Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1898-11-23
CHILDnHN OF PRESIDENTS.
-Four OF Our Chief Executives Had Ne
Offspring What Became of
White FOuse Families

| at It's
readers that Rufus h. Polk of Dan,
vile, Pa a grandson of President
James K. Polk of Tennessee, had been
nominated for congress in his district
Mr.. Polk may be a good Democrat
and may make a good congressman
but he is not grandson of President
Polk, for the simple reason that the
latter never had a son. james Knox
Polk, who was the ninth president,
| was childless. like his predecessors
Washington. Madison and jackson.
Adj the presidents, with the exception
OF James BuchaEan, we're married OF
had been married. Four of them, JET.
terson, jackson, Van Buren, and Ar.
thur, were widowers, and three, Wash.
ington, Jackson and Polk, were child.
less. Washington was step-father
and a greatly beloved ore, as we'll as
ep-grand-father. Nelly and Parke
Custis were the children of Mrs.
Washin gbon, whose first husband was
Daniel Parke GUSTS of Virginia. The
son, John. Parke GUSTS, grew up I'M
der Washingtons care. The daughter
died. These grandchildren were
adopted by General Washington, and
Nelly GUSTS married Washington s
nephew. Her brother became the
owner of Arlington, and was the IA
Their of Mrs. Robert z. Lee.
John Adams, the second president,
! was the first occupant of the White
House, to which he went in 1901, be.
fore it was finished One son died the
year before, and a daughter was lost
in her infancy. His married daugh.
ter and his famous son, John Quincy
Adams, were with him. The la tier be.
came minister to Russia under Presi.
dent Madison, and served his country
subsequently as minister to England.
He was secretary of state under
President Monroe, and in 1924 he was
elected president. President John AID.
ans was the father of two daughters
and three sons, all of whom died be-.
fore he did, excepting John Quincy
Adams.
Thomas Jefferson had two children,
both daughters, of whom, Martha
Jefferson, was declared to be 1.-THE
sweetest woman in Virginia" by crab.
bed old John Randolph, and her chill.
dren and her grandchildren adored
her. She had twelve children, one OF
whom, Thomas Jefferson Randolph,
became the stay and solace of Jeffer.
sons declining years. Another of her
children was Mrs. Virginia jefferson
Trist. One Of her sons was born in
the White House in the winter of 1905,
the first birth which took place in the
White House. This child was named
James Madison Randolph. Jefferson's
seventh grandchild was named Sept.
mia" AMI her daughter, the late Mrs.
MieIleham Of Washington, appealed
In vain to congress for a pension.
Her children NOW live in Washington
and New York. Jefferson, therefore,
left many descendants, not a few Of
whom are living il, Virginia. Thomas
Jefferson Coolidge of Boston is a
grandson, being the son of one Of Mrs.
Randolph's daughters.
James Madison had no children, but
like Washington, he married a widow,
and her only child, a son, Payne Todd,
was VIGOROUSLY bad chara cter. over
whom Madison had much trouble and
many financial losses. James Mon
roe, the fifth president, had no sons,
but had two daughters
John Quincy Adams, the son of
President John Adams, was the sixth
President, and his household consist
ed of four children. three sons and a
daughter. One of the sons was the
late Charles Francis Adams. Andrew
jackson had no children and was a
wdower at the time he became presi-
dent. He had an adopted son, whose
family lived for many years at the
HERMITAGE, near Nashville. Martin
Van Buren'S two sons were with him
while he was president. He had no
daughters, and had been a widorer
for many years when he went to
Washington. His second sons wife,
who was a Miss Singleton of South
Carolina, was the "lady of the White
House" of that administration.
President Harrison lived only a
month after his inauguration and his
family had not moved from Ohio at
the time of his death. His grandson
became the nineteenth president of
the United States. Vice President
John Tyler, who became president to
fill the term, had a large family Of
sons and daughters. one of whom,
John Tyler, Jr., was his private seq
rotary. He remained in Washington
until his death, which occurred a few
years ago. President Tyler married
a young wife six months before his
retirement, and this fact caused a
temporary estrangement between his
children and himself. His second wife
was the mother of seven children, and
two of her sons were in the Confed-
crate army. All of Tyler's first fam.
lily of children are dead executing
Mrs. Lefitia Semple, who is an inmate
OF the Louise Home in Washin gton.
As has BEEN said, James X. Polk
had no children, and his successor in
office, General Zachary Taylor, had
one son and three daughters. One OF
his daught tiers was the first wife OF
Jefferson Davis, and the other. mar
ried first Colonel Bliss of the army
and was the 'lady of the White
House." her mother declining to take
part in the social life of the admins
tration. She is now Mrs Dandrid ore
and is living in Virginia. General
Richard d. Taylor, the presidents
only son, who was educated al West
Point, was cavalry officer in the
Confederate army. He left no sons.
but three daughters. all of whom are
living in New Orleans. Another child
OF President Taylor was Mrs Wood,
widow of an officer, W.
many some years ago.
President Fillmore had one son and
one daughter, both of whom lived in
the White House, The son, Powers
Fillmore, lived in Buffalo until his
death, which occurred not long ago.
President Pierce's three sons died
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