The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-04-26
FIFTY YEARS AGO
Chat With an Old Time Mistress
OF the White House.
MEMORIES OF WEBSTER AND CLAY
once the First Lady of the Land, Now an
Inmate of the Louise Home
Some New Stories

WASHINGTON, D. c., April %, 1884,
Especial correspondence of The HERALD. |
-NeIlle Arthur, Fannie Hayes, Mollie Gar
neld Brown and Nellie Grant Sartoris are
ohe Tour daughters Of Presidents with
WHOM the public is familiar and whose his
tories lie entirely within the last genera
tlon. Frequent newspaper mention of
shese young matrons and maidens serves,
as 1t were, to keep their lives in touch with
'he world, and to arouse in their fortunes a
Kindly interest. There is however, a fifth
nvlng daughter Of United States Presi-
lent, but one whose days Of social promin-
'nce lie beyond the shadow of the great re-
oeiIlon and the stream of whose quiet life
IS fast approaching the shoreless sea- This
aoy, between whom and her youthful sue.
'essors nearly fifty years of history were
made, Is Mrs. Letitia Tyler Semple, the
daughter OF President John Tyler, and the
widow of the late Purser Semple of the U.
.. N. This aged but still proud and elegant
woman is prominent in the group of aristo-
cratic old southern ladies who live in the
Louise Home at the capital Though nearly
SOoIS VI NllolreSS S6mpI6 Is
neither old nor enfeebled. She not only re-
tains much of her beauty of fifty years ago,
but expresses herself with the same vigor
ana exhibits the same constitutional con-
seryatlsm as did her father before her. She
Is rather above the medium height and car
fies herself as erectly as woman of half
ner years, and her fine, strong face, lighted
oy keen but kindly brown eyes and softly
framed in loose silver waves. certainly be-
lies the years with which history credits il.
The Lady who has gone upon the record as
among the charming young mistresses of
the White House, is a representative of an
other time and generation. Sheis the faith
1ul adherent Of the old regime, and as one
porn and reared in the traditions and creeds
OF the Nirginian ante bellum glory, regards
Win olstrust and dlsfavor the So-called pro-
gress OF these uneasy latter times Since
the death of her husband and her entrance
10 Inc Louise Home, some eight or ten wears
ago, Mrs. Semple has been quite lost to the
gay world in which she once reigned. the
gay official world which she now placidly
contemplates from the window of cosy
apartment overlooking the broad. clean
sweep OF Massachusetts avenue and the
quiet elegance of Scotts circle, where the
1asnlonable equipages continually roll.
here. however, in the warmth and comfort
OF her hlgh-up, sunny, CHEEKY retreat she
receives the very small circle of old-time
friends and the younger ones who delight in
the reminiscent pictures Of her girlhood
days and its environment of great persons
and events.
To hear lady chat Familiarity of Daniel
Webster, of Dolly Madison and of CLAW and
Calhoun, clothes these intellectual factors
OF history with flesh and blood personality
and enables one, as it were, to shake hands
with her forefathers and to realize her re-
lationship to history. Fer recollections of
an era when society was ''dignihed, - when
slang was unknown as a drawing room ac-
comphshment, and when principle and
honor were the first tenets Of a gentleman's
creed, !" are most interesting and her com
parsons between then and now are never in
favor OF the present giddy age.
ewAsHINGToN SOCIETY FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Referring to official society at the capital
during her fathers administration. Mrs.
Semple said:
Society was then a very different thing
from now. Women leaned upon men as
their protectors and guardians, and a gen
tleman OF those days regarded as his first
duty the care of his wife and children and
his mother and sisters. The progressive
woman, that dreadful outgrowth of the war
and the upheaval of society, had never been
heard OF. Women then desired to be good
wives and mothers, and were not men either
IN thought or in doing mems work, and els
obey1ng their Bible, which Gdmonishes
women to silence in public.
Progress is not always advancement. u
concluded this lady with emphasis, and
passing from this she compared the women
of to-day with those of former times, spoke
derogatorily Of the modern methods of fash
ionabie entertainment and deplored the
crowded, ill-regulated and purely snowy
character Of the present fashionable recep-
ton, tea or luncheon. ''In those days. she
said, "a drawing room entertainment was
something more than crush Of people. It
was planned to give pleasure, not merely to
cancel obligations. 1t was a cordial and
orderly affair; the young gentlemen were
called upon to usher and look out for the
pleasure OF the guests, and when supper
was announced the eldest and most impor-
tant persons were first led into the dining
room. Of course" added Mrs. Semple, I'm
those days, you must remember, there was
but one railroad into the capital-that from
Baltimore-and there were fewer states, and
consequently fewer to entertain. Then the
prevailing element was southern. with the
repose of manner and generous hospitality
which characterized plantation life in the
old times"
HER LIFE AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
"When my father was made President
and called me TO the White House." said
Mrs. Semple, who, it will be remembered.
was mistress of the White House until her
fathers second marriage she gave me no
other instruction or bit of advice except this: |
you must remember, he said, that In your
new position you must treat all alike You
must have no favorites nor make any dis. |
tinctons-' l endeavored to meet his wishes, !
and following out his suggestion had none |
IF q fYin
young ladies, and maintained the strict |
neutrality he advised. The code of etiquette /
regulating the White House has, OF course, |
changed much since 1S40. At that |
time the lady Of the White House |
returned all of her first visits in person. |
To this she devoted three days of each
week, while the other three Were spent in |
receiving visits. Every two weeks the Pres
ident held levee, and spent every evening
liz the drawing-room with his family or
friends. During my fathers administra
ton dancing was introduced at the White
House, and the playing of the Marine band
for the public entertainments was another
of his innovations. The people were de-
lighted, and great crowds would come to
hear the musical selections which inyari-
ably closed with that old Virginian negro
melody:
Clear the kitchen, young folks, old folks.
Ole Virginny never tires
"This," said Mrs. Semple, ''was an old
plantation air and faVorite song when the
servants used to clear the mistress kitchen
for the breakdown"
DANIEL WEBSTER ON LOVE.
Among the great personages who figured !
In her fathers administration she spoke of
Daniel Webster as one who fulfilled his
social obligations with due courtesy but
with a pre-occupied air, as if unable to get