Grover Cleveland came to the White House with a secret.

Grover Cleveland’s Secret   

At 49 years old, Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) was a lifelong bachelor. Nearly 300-pounds on his 5’9” frame, he was the heaviest President up to that time (1885). His jowly and mustachioed features seemed to be in perpetually etched grouch. Definitely a non-Adonis.

Nevertheless, he was secretly engaged to be married, and if that weren’t enough, he was planning to marry a 21-year-old young lady he had known since birth. Frances Folsom had a good figure, a peaches-and-cream complexion and dimples! She had recently graduated from Wells College in upstate New York, and had just returned from a European trip, where (among other things) she purchased her bridal trousseau.

Frances Folsom was the youngest FLOTUS ever!

The “engagement” had been a total surprise to Washington society, whose matrons had been intent on introducing the gruff, overweight President to every eligible (and equally unattractive) widow and spinster in town. But no sooner did Miss Folsom and her mother arrive back in the United States, than the wedding was not only announced but executed a week later. Since the event was to be held in the White House, completely under his personal control, President Grover Cleveland had seen to all the plans himself: the ceremony, the invitation list, the minister – even the wedding vows. His sister Rose Elizabeth, who had been his hostess for a year of First Lady duties, arranged the menu, the floral decorations and summoned the Marine Band.  All the bride had to do was show up for the ceremony – with her wedding gown.

The wedding announcement

Perhaps there was reason for all the secrecy. If there was anything that could augment the Cleveland scowl, it was an invasion of his privacy. And what was more private than his own wedding? Fewer than fifty invitations were issued, all written by hand – by him. The press was expressly forbidden to attend the small ceremony.

Frances Folsom:  The Bride…

Making the story a little more complicated than merely eyebrow-raising cradle-robbing, was the fact that Cleveland had been Frances’ legal guardian for more than a decade. Her father, Oscar Folsom, had been his close friend and law partner. When Frances was born, “Uncle Cleve” gave the Folsoms the baby buggy. When Folsom died in a carriage accident when Frances was eleven, it was only natural for Cleveland, executor of the Folsom estate, to assume guardianship, and see that Frances and her mother had all the comforts of middle-class life in Buffalo, New York.

No wonder the President guarded his news of impending nuptials!  The quasi-familial relationship could be the stuff of scandal!

…and Her Gown

The gown drawn from the description.

The one small concession about the wedding that President Cleveland made a detailed written description of Miss Folsom’s wedding gown. After all, nearly every dressmaker in the country and their customers waited with bated breath to learn what the young and pretty new First Lady would wear on her historic wedding day.

Plum assignments went to artists at both Harper’s Weekly and Leslie’s, the two major magazines of the day: create the wedding scene – complete with an imaginative rendering of Miss Folsom’s wedding gown, taken from the public description. One newspaper wrote:

“The bride wore an enchanting white dress of ivory satin, simply garnished on the high corsage with India muslin crossed in Grecian folds and carried in exquisite falls of simplicity over the petticoat. The orange blossom garniture, commencing upon the veil in a superb coronet, is continued throughout the costume with artistic skill. She carried no flowers and wore no jewelry except an engagement ring, containing a sapphire and two diamonds.” 

Another description offered:

Another view of the wedding gown nobody saw.

“Frances Folsom was a lovely bride in ivory satin and a long veil; her train was four yards long.  Attached to the left side of her gown was a scarf of soft white India silk, looped high and forming an overskirt bordered on the edge with orange blossoms; full folds of mousseline, edged with orange blossoms, were draped across the bodice.  Her bridal veil, of white silk tulle, five yards in length, was fastened to Frances’ hair with orange blossoms and trailed to the end of her magnificent train.  She wore long gloves to meet the short sleeves of the elegant gown. 

A rare photo of Frances in her real gown (LOC)

Since neither the journalists nor the artists saw the gown, nobody could understand what it really looked like. But one of the important descriptions given to the press was that it had an exceptionally long train. Great liberty could be taken from the description-with-long-train. Thus it was no surprise when the very next issues of both Harper’s and Leslie’s carried artistic representations of the wedding scene – but with completely dissimilar gowns. But both depictions featured exceptionally long trains!

The Gown Story Continues

Most modern brides, if they choose a traditional wedding gown, either wear a family heirloom, or spend serious money on a one-time dress. Grandma’s gown might be understandably altered to fit before re-use of course, and then professionally cleaned and packed away for possible posterity. Even a brand new gown is likely to share that long-term fate.

But new First Lady Frances Cleveland thought otherwise. Shortly after the wedding, she had the gown altered to wear at public receptions. Thrifty-minded Grover Cleveland would likely frown at the one-shot-only expense.

The recycled-repurposed wedding gown.

So the signature long train was removed, and wedding gown was dyed a rose-pink, and used for publicity purposes. (Note similarity of backgrounds and pose.) Later, Frances had it altered yet again for her formal portrait. One would never know it had been her recycled wedding gown. Maybe all the confusion from a “written description” had an ulterior motive!  No one would know the difference.

Sources:

Carpenter, Frank G. – Carp’s Washington – McGraw Hill, 1960

Cross, Wilbur and Novotny, Ann – White House Weddings – David McKay Co., 1967

Dunlap, Annette – FRANK: The Story of Frances Folsom Cleveland, America’s Youngest First Lady – Excelsior Editions, 2009

Foster, Feather Schwartz – Mary Lincoln’s Flannel Pajamas and Other Stories From the First Ladies Closet – Koehler Publishing, 2014

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-ladies/frances-folsom-cleveland/