How she met Pierce, a young lawyer with political ambitions, is unknown, but her brother-in-law Alpheus S. Packard was one of Pierce's instructors at Bowdoin. Franklin, almost 30, married Jane, 28, on November 19, 1834, at the bride's maternal grandparents' home in Amherst, New Hampshire. The Reverend Silas Aiken, Jane's brother-in-law, conducted the small ceremony. The couple honeymooned six days at the boardinghouse of Sophia Southurt near Washington, D.C..
Franklin Pierce was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives by the time they married and became a U.S. Senator in 1837. Jane hated life in Washington, D.C., and encouraged her husband to resign his Senate seat and return to New Hampshire, which he did in 1842. Service in the Mexican-American War brought him the rank of Brigadier General and local fame as a hero. He returned home safely, and for four more years the Pierces lived quietly at Concord, New Hampshire, in the happiest period of their lives, where they watched their son Benjamin "Benny" grow up.
Lucy Webb Hayes
Lucy Ware Webb Hayes (August 28, 1831 – June 25, 1889) was a First Lady of the United States and the wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Lucy was nicknamed "Lemonade Lucy." She did not serve alcohol in the White House.
She was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. She was the daughter of James Webb, a doctor, and Maria Cook-Webb. Lucy was descended from seven veterans of the American Revolution. Her father died when she was a child. With her mother, she moved to Delaware, Ohio where in 1847 she met Rutherford B. Hayes.
Lucy Hayes studied at Ohio Wesleyan University. She was the first First Lady to graduate from college.
As First Lady, Hayes supported her husband's ban of alcoholic beverages at state functions, excepting only the reception for Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia in 1877, at which wine was served. She also instituted the custom of conducting an Easter egg roll on the White House lawn. A devout Methodist, she joined the president in saying prayers after breakfast and conducting group hymn sings with the cabinet and congressmen on Sunday evenings.
The Hayes had four sons and a daughter to live to their adulthood:
She died of a stroke on June 25, 1889. When she died, people in the United States lowered the flag to half-mast.
Caroline Harrison
Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison (October 1, 1832 - October 25, 1892) was the wife of Benjamin Harrison. She was the First Lady of the United States from 1889 until her death.
Her birthplace was Oxford, Ohio. Her parents were Mary Potts Neal and Dr. John W. Scott. She met the young Ben when he was a student at Miami University. They married on 20th October 1853. They had three children. Their first child was Russell Benjamin (1854-1936). Their second child was Mary Scott (1856-1930). Their third child was a daughter, born in 1861. In the same year, their third child died.
When her husband became the President of the United States in 1889, they both moved to the White House. Caroline gave stylish parties. She became sick with tuberculosis. She could not participate in social functions after that. She died of tuberculosis on 25th October 1892.
Helen Herron Taft
Helen Louise Herron "Nellie" Taft (June 2, 1861 – May 22, 1943) was the wife of William Howard Taft and First Lady of the United States from 1909 to 1913.
Her parents were Harriet Collins and John W. Herron. She was their fourth child. She spent her childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio.
When Helen Herron was 18 years old, she met Will Taft. They married in 1886. William Howard Taft and Helen Herron Taft had three children:
She was a part of her husband’s rise in administration and politics. When her husband became the president, she gave special attention to the social life at the White House. When she suffered from stroke, her daughter Helen Taft Manning left college for a year to look after the social life at the White House.
During their stay at the White House, the couple celebrated their silver wedding anniversary in 1911. People celebrate a silver anniversary after 25 years of any occasion. She had also written a book named "Recollections of Full Years". The book tells about her work and life. Her husband died in 1930. She continued to live in Washington D.C. after the death of her husband. She died on May 22, 1943.
Mary McElroy
Mary Arthur McElroy (July 5, 1841 – January 8, 1917) was the sister of the 21st President of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, and served as a hostess for his administration (1881–1885). She assumed the role because Arthur's wife, Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur, had died only a year and a half earlier.
She was born in Greenwich, New York. Her parents were William and Malvina S. Arthur. Her parents had nine children, Mary being the last. In 1880, her brother Chester Arthur, became the Vice President of the United States. In July 1881, after the assassination of the President, James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur became the president of the United States and he requested his sister to become "First Lady" during his term in office.
In November 1880, McElroy's brother Chester Arthur was elected vice president. In July 1881, President James Garfield was fatally wounded and died on September 19, 1881. Arthur succeeded him, and asked McElroy to care for his young daughter Ellen and act as "Mistress of the White House." Because she had her own family in Albany, McElroy lived in Washington, D.C. only during the busy winter social season. Although Arthur never officially granted her the protocol of a formal position, she proved to be a popular and competent hostess. The procedures she and her brother developed for the social functions were used by future First Ladies for decades.
McElroy presided over a number of events and honored former First Ladies Julia Gardiner Tyler and Harriet Lane, James Buchanan's niece and social hostess, by asking them to help her receive guests at the White House. McElroy's oldest daughter May and Arthur's daughter Nell often assisted. Her final reception took place on February 28, 1885, one week before the end of the Arthur administration: 3,000 people attended (including Adolphus Greely) and 48 daughters of officials and of the social elite assisted her.
When her brother retired as the President, Mary went to live in Albany, New York.
She died on January 8, 1917 at the age of 75 in Albany, New York.
Frances Folsom Cleveland
Frances Clara Folsom Cleveland Preston (July 21, 1864 – October 29, 1947) was the wife of the President of the United States Grover Cleveland and the 27th First Lady of the United States from 1886 to 1889 and again from 1893 to 1897.
She was born in Buffalo, New York. Her birth name was Frances Clara Folsom. Her parents were Emma C. Harmon and Oscar Folsom. Her father later became a law partner of Grover Cleveland. All of her ancestors were from England. Cleveland was a family friend to Oscar's family. After Oscar’s death, Cleveland looked after the family. He arranged for education of Frances Folsom. She studied at Wells College. Cleveland and Frances Folsom sent letters to each other.
In 1885, Frances Folsom and her mother came to White House to meet Cleveland. Cleveland and Frances Folsom became close to each other, despite being around 27 years younger than Cleveland. On 2 June 1886, they married. This was the first and only couple to wed in the White House. When Frances Folsom became Mrs. Cleveland, she took the role of the First Lady. She gave two receptions every week. She became very popular.
In 1888, Cleveland lost the election. The couple lived in New York City. There their first child Ruth was born. In 1893 Cleveland again became the president. Frances Folsom again became active as the First Lady. In 1893, she gave birth to a second child, Esther. In 1895, she bore a third child, named Marion. By the time Cleveland had retired, Frances Folsom had become a very popular First Lady.