Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-10-07
VIRGINIA WOMAN
TO BECOME BRIDE
OF NATIONS CHIEF.
Wedding Date Not Fixed,
but Probably Will Be
in December.
BRIDE-TO-BE is WIDOW
OF WASHINGTON JEWELER
She Is Daughter of Late w. H.
Boiling, Prominent Wythe-
vile Lawyer.
MEANS BIG SOCIAL SEASON
Formal Announcement at White
House Causes Very Great
Surprise.
BRIDE-TO-BE is WIDOW
OF WASHINGTON JEWELER
MEANS BIG SOCIAL SEASON
Formal Announcement at White
House Causes Very Great
Surprise.

WASHINGTON, October 6.-woodrow
Wilson. the President OF the United
States announced tonight his engage
ment to Mrs Norman R. Gait. of Wash
ington. The date of the wedding has
not been fixed. but it probably will
take place in December, at the home of
the ride-clect.
The brief announcement from the
White House. made by Secretary
Tumulty, came as surprise to official
Washington. but to a number OF inti-
mate friends it has long been ex-
pccted. From this circle came tonight
the story of friendship whose culmna-
tion was viewed as a happy turn in the
troubled and lonely life of the nations
chief executive.
1t was Miss Margaret Wilson and
her cousin, Miss Helen Woodrow Bones,
who drew Mrs. Gait into the White
House circle. They met her first in
the early autumn of last year and were
so much attracted by her that they
sought her out more and more fre-
quently. and the friendship between
them ra pidly ripened into an Affection
ate intimacy. Mrs Gait spent n month
this summer at Cornish as the house
guest of the Presidents eldest daughS
ter. 1t was through this intimacy of
his daughter and cousin that the Presi-
dent had an opportunity to meet and
know her.
one of the most interesting facts
about the engagement. indeed as told
by friends. is that the Presidents
daughters chose Mrs. Gait for their
admiration and friendship before their
father did.
DAUGHTER OF PROMINENT
LAW E;It OF NNYTHE,VU.I
Mrs. Calf is the widow of a we'll
known man of Washington. who died
eight years ago. leaving jewelry
business that still bears his name. She
has lived in Washington since her mar
riage in 1896. She is about thirty
eight years old, and was Miss Edith
Boiling, born in w. theville Va where
her girlhood was spent, and whe"e her
father. Williams II. Eolims, was a
prominent lawyer.
In the circle OF people who have
known Mrs. Gait for many years, she
has been regarded as an unusual
beauty. She is not quite as tall as
Mr.. Wilson, and has dark hair and dark
eyes. Her tastes are said to be strik-
insly similar 10 those OF the President
with deep interest in literature and
charity work.
Friends of the President expressed
their pleasure over the announcements
tonight not only because of Mr. Will
sons personal happiness, but because
they felt this new companionship
would give him support and comfort in
ms home life-a vital need during tho
hours OF strain over the nations prob
lens. With the marriage of his daugh-
ters and the death OF Mrs Wilson moro
than year ago, the Presidents life
had become one of solitude. His alb
sorption III official labors began to tell
OH him physically, and when A few
months ago hH began to take a renewed
interest in personal affairs, his friends
and members of the family welcomed
the distinct change which it brought
about in his health and spirits
MRS. GAIT DINNER GUEST
At THE WHITE. HOUSE
Tonight Mrs. Gait was a dinner
guest at the White House At the
moment when Secretary Tumulty stood
in the executive Offices announcing the
engagement TO large number OF
Washington correspondents who had
been summoned, the President and Mrs
Gait were spending the evening with
DR. Cary T, Grayson and Miss Bones
in the White House parlors.
The news was given out in a brief
statement, which read:
The announcement was made to-day
of the engagement OF Mrs Norman
Gait, OF this city, and President Wood.
row WILSON,"
No word as TO plans for the wedding
was said to be available as vet. but it
generally is presumed that Mrs Gait.
who is OF democratic tastes. Will pre-
FER n private wedding in her own house
instead of III the White House Grover
Cleveland was the last President TO ba
in the White House. should
Mr.. Wilson decide 10 DC married there,
1t VIII be the third wedding In tho
under his administration. tha
first, between Jesse Woodrow wilson
and Francis Il. Sayre, being held in tho
East Room. and the second. between
Secretary McAdoo and Miss Eleanor
wilson. being solemnized In the B.ua
Room
OF LIVELY
SOCIAL SEASON
The announcement or the engagement
was generally regarded as a forerunS
ner OF an interesting social season for
Washington. with the new First Lad8