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29 chapters
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
The Ladies of the White House have had no biographers. The custom of the Republic, which relegates back to private life those who have served it, has made it difficult to gather much of stirring interest concerning the women who have made the social history of the different administrations. From privacy they came, to privacy they were returned, and the world took little cognizance of them beyond noting the entertainments they gave, and the success that attended their dinners and receptions. In t
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I. MARTHA WASHINGTON.
I. MARTHA WASHINGTON.
The first who, in our young republic, bore the honors as a President’s wife, is described “as being rather below the middle size, but extremely well-shaped, with an agreeable countenance, dark hazel eyes and hair, and those frank, engaging manners so captivating in American women. She was not a beauty, but gentle and winning in her nature, and eminently congenial to her illustrious husband. During their long and happy married life, he ever wore her likeness on his heart.” “It was in 1758 that an
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II. ABIGAIL ADAMS.
II. ABIGAIL ADAMS.
Abigail Smith, the daughter of a New England Congregationalist minister, was born at Weymouth, in 1744. Her father was the settled pastor of that place for more than forty years, and her grandfather was also a minister of the same denomination in a neighboring town. The younger years of her life were passed in the quiet seclusion of her grandfather’s house; and under the instructions of her grandmother, she imbibed most of the lessons which were the most deeply impressed upon her mind. “I have n
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III. MARTHA JEFFERSON.
III. MARTHA JEFFERSON.
Mrs. Jefferson had been dead nineteen years when, in 1801, President Jefferson took possession of the White House, and there was, strictly speaking, no lady of the mansion during his term. His daughters were with him in Washington only twice during his eight years’ stay, and he held no formal receptions as are customary now; and being of the French school of democratic politics, professed a dislike of all ceremonious visitors. On the 1st day of January, 1772, Mr. Jefferson was married to Mrs. Ma
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IV. DOROTHY P. MADISON.
IV. DOROTHY P. MADISON.
Washington Irving, in one of his letters, has given an amusing account of his troubles in Washington, in preparing to attend a levee given by President Madison. After a ludicrous description of his vexations, he says, he finally emerged into the blazing splendor of Mrs. Madison’s drawing-room. Here he was most graciously received, and found a crowded collection of great and little men, of ugly and old women, and beautiful young ones. Mrs. Madison, he adds, was a fine, pretty buxom dame, who had
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V. ELIZABETH K. MONROE.
V. ELIZABETH K. MONROE.
The era in which Mrs. Monroe lived was the most eventful in the history of nations, and her record is of interest and value, in a twofold degree. The women who stamp the influence of their virtues on a time of public excitement and wonderful changes, bear in their natures strength of character worthy of emulation; and they become the benefactors of succeeding ages, as they were the blessings of their own. The memorials of such should be familiar to the children of America, who under the genius o
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VI. LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS.
VI. LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS.
Mrs. Adams was the sixth in the succession of occupants of the Executive Mansion, and with her closed the list of the ladies of the Revolution. A new generation had sprung up in the forty-nine years of Independence, and after her retirement, younger aspirants claimed the honors. Born in the city of London on the 12th of February, 1775, she received advantages superior to those enjoyed by most of the ladies of America. Her father, Mr. Johnson, of Maryland, although living at the outbreak of the w
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VII. RACHEL JACKSON.
VII. RACHEL JACKSON.
The cruel misrepresentations of political opponents had crushed the heart of Rachel Jackson, and ended her days before her husband took possession of the Home of the Presidents. She was denied the gratification of accompanying him to Washington, and of gracing the White House, but she was even in death the President’s wife, and as such is ranked. In his heart she lived there, the object of the most deathless and exalted affection, the spiritual comforter and companion of his lonely hours. The fr
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VIII. EMILY DONELSON.
VIII. EMILY DONELSON.
Mrs. Emily Donelson, the accomplished mistress of the White House during General Jackson’s Presidential term, was the youngest child of Captain John Donelson, a man of sterling integrity and irreproachable character, perfect in all the relations of life, respected as a citizen, honored as a Christian, and beloved as a friend and neighbor. She was born in Davidson County, Tennessee, and educated at the Old Academy, in Nashville. Of rare personal loveliness and superior intellect, no expense or ca
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IX. SARAH YORKE JACKSON.
IX. SARAH YORKE JACKSON.
The wife of President Jackson’s foster-son was the daughter of Peter Yorke, of Philadelphia, whose grandfather, Judge Yorke, held an appointment under the crown of Great Britain prior to the Revolution. She was educated in that city, and received all the accomplishments a mind of superior order under similar fortunate circumstances would be capable of appreciating. Left an orphan at an early age, her affections were concentrated upon those nearest of kin to her, and well and nobly has she fulfil
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X. HANNAH VAN BUREN.
X. HANNAH VAN BUREN.
The wife of President Van Buren was born at Kinderhook, on the Hudson, in the year 1782, a few months after the birth of her future husband, whose schoolmate and companion she was during their early years. She was of Dutch descent, and the original name Goes, but pronounced by her ancestors Hoes, and since so called by all the members of the family in this country, is familiar to those who are acquainted with the history of the Netherlands. If the charms of nature—grand scenery, magnificent view
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XI. ANGELICA VAN BUREN.
XI. ANGELICA VAN BUREN.
The era in which Hannah Van Buren lived was far removed from her husband’s ascension to the Presidency, for she had been dead seventeen years, when, in 1837, that event occurred. He remained a widower, and, but for the presence of his accomplished daughter-in-law, his administration would have been socially a failure. The prestige of his high position was not complete until the honors were shared with his young relative. Angelica Singleton, the daughter of Richard Singleton, Esq., was born in Su
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XII. ANNA SYMMES HARRISON.
XII. ANNA SYMMES HARRISON.
Anna Symmes, the wife of the ninth President of the United States, was born the famous year of American Independence, and but a few months after the renowned skirmish at Lexington. Her birth-place was near Morristown, New Jersey, the scene of suffering the following year, where the tracks of the blood-stained feet of the soldiers attested their forlorn condition. Soon after her birth, which occurred the 25th of July, 1775, her mother died. Bereft of her care, she was thrown upon her father’s han
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XIII. LETITIA CHRISTIAN TYLER.
XIII. LETITIA CHRISTIAN TYLER.
The first wife of John Tyler, tenth President of the United States, was the third daughter of Robert Christian, Esq., of Cedar Grove, in New Kent county, in the State of Virginia; a gentleman of good private fortune, an earnest Federalist of that day in his political opinions, and an attached friend and adherent of George Washington. He possessed the highest social and political influence in the county of his residence, and, indeed, throughout the Peninsular District, embraced between the York a
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XIV. JULIA GARDINER TYLER.
XIV. JULIA GARDINER TYLER.
President John Tyler was married to Miss Julia Gardiner the 26th day of June, 1844, at the Church of the Ascension, New York city. Immediately after the wedding, the bridal party returned to the White House, where they held a grand reception in lieu of the usual wedding festivities. It was the first, and up to the present time, the only instance of the marriage of a President, and the affair created great excitement and interest throughout the United States, heightened doubtless by the recollect
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XV. SARAH CHILDRESS POLK.
XV. SARAH CHILDRESS POLK.
Sarah Childress, the daughter of Captain Joel and Elizabeth Childress, was born near Murfreesboro, in Rutherford county, Tennessee, the 4th day of September, 1803. In that beautiful portion of the South, almost a wilderness then, passed the younger years of her life, and there is little to record of it save its contentment and tranquil happiness. Her father, a farmer in easy circumstances, and considered rich for those days, allowed his children every benefit to be derived from his fortunate cir
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XVI. MARGARET TAYLOR.
XVI. MARGARET TAYLOR.
The importance attached to Presidential honors is not in our country the inheritance of persons born to the wearing of them. Monarchial governments, by tradition and law, designate not only who is the “chief magistrate,” but also provide candidates in advance for the succession. People, therefore, born to such high estate are always, from infancy onward, objects of world-wide interest; and the minutest acts of their lives, before they achieve their inherited position as well as after, are subjec
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XVII. ABIGAIL FILLMORE.
XVII. ABIGAIL FILLMORE.
Abigail Powers, the youngest child of Lemuel Powers, a prominent Baptist clergyman of that day, was born in Stillwater, Saratoga county, New York, March, 1798. Dr. Powers was of Massachusetts descent, being one of the nine thousand six hundred and twenty-four descendants of Henry Leland, of Sherburne, and a cousin and life-long friend of the eccentric and talented John Leland. Though not a wealthy man, he yet possessed a competence, and his profession was the most honored and respected of all pu
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XVIII. MARY ABIGAIL FILLMORE.
XVIII. MARY ABIGAIL FILLMORE.
The only daughter of President Fillmore was, during her father’s administration, in consequence of her mother’s ill-health, the Lady of the White House, and as such deserves more mention than the limits of this sketch will allow. She was remarkable for her mental and intensely affectional nature, and discovered during her brief life only those traits which served to render her a source of interest and admiration. As a child, she was precocious; latterly in life, her physical health was so entire
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XIX. JANE APPLETON PIERCE.
XIX. JANE APPLETON PIERCE.
There are two classes of ladies of whom the biographer is compelled to write, and both are alike interesting. One includes those whose lives have been passed in the sunshine of prosperity and allurements of fashionable society, who have been widely known, and who have mingled with the leading characters of this country. The lives of such women include innumerable incidents of public and private interest, and are, in fact, necessary to a perfect history of their time. They are a part of the great
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XX. HARRIET LANE.
XX. HARRIET LANE.
The name of Harriet Lane is so nearly associated with the latest and most illustrious years of her uncle, James Buchanan, that it is quite impossible to write a life of the one in which the other shall not fill some space. Of all his kindred she was the closest to him. Given to his care when she was scarcely past infancy, she took the place of a child in his lonely heart, and when she reached womanhood she repaid his affection by ministering with rare tact and grace, abroad and at home, in publi
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XXI. MARY TODD LINCOLN.
XXI. MARY TODD LINCOLN.
To Mrs. Lincoln more than to any other President’s wife was the White House an ambition. She had ever aspired to reach it, and when it became her home, it was the fruition of a hope long entertained, the gratification of the great desire of her life. In her early youth she repeatedly asserted that she should be a President’s wife, and so profoundly impressed was she with this idea, that she calculated the probabilities of such a success with all her male friends. She refused an offer of marriage
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XXII. ELIZA McCARDLE JOHNSON.
XXII. ELIZA McCARDLE JOHNSON.
In the autumn of 1824, the term of a fatherless boy’s apprenticeship expired, and he entered the world rich only in energy, and a noble ambition to provide for a widowed mother. But he was sensitive and anxious to enlarge his facilities for an education, and his strong mind grasped and analyzed the fact that to succeed he must form new ties, and find a broader field of action. Tennessee was the land of promise which attracted his attention, and accompanied by his mother, who justly deserved the
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XXIII. MARTHA JOHNSON PATTERSON.
XXIII. MARTHA JOHNSON PATTERSON.
The resemblance to her father is a marked attribute of Mrs. Patterson’s face; a reproduction, though moulded in a softer cast, of his distinct and strong features and expressive eyes. She inherited his executive ability, his comprehensiveness, and many of his characteristic peculiarities. Her countenance denotes strength, and the organs of the head indicate a harmonious and perfect blending with the finer sentiments of the heart. Eyes large and full discover her power of language, and the develo
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XXIV. MARY STOVER.
XXIV. MARY STOVER.
The second daughter of President Johnson was married in April, 1852, to Mr. Daniel Stover, of Carter county, East Tennessee. He died December 18, 1864, leaving her with three small children. Mrs. Stover remained at home after the removal of her father’s family to Washington until the last of August, and then, accompanied by her interesting family, took up her residence in the White House. Said a newspaper correspondent of her: “Visitors at the White House during the past two or three years may r
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XXV. JULIA DENT GRANT.
XXV. JULIA DENT GRANT.
The inauguration of General Grant as President of the United States placed his wife in the exalted social position of Mistress of the White House. Mrs. Grant’s first reception on the 4th of March, 1869, marked the passing away of just fourscore years since Mrs. Washington so gracefully dispensed the ceremonious hospitality of the Executive Mansion. Her husband being the youngest man who has occupied the Presidential office, he consequently carried with him into the White House the novelty of a f
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XXVI. LUCY WEBB HAYES.
XXVI. LUCY WEBB HAYES.
Mrs. Hayes was the most widely known and universally popular President’s wife the country has known. She was an element in the administration that was gladly recognized, and her influence was most potent and admirable. In her successful career as the first lady of the land was outlined the future possibilities of her sex in all other positions and conditions. She represented the new woman era, and was the first of the women of the White House of the third period. The women of the Revolutionary p
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XXVII. LUCRETIA RUDOLPH GARFIELD.
XXVII. LUCRETIA RUDOLPH GARFIELD.
A woman who had known Mrs. Garfield for a number of years previous to the election of her husband to the Presidency said of her, in reply to a question regarding her fitness for the place she was to fill: “She will have a most beneficent influence upon society in Washington. She loves truth and despises shams. She is a woman of exceeding good sense, and will perform her entire social duty when called upon.” “Will she be popular with what is called the fashionable world?” “Mrs. Garfield is not wh
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XXVIII. “THE WHITE HOUSE.”
XXVIII. “THE WHITE HOUSE.”
The corner-stone of the Presidents’ House was laid on the 13th of October, 1792, and the building was constructed after the designs and under the directions of Captain James Hobon, Architect. After its destruction by the British, in 1814, the interior was rebuilt by Captain Hobon. It is located at the intersection of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont Avenues, which radiate from this point as centre. The house is constructed of Virginia free-stone, which is excessively porous, and
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