Evening star., 1948-06-27
By John CIogett Proctor

June brides cannot claim all the
matrimonial spotlight because they
were married during the first month
of summer, for after all, maybe 1t
was the delightful season of the
year that had much to do with the
selection Of this particular month,
although, generally speaking, Sep
tember and October are also de-
|lightful. months in this climate to
be joined togetheT in holy wedlock.
As we look upon the marriage dates
of many prominent people we find
that they thought any month was a
good one, and thus we find the earli-
est wedding performed in the White
House-that of Mrs. Todd, cousin
of Mrs. Madison, and Representa-
tive John G. jackson Of Virginia
probably took place on March II,
1911. The second one, in which the
contracting parties were Thomas
Todd, an associate justice of the
United States Supreme Court. and
Mrs. Lucy Payne Washington, a
sister Of Mrs. Madison, also took
place in March one year later, as
we find in the National Intelligencer
Of March 81, 1872.
The President and Mrs. Franklin
D. Roosevelt also thought favorably
of March, and selected st. Patrick's S
Day, 1905, while Calvin Coolidge
selected october 4, the ceremony
being performed at Burlington, VT.
John Nance Garner and Miss Mari
cite Rheiner were married in No.
vember, as was the late Vice Presi-
dent Charles Curtis.
1t will be found from a casual
survey of the dates of marriages of
some of the great and near great,
that the time selected for this i'm
portant event probably was based
entirely on convenience, without re-
gard to any particular season of the
year. President James Monroes
daughter, Maria Hester, married
Samuel Lawrence Gouveneur in the
White House in November; John
Adams, son Of John Quincy Adams,
married his cousin, Mary Helen, in
February, and President Van Buren's
son, Maj. Abraham Van Buren, mar
ried Miss Angelica Singleton in
November.
Wilson's Daughters
President John Tyler's daughter
Elizabeth married William Waller of
Williamsburg, Va, in January:
Princess" Alice Roosevelt selected
February for her wedding to Nicho-
las LongWorth, then a Representa-
tive from Ohio. And this welding in
1906 was an unusually grand affair,
with more than thousand guests
present, and the world was then at
the feet of the President and his
warm-hearted, impulsive daughter.
How true, indeed, as We look back
ward over the occurrences of our
brief lives, are the words of the poet,
Gray, in his "Eegy Written in a
Country Church Yard:
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of
power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth
e'er gave,
Await alike, the inevitable hour
The paths of glory lead but to the
grave"
OF President Woodrow Wilson'S
daughters, Jessie was married to
Francis BoWles Sayre in November
and Eleanor to William Gibbs Nc
Adoo in May.
One of the most notable Of all
local weddings having an interna-
tional bearing was that of the
Baron Alexander de Bodisco, Rus
sian Minister to the United States.
He was married to Harriet Beall
Williams in 1841, and of the many
charming romances that have had
their setting in the Nations Capital,
none has been quite so glamorous
as this joining in wedlock of these
representatives in age of May and
December.
She at the time was the hand
soonest girl in old Georgetown, when
the West End was separate munich
panty dilQ Oollll IVA " dS I4dy yOi. NliC
was tall, probably had sandy or red
dish hair, and an adorable COM
plexion that powder and rouge would
have detracted from. She was sweet
16 and he was 50-plus-just how
many plus the writer cannot say.
Velvet and Lace Days
Jessie Benton. aged IA, later Mrs.
John C. Fremont, who served as
bridesmaid, was paired off with
Senator James Buchanan, subse-
quently President of the United
States. The Chevalier de Martini,
Minister from The Hague, accom-
panied the lovely 16-year-old daugh-
ter OF Commodore Morris, and the
British Minister. Henry Stephen
Fox. another of the groomsmen. was
resplendent in a court suit of scarlet
and gold The brides dress was
made of white satin and silver lace,
fashioned after the costume of a
Russian bride, the low-cut dress
showing the perfection of her lovely
white shoulders and neck. A coro-
net of red velvet, blazing with dia-
monds, rested upon her hair. The