. Gilpin. She had the added accomplishment of speaking several modern languages. When the Prince of Wales visited Philadelphia with his suite, he spent the only evening of his stay at the Academy of Music. He was greatly attracted by the beauty of Miss Schaumburg, and it is said that he declared her the most beautiful woman he had seen in America. When the great Sanitary Fair was held in Philadelphia, a play was given in which the principal parts were taken by the leading society people of Philadelphia. The one given under the title "The Ladies' Battle," in which Miss Schaumburg sustained the principal role, created a great furore and it was remembered as a piece of acting unrivaled on the American stage. Miss Schaumburg was invited to Chicago when the fair was given there, to take the leading part, and she sustained with credit the great role of Peg Woffington. Miss Schaumburg frequently lent her talent to the cause of charity, and became quite well known throughout the United States for her remarkable gifts in this line.
MARY ELIZABETH LOGAN TUCKER.
Mary Elizabeth Logan Tucker, daughter of Major-General and Senator John A. and Mary S. Logan, was born in Benton, Franklin County, Illinois. In personal appearance and disposition she is strikingly like her illustrious father, and has many of his features and traits of character. She was educated at the Convent of the Visitation, Georgetown, D. C. one of the oldest schools in the United States. She was the organizer and founder of the alumnae of her alma mater, March 3, 1893, and was elected and served as its first president. Mrs. Tucker was married on the twenty-seventh day of November, 1877, in the home ​ of her parents in Chicago, Illinois. Not long after her marriage she removed to Santa Fe, New Mexico. General Logan having secured the appointment of her husband as an officer in the United States army he was ordered to that remote station. Notwithstanding her youth she adapted herself to all the inconveniences of army life which existed twenty-five years ago.
By her keen intelligence, happy disposition, knowledge of human nature, generous hospitality and versatility in originating entertainments, and helpfulness in all efforts for the betterment of conditions and welfare of the army people, and in all emergencies, she won for herself great popularity and the highest esteem of the citizens of Santa Fe and her associates in the army. In 1886 her husband was ordered to Washington, hence it happened they were both with her parents when her distinguished father died. They remained with the widowed mother for eight years. Part of this time Mrs. Tucker was engaged as one of the staff of the Home Magazine, then published in Washington, D. C. Her literary career was interrupted by her husband's orders to other posts of duty as an army officer, including the stations of St. Paul, Chicago and Manila, P. I. Mrs. Tucker is the mother of three sons, two of whom are dead. Her youngest son died in Manila, August 5, 1905. Mrs. Tucker is a woman of marked ability, keen perception, and dauntless moral courage. She has traveled extensively, is an omnivorous reader, and has an unusually extensive knowledge of affairs political and otherwise, her perfect taste guiding her aright in the refinements of life. She is deeply interested and ever ready to join in every movement for the uplift of mankind and the advancement of civilization. She is a member of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Civic Federation and the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, and is to deliver an address before this Society at the meeting, October 11, 1911, at Council Bluffs, Iowa.
MRS. CHARLES EMORY SMITH.
Was the granddaughter of the late Hon. Charles Nichols, United States Minister to The Hague, and great-granddaughter of Benjamin Romaine, at one time second comptroller of New York City. Her husband, Hon. Charles Emory Smith, was at one time United States Minister to St. Petersburg, and afterwards in the cabinets of Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt as postmaster-general.
CAROLINE E. POREE.
Was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, September 30, 1842. One of her ancestors was John Baptiste Poree, Counsel of America, in 1812. She was for thirty-eight years assistant in the Boston Public Library, in charge of the Men's Reading Room, Periodical Department. For many years she has been an assistant in the new Library of Copley Square.
MARY R. WILCOX.
Was the daughter of Hon. John A. Wilcox and Mary Donelson Wilcox. Her mother enjoyed the distinction of being the first child born in the White ​ House. She is the granddaughter of Major Andrew J. Donelson, Minister to Prussia in 1846, and Mrs. Emily A. Donelson, who presided over the White House during the administrations of Andrew Jackson, her uncle. She was for some years the recording secretary-general of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and is to-day a clerk in one of the departments of the United States Government
EMILY WARREN ROEBLING.
No American woman is entitled to a higher place in the role of honor than Emily Warren as a sister, daughter, wife, mother and gifted woman. At a very early age the noble traits of her character were manifested by her efforts to be helpful in the home of her childhood, especially in her devotion to her brother, Gouverneur Kemble Warren, which continued during his eventful life.
She was born September 23, 1843, at Cold Spring on the Hudson and was one of the eleven children of Sylvanus Warren. Her girlhood was not unlike that of many of the girls of that day. She was educated at the then noted Convent of the Visitation, Georgetown, D. C, where she graduated. The Civil War having broken out in the meantime and her brother, Gouverneur, having risen to the distinction of major-general, and he being in command of the Fifth Army Corps of the army of the Potomac, then in Virginia, Emily was impatient, after her graduation, to visit him in camp. Obtaining permission, she hastened to present herself at headquarters and one can readily imagine the sensation which the appearance of this beautiful, accomplished, enthusiastic, patriotic young woman created. She immediately interested herself in the work offered about her; she cheered the despondent, wrote letters for the sick and carried sunshine into the hospitals and camps. Colonel Washington A. Roebling, the skilled young engineer, was then a member of General Warren's staff, and when she returned home she was engaged to be married to this rising young engineer. They were married January 18, 1865, and after the close of the war, Colonel Roebling took his bride to Mulhausen, Thuringen, Germany, his birthplace. Here he was to study European construction and submarine foundations as his father, Colonel John A. Roebling, was at that time working out the problems connected with the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. While at Mulhausen, the only son of Colonel and Mrs. Roebling, John A. Roebling, was born. On their return to this country, Colonel Roebling associated himself with his father in this great engineering work, and in 1869 his father was killed while making the first survey for this work. Then the responsibility of carrying out the plan for this gigantic undertaking fell upon Colonel Roebling and he, through his constant and untiring devotion, ultimately sank under the strain, and became a bed-ridden invalid. At this critical moment, Emily Warren Roebling proved her rare ability, dauntless courage, keen sagacity and true wifely devotion. It was she who stood between her husband and failure. With matchless diplomacy she smoothed out all friction between the municipal authorities, rival engineers, and ambitious men, in addition to ministering to her husband's comfort and relieving his suffering. She filled his mind with hope and kept him hourly informed of the progress of the work, gained by sitting near his bedside, telescope in hand, faithfully reporting to him every step in the progress ​ of the work. So correct were her observations, from their home on Brooklyn Heights, that he was able to write out instructions and plan for the work of the assisting engineers and laboring force. Armed with these drawings, the faithful wife could be seen daily wending her way to the engineers and workmen, explaining to them explicitly and intelligently Colonel Roebling's directions. Few women have ever had higher tribute paid them than was given to Mrs. Roebling, when Honorable Abram S. Hewitt, the orator of the day, on the occasion of the opening of the bridge, in eloquent terms connected the name of Mrs. Roebling with that of Colonel Roebling as deserving equal share in his unparalleled achievement. That the name of her revered brother, Gouverneur Kemble Warren, should not be forgotten, she caused to be erected a magnificent bronze statue to his memory, on Little Round Top, on the Battlefield of Gettysburg. After Colonel and Mrs. Roebling's removal to Trenton, New Jersey, where she spent the last years of her life, she busied herself in assisting Colonel Roebling in arranging a wonderful collection of books, curios, gems and mineralogical specimens and in interesting herself in social, political, philanthropic and patriotic work. She traveled extensively and was presented, in 1896, to Queen Victoria in London and subsequently, at court, in Russia. On her return from this trip, which she made in company with Mrs. John A. Logan, she gave a most interesting illustrated lecture on, "What an American Woman Saw at the Coronation of Nicholas the Second." The proceeds of this she gave to charity. In 1898 she was among the most active members of the Relief Society which did such noble work during the Spanish War, giving her money, time and strength to the hospital work of this association. She was a graduate from the Law School of the New York University in 1899, the subject of her graduating essay being "The Wife's Disabilities." She was chosen as the essayist of her class and had previously won the prize for the best essay written by any member of her class. She was active in the work of the Daughters of the American Revolution, at one time vice-president-general of that organization, and one of the most important and able members of this great woman's organization. She represented the women of New Jersey on the Board of Lady Managers at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. Mrs. Roebling was the first vice-president of the Society of Colonial Dames, and a member of the Colonial Daughters of the seventeenth century, Holland Dames of America, the Huguenot Society, honorary official of the George Washington Memorial Association, a member of the Woman's Branch of the New Jersey Historical Society, the New York Historical Society, the Virginia Society for the Preservation of Historical objects and places, the Revolutionary Memorial Society of New Jersey, the Woman's Law Class of the New York University, an officer of the New York State Federation of Clubs and at one time president of the Georgetown Visitation Academy Alumnae Association. Her literary attainments were of the highest order. Her articles which appeared in the Brooklyn papers in 1882 and 1883, in defense of Colonel Roebling's methods in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, were so able that they completely routed his enemies, men who had conspired to defraud him of the glory she had helped him to win in the successful completion of that structure.
Her biography of Colonel Roebling, contributions to the press on philan​ thropy and economic questions, "The Journal of Reverend Silas Constant," her able defense of her brother, General Warren; reports and lectures written by her, all prove the delicacy of her taste, purity of her mind, earnestness of thought, indefatigable energy, inborn patriotism and unwavering loyalty to her husband and family. Her judgment of men and measures was singularly unerring for a woman; her ambitions were laudable and did credit to her intelligence and noble character. Her death in 1903 was an irreparable loss to her family, the community, the poor and society. In her brief life she accomplished more than has been done by many men.
MRS. JAMES TANNER.
Mero L. White was born at Jefferson, Schoharie County, September 13, 1844, the daughter of Alfred S. and Julia Snyder White. She was educated at the New York Conference Seminary at Charlotteville, New York. At the age of thirteen she passed an unusually brilliant examination and for several seasons thereafter was a very successful teacher of a district school. On November 17, 1866, she became the wife of James Tanner, and in 1869 they moved to the city of Brooklyn, where she continued to live until 1889, then removing to Washington upon the appointment of her husband as United States Commissioner of Pensions, resided there until her tragic death through an automobile accident on June 29, 1904, at Helena, Montana. She left surviving her husband and four children, James Alfred, an attorney-at-law in Philadelphia, Earle White, a captain in the Eleventh Infantry, United States Army, and two daughters, Ada and Antoinette, who reside with their father who is the Register of Wills for the District of Columbia. The mental endowments of Mrs. Tanner were of a very superior order. She was a deep, careful and omnivorous reader of the best literature of her day. Her nature was very sympathetic and at the same time very practical. She possessed to a marked degree executive capacity and force. The misfortune and helplessness of others always appealed to her most strongly. During her twenty years' life in the city of Brooklyn she was a most earnest and efficient worker on the board of directors of the Brooklyn Nursery, one of the most efficient and helpful institutions of its kind in the United States. She was especially interested in the welfare of the old comrades of her husband who survived the Civil War and struck many a blow in their defense and for their help. Thousands of personal appeals made to her by or for those in distress met with instant and helpful action. During the time of the Spanish-American War her ability, resourcefulness, and executive capacity came into full play. She had been allied for years with the national body of the Red Cross and during that struggle she was a member of the executive committee. Her fellow members, recognizing her peculiar fitness, gave her a very free hand and her work was on large lines. Possessing for many years the personal acquaintance and friendship of President McKinley and Secretary of War Alger, she was particularly well situated to do effective work, and many a negligence and much wrong doing was corrected by a quiet word from her to the President or the Secretary, and thousands upon thousands of sick and wounded soldiers were the unknowing beneficiaries of her words and deeds. It would take no small volume to give in full a statement of her work at that time. Besides all this, she took ​ a great interest in legislation putting the rights of womankind on a much more just basis than had hitherto existed. It is owing to her efforts and those of some of her intimates that a law was enacted by Congress which wiped out the hideous monstrosity of a father having power through his will to bequeath away from the control and care of the mother who bore it, a minor child. On June 29, 1906, while accompanying her husband, who was then commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, on a tour over the United States, and while being escorted around the city of Helena in an automobile ride, there was an accident, resulting in the upsetting of the machine and the fatal injuring of Mrs. Tanner, who died on the spot forty minutes later. By the personal direction of President Roosevelt and because of the great interest she had always taken in behalf of the veterans of the Civil War, a beautiful plot was assigned to her in the National Cemetery at Arlington alongside of the main thoroughfare, near the auditorium, where, on each recurring Memorial Day, the waves of oratory and music will roll above her last resting place. This seems all the more appropriate by reason of the fact that prior to her time, interment in the National Cemetery of wives or widows of private soldiers had been prohibited. Against this prohibition she had made strong protest, and had secured the kindly and favorable interest of General Robert Shaw Oliver, assistant Secretary of War. After her death General Oliver, while acting Secretary of War, issued the order which annulled the long time prohibition. There her remains were laid to rest on the 5th of July, 1906, and over them her husband's comrades erected a beautiful memorial. With large work, well done on a high plane, her place, as one of those women because of whose living the world is better, is secured for all time.
MRS. LUKE E. WRIGHT.
Wife of the ex-Secretary of War was Miss Kate Semmes, daughter of Admiral Semmes, C. S. N. Mrs. Wright is one of the many charming Southern women who have served in the official social coterie at Washington. Mrs. Wright is an experienced hostess and versatile woman, and wherever her lines have been cast she has taken a leading place in society. Mrs. Wright is the mother of three sons, who were in service during the Spanish-American War; and two daughters, one of whom is Mrs. John H. Watkins, of New York, and the other, Mrs. Palmer.
AMEY WEBB WHEELER.
Mrs. Amey Webb Wheeler was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Her father's name was Henry Aborn Webb; her mother's, Amey Gorham Webb. She is descended from Roger Williams and Gregory Dexter. Married June 24, 1881, Benjamin Ide Wheeler, the distinguished university professor. Mrs. Wheeler lived in Germany for four years; one year at Harvard (1885-6); at Cornell University, 1886-99, and since 1899, at Berkeley, California.
MRS. MARTIN.
The wife of a former instructor in the Harvard Aeronautical Society and later instructor in the Grahame-White School of Aviation in France. Though ​ an Englishwoman she is an American by adoption. She has not only made many flights with her husband in the machine which he designed, belonging to the Harvard Society, but she is now flying in Grahame-White's Baby Biplane, a small copy of the Farman machine.
HARRIET QUIMBY.
Miss Quimby is the first woman to have her own monoplane and take up seriously the science of aviation. She is an enthusiast in this sport and has entered the Moisant School of Aviation at Garden City, Long Island. Several other women have made short flights alone at Mineola, namely, Mrs. E. Edwards, Miss Mary Shea, who was winner of the Bridgeport (Connecticut) post competition and made a flight, on May 14th, of about five miles from the Bridgeport Aerodrome out over Long Island Sound and back.
LILLIE IRENE JACKSON.
Miss Lillie Irene Jackson was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. She is descended from one of the leading families of the South. Her father, Honorable John J. Jackson, was Federal District Judge in West Virginia for over a quarter of a century, and her grandfather, General Jackson, was connected with the distinguished Stonewall Jackson of Confederate fame. She is one of the leading women of the South in the progressive work of the present time. She was a member of the Board of Lady Managers from the state of West Virginia, at the Columbian Exposition in 1893.
FLORENCE PULLMAN LOWDEN.
Born Florence Sanger Pullman, August 11, 1868, eldest daughter of George M. and Harriet Sanger Pullman. Mrs. Lowden is a woman of rare talents and attainments. Her qualities of head and heart are of the highest order. From the day of her graduation from Miss Brown's school in New York in 1889, she was the constant companion of her father, entering into all of his philanthropic plans with enthusiasm. Since his death she has conscientiously carried out many of his expressed wishes. April 29, 1896, she was married to Frank O. Lowden, a promising young lawyer of Chicago. It would be impossible for any young woman to enter more heartily into all the aspirations of her husband than does Mrs. Lowden, and notwithstanding her youth and the fact that she was the daughter of affluence all her life, she took upon herself the multiplicity of interests that are supposed to devolve upon persons embarking upon the sea of public favor. She nobly seconded every movement made by her husband upon his election to the Congress of the United States, from the day she made her debut into Washington official and social circles to that of Mr. Lowden's retirement, March, 191 1, Mrs. Lowden was a decided leader. Her dignified and yet cordial manner, her perfect equipoise under all circumstances, her culture and quick intelligence, won for her the admiration of all who knew her. Mrs. Lowden is the mother of four beautiful children—one son and three daughters— ​ to whom she is a wonderfully devoted mother, not forgetting meanwhile that her companionship means much to her widowed mother in her invalidism and loneliness.
ELIZA FRANKLIN ROUTT.
Was born in 1842, in Springfield, Illinois, of Kentucky ancestry. Her grandfather, Colonel William F. Elkin, was one of the famous "long nine" that represented Sangamon County in the legislative session of 1836 and 1837. Each of these men were six feet tall. Abraham Lincoln was one of these stalwarts, whose efforts that year secured the location of the capital of the state for their county. Her father, Franklin Pickerell was a noted Kentuckian. She was given an excellent education, which was completed by travel and study abroad. When Colonel John L. Routt was second assistant postmaster-general in 1864, he married Mrs. Routt in her uncle's home in Decatur, Illinois, and she became an addition to the social circles of Washington City. In 1875, General Logan secured the appointment of Colonel Routt as territorial governor of Colorado from President Grant. In 1876, Colorado became a state and Colonel Routt was made its first governor and was re-elected. Mrs. Routt was a woman of remarkable ability, strong character and great culture, adding much to the lustre of her husband's administration. She brought up the daughters of Colonel Routt by his first wife, with devotion and care and they were among Denver's most prominent women.
MARY A. WOODS.
Miss Woods, known as "The second Betsy Ross," has charge of the making of the American flags for the United States Navy in the equipment department. Miss Woods was formerly a well-known dressmaker of New York City when she decided to take up this work, and applied for the position at the New York Navy Yard, receiving the appointment of "quarterwoman" in the equipment department, where she has been for more than a quarter of a century. She superintends the cutting of all of the flags, the stripes and stars and every portion which must be most exact. In this bureau is made not only the flags of our own country for use on all our ships and navy yards of the United States, but the flags of other maritime nations. Miss Woods, herself, has taught her assistants all they know of flag-making. In one year 140,000 yards of bunting were used and $70,000 expended in this work by the Government. When our fleet started for the Pacific all the signals were changed, and all the flags had to be altered accordingly — 408 in all, and forty-three foreign ensigns. The most complicated flag in existence to-day is that of San Salvador, and the one flag on which the front is not the same as the back is that of Paraguay.
MRS. JOHN S. FORD.
The splendid work done by the Young Woman's Christian Association is well known in every city in the United States. In Youngstown, Ohio, Mrs. John S. Ford, president of the local Young Woman's Christian Association, deserves especial mention for her efforts in raising, during the year 1910, for their home ​ work, the magnificent sum of $182,000. This magnificent result shows what can be done by the energy, perseverance and executive ability of an able woman aided by enthusiastic supporters. Mrs. John S. Ford is the wife of one of the leading business men of Youngstown, Ohio, and one of its conspicuous social leaders.
SALLIE LOGAN.
Mrs. Logan was born Sallie Oliver, April 15, 1853, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her father, Thomas Oliver, came to Pittsburgh in 1826. Her mother, Sarah Ann Hancock, came from Louisville, Ketucky, and was a graduate of the famous Female Seminary at Shelbyville, Kentucky. Miss Oliver became a school teacher, having taught a term before she was fifteen years old. She was married to Thomas M. Logan August 27, 1873. Mrs. Logan has been one of the most active women in church work, charities, educational associations and civic organizations for more than thirty years in Jackson County, Illinois. She is a member of the Commercial Club of Murphysboro, Illinois, her residential city, and is also one of the directors of a local bank.
MRS. GEORGE M. PULLMAN.
Harriet Sanger Pullman, widow of George M. Pullman, was born in Illinois. She was the only daughter of James P. and Mrs. Sanger, who were early settlers in Chicago. Mrs. Pullman's mother was a McPherson of stanch Scotch descent.
Miss Sanger was one of the celebrated beauties of the fifties. She married George M. Pullman in 1866, and at once became a social leader in Chicago, taking always an active part in all movements for philanthropy and hospital work. She is probably one of the most consistent and generous contributors to charity of the wealthy women of her residential city. She distributes her benefactions privately, not allowing her left hand to know what she does with her right. She has an aversion to having her good deeds heralded.
Mrs. Pullman has traveled extensively since the death of her husband, but maintains her residence in Chicago, continuing to support many of the benefactions established by her husband. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church. One daughter, Mrs. Frank O. Lowden, lives in Illinois; the other, Mrs. Frank Carolan resides at Burlingame, California.
Women Who Have Had Monuments Erected to Their Memory in the United Statas.
The first of these was Margaret Haugherty, the baker-philanthropist, who left a' fortune for the orphans of New Orleans; the next was erected to the memory of a Chippewa ​ Indian woman in Chicago; the third was to the great temperance leader, Frances E. Willard, which is in the capitol at Washington. The next to be thus honored was a heroine of the Confederate army during the war—Emma Sanson, of Gadsden, Alabama, and the last was placed in the Capital Park, at Birmingham, in honor of the memory of Mary A. Calahan, a school teacher.
Emma Sanson was the daughter of a poor white farmer, living a few miles from Gadsden, in the northern part of Alabama. When General Forrest was in pursuit of General Straight, of the Union Army, in 1864, she piloted him through a pass in the mountains so that he was able to overtake, surpise and capture Straight. The legislature of Alabama voted her a pension for life, and the legislature of Texas gave her a grant of land, while the people of Gadsden and the survivors of Forrest's command erected a monument in her honor. It is a marble figure of a country girl pointing into the distance, and the inscription tells the story. "I will show you the way."