The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-07-17
WHITE HOUSE QUEENS.
A VERY INTERESTING CHAPTER.
enc popular and Unpopular Wives,
Daughters and Sisters of Presi-
Ients-NIrs. Blaine Not Com
sidered Favorite.

Il
good deal of interest. Society in Wash
lngIon naturally takes more interest i'm
the question Of who shall be mistress of
the hlte House, than does society any
Wherc else. OF course tho mistress of
the Whlte House is recognized as the
head of Washington society, and
while the wife of the Republican
candidate is well known here, there was
Ielt quite as much interest to know who
would preside there should Demo
cratic President again enter its portals.
ne uutles OF the mistress of the White
House are quite labOrious, and il is
know VINO IL shall be, as the individual
herself to assume those duties. The
long hours of reception in which she
must stand and shake by the hand the
rnWsoi nameless and unknown visitors:
AGAIN, those occasions on which she
must sit at State dinners and say pleas
ant nothings, the weary-worn
appeals tor Office which are
mad not alone to the President, but TO
her by privileged friends as well, the
ahhoEances which her public station in
wolves and the seli-asserted privilege of
the press, all tend to make the position
an uncomfortable one. OF course there
are many pleasant features and many
when crafty personally,and il is hardly
possible that any who know the details
OF IT'S duties and pleasures would reject
IL or seek 10 do 50 if ii were offered. Yet
mere have been those among Presidents
wives who regretted that their duties
took them within the White House.
There is a feeling that should Mrs.
Blaine's husband be elected she would
not make popular mistress of the
White House; She never has been es-
pecia!ly popular in Washington society.
She is rather reserved in manner
naughty, some people call it, devoted to
ner nome and her children, and not
caring much iorsociety as it is in Wash
lngton. Personally, she is above the
medium height, with rather stern and
| expressive face set in a frame of white
halr, a well-devcloped figure, a manner
somewhat cold and reserved, but an
experience which renders her quite
efficient To be an able mistress of the
| White House.
ARTHUR is TIE FOURTH PRESIDENT
Mo has entered the White House q
| Wilower. His term there has been a
brilliant one, for he is not only familiar
with and informed of the details ofsocial
HE, but his sister, Mrs. McElroy, who
has been the acknowledged mistress of
! the White House during his term, is
also quite accomplished in social way.
Very retiring in her looks, and without
ambition for public recognition; how
ever, she has been seen little by Wash
lngton generally and has only hepu
known personally to circle eXtrenlel,
! limited. The women of the White
| House, tracing back to the beginning,
form an interesting chapter or series of
chapters in the history of. not alone
Washington society, but Of the nation.
Under Gar!ield's administration the
social features had scarcely developed.
Under Hayes the White House was
| open to all of society, thousands attend-
ing their receptions, and lunch tables
| were spread ut their evening entertain
nents for many hundreds.
Under General Grant the White House
was gay, but there was not that demo-
cratic freedom which marked the re-
! gime of Mrs. Grants successor as mis-
trcss Of the White House.
Another term back, Mrs. johnson,
wife of Andrew Johnson, was mistress
Of the White House. She was an invalid
and personally entertained lit
te' receiving her visitors in
ler chair. Her daughter,
| Martina Patterson, wife of Senator Pas.
terson, entertained in her stead ,ren0vat-
! ing the war-stained tattered hgbiliments
small allowance OF $4,000 which Con-
| sresS made for this purpose.
Mrs. Lincoln, who preceded, was mis-
lrcSs of the White House i'm time OF
great turbulence and national tribula-
ton, and there is small wonder that the
recollections of her time there are not
agreeable ones to those who were
here during that period. An ambitious
| woman, with little experience outside
u country town when called here, de-
| prlved of the counsel of her husband by
Tho constant attention to public affairs
WI ch his duties required, stricken with
grief during the years Other stay by the
loss OF her tavOritc son, Willie, the pain
| lul experiences of her time in ;he White
House eliminated with the assassi rs
shot which was heard around the world
PRErEpGNo N.Rs, LINCOLN,
| Harriet Lane, tle adOl ted daughter Of
james buchanan, who was the only
/ bachelor President we have ever had,
gave to Washington society one of the
1 DuS; brilliant social administrations IL
/ has ever had.
Mrs. Pierce, her predecessor, was II
sensitive, shrinking woman who had
seen her son killed by q railroad acct
don't hut a short time before her arrival
at the White House, and who during her
]
| because they were duties.
The next in order, tracing back, is
| Mrs. Fillmore, who was more strongly
| inarScd rs II literary woman than any
since Abigail Adams. 1t was her taste
| Tor books which established the library
now in the White IlouS', o. husl and
| having through her solicitation asked Of
! congress and obtained an appropriation
of $4,000 for White House library.
no saddcr woman ever re!gned mis =
tress of the White House than the wiiu
Of President Taylor She had accom-
| panied her husband in all his war eX-
| p1rtenceS, caring for him in camp and
/ cOunSeling with him upon the field.
During the Presidential contest, she
| prayed daily for ClHy's election. ait is
u plot" she said, "to deprive me of the
comforts of home, which | had eX-
| pccted to enjoy, now that the war =,
ended" She came TO the Waite
! House only as a matter of duty, her
daughter, Betty Bliss being rushed to
the iront to bear the burden as mistress
of the establishment. When her hus-
band died within the walls of the White
House, she was heart-broken, and dur
ing tho two remaining years OF her life,
never mentioned the White House, UNI
less necessity compelled.
still lives in the city of Nashville. She
Is the only woman who has ever held
the position of Private Secretary To the
President, she having filed that position
through choice during her husbands
term. She was a woman Of great ability,
quite as familiar with the affairs of
State as her husband, and even moro 80
~ to details. "Sarah knows whore 1t
is" was President Folks customary re-
wanted. She did not ever neglect her
social duties, and was spoken OF by an
English lady rs not being sur
passed In beauty, style or dignity by
any of three Queens whomjshe had seen.
Under Tyler the White House had
two mistrcsses. His first wife died there
during tho early part OF his administra-