Mary Lincoln and Julia Grant: The CW Divas Part 1

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Feather Foster

The similarities were apparent; the dissimilarities were intrinsic.

Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1883) was seven years older than Julia Dent Grant. From Kentucky and Missouri respectively, they were both considered “westerners” in the early part of the 19th century. They both grew up in large families. Both families were affluent enough (Mary more so), and were slave holders. They were both finishing-school educated.

The earliest photo of Mary Todd Lincoln

But Mary’s childhood was desolate, according to her. She was the 4th of 6 children born to Kentucky banker-legislator Robert Smith Todd and his first wife. He owned a house in town plus and a plantation outside Lexington. When Eliza Todd died in childbirth, her widowed husband, perhaps overwhelmed by six children under twelve, remarried 18 months later. Betsey Humphreys was a strict, remote woman by nature, who nevertheless produced eight more little Todds.

Mary and her full-siblings were overlooked, neglected and criticized. They could not wait to escape. Mary, arguably the most intellectually inclined, went to finishing school when she was around twelve. Even though the school was only a mile from their town house, Mary boarded during the week, returning only on the weekends.

When her older sister married, moved to Springfield IL, and sent for her full-sisters, Mary jumped at the opportunity. She was just shy of 24 when she married Abraham Lincoln, ten years her senior. And poor.

The Diva Grant

Julia Dent (1826-1902) was the 4th of eight: four boys and four girls in that order. (One daughter died in infancy). Her father Frederick Dent was a merchant and plantation owner in St. Louis MO, a bustling port city.  They had a house in town for the winter. 

An early photo of Julia Dent Grant

But Julia’s childhood was a loving one, with memories, according to her memoirs written in her elder years that glowed brighter every year. But she was a plain child, with an eye condition from birth. Today, people call it cross-eyed, easily and successfully corrected in infancy. In the 1820s, it could not be repaired.

She was petted and spoiled by her parents and brothers but was blessed with a warm and affectionate personality that always won her many friends. Because her eye condition produced understandable eyestrain and headaches, she was permitted to be relaxed in her academic achievements. In the nineteenth century, education for women was never essential. And Julia would never be a scholar. Or pretty. 

She met a recent West Point graduate, her brother’s academy roommate, when she was barely 18 and he 21. It was love at first sight, but their marriage did not take place for four years, punctuated by his military obligations, youth and financial strains. 

The Mary Surprise

For 18 years, Mary Lincoln had been a middle-class housewife in Springfield, the capital of Illinois. It was a successful enough union, despite a decade of single-parenting while AL rode the judicial circuit to earn his modest living. His rise in politics was a long haul, but by 1860, he had reached national attention in the new Republican Party and became its Presidential nominee. A Civil War loomed on the horizon. When he was elected, war became a foregone conclusion. 

When the Lincolns arrived in Washington a few weeks prior to the inauguration, Mary was traumatically blindsided. She had three strikes against her from the start that she did not expect. First, while most people knew that AL came from humble roots, they assumed Mrs. Lincoln was also from that social class. She was not – by a longshot. Secondly, she was also a Kentuckian from a slave holding family, and thus perceived to be a Southern sympathizer. True about the Kentucky-slave holding part, but Mary was opposed to slavery since childhood, and was devoted to the Union. And third, as a “westerner,” she was purported to be of “low taste.” Untrue. Mary was particularly well educated and believed herself to be equal to her upcoming social tasks.

Mary and her children

When a delegation of Congressional wives came to call on the FLOTUS-elect, they offered to “guide her” through the shoals of society. They likely were a little condescending, but they meant well. Mary was offended and let them know it. In its own way, she was traumatized, and her sense of “I’ll show them,” began to take root. She would insist on the best, and would tolerate no peers. 

They shunned her.

The Julia Surprise

While Julia Grant always loved and believed in her husband, Ex-Captain Ulysses S. Grant was a sad case for the first fifteen years of their marriage. His military career ostensibly ended, and his attempts to find suitable work in St. Louis non-existent, the Grants barely got by. He finally wound up as a clerk in one of his father’s tanneries in Galena IL, a position he hated. But USG was not an ambitious man past providing for his family.

When the Civil War began in 1861, Grant’s military career was resuscitated, and his rise, while not meteoric, was steady – and at a high level. Within a year, he was a Brigadier General with solid success on the battlefield. 

By early spring 1864, President Lincoln had finally found his man and promoted him Lt. General of the Army – top dog. All of a sudden, Mrs. General Grant, was becoming a person of interest. 

Julia and her children

Meeting of the Divas

USG, honored in a modest White House ceremony, had sent for his wife to witness the occasion, and to find suitable housing. She was introduced to the President, who invited her to one of Mrs. Lincoln’s receptions a few days later. Of course she went! Lincoln recognized her, and personally introduced her to the First Lady. They smiled, shook hands and murmured the usual “glad to meet you.”

That was it – for about a year. Meanwhile, the Congressional wives who snubbed/were snubbed by the First Lady, descended upon Mrs. Grant, and made her the same offer: help her through the shoals of society. Perhaps knowing that she probably could use the help, Julia Grant, true to her plain image and pleasant unassuming nature, said thank-you-very-much. 

They loved her.

Sources:

Clinton, Catherine – Mrs. Lincoln: A Life – Harper Collins, 2009

Grant, Julia Dent – The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant: (Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant) – 1975, G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Helm, Katherine – MARY: Wife of Lincoln – Harper and Brothers – 1928

Ross, Ishbel – The General’s Wife – Dodd, Mead, 1959

https://www.mtlhouse.org/biography

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-families/julia-dent-grant

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, Abraham Lincoln, American Civil War, Nifty History People, Ulysses S. Grant | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dolley Madison: Little Payne, Little Pain

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Feather Foster
The Young Widow Dolley

In many ways, Dolley Payne Todd Madison had a (1768-1849) charmed life. A loving childhood, her essential wants and needs met, and an exposure to the excitement of Philadelphia – the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the USA.  

John Todd, who she married at twenty-one, may not have been her beau ideal. All indications are that she was fond of him, but did not love him. He was a fairly prosperous Quaker attorney and had been kind to her family in their time of need. It was her father’s dying wish that she marry him. He loved her however, and was very good to her. 

When she lost her infant son and her husband to cholera, it was a rough time, but Dolley still had her mother and siblings, and many friends. John Todd had left her financially comfortable. And she had her little toddler, John Payne Todd. She was devoted to him, perhaps excessively. He was all she had of “her own.”

A few months later, the Widow Todd met Congressman James Madison, seventeen years her senior, already well known and light years ahead of her in education. He too, like her first husband, was no Adonis. He was a couple of inches shorter, slight of build, and reticent – until he got to know you. He fell in love with Dolley from the outset; it took her a little longer, but she did grow to love him dearly, and the marriage was happy and very successful for both.

Little Payne

James Madison was 43 when he married Dolley and became stepfather and “kind protector” of her little boy, who was only two and a half when his mother remarried. He knew no other father, called him “pappa,” and received only kindness and affection, albeit more grand-fatherly. 

James Madison

There is a letter handed down from the Hite family (Madison’s sister Nelly married a Hite), indicating that after the wedding between JM and Dolley, the newlyweds did not “enjoy” a honeymoon for a while. Little Payne was accustomed to sleeping with his mother, and it took some time to wean him to his own bed. 

Then the newlyweds hired a coach to take them from what is now West Virginia (where they were married in Dolley’s sister’s home) to Montpelier, Madison’s family home in central Virginia. Along with Jemmy and Dolley and little Payne, were Anna Payne, Dolley’s teenaged sister, and Harriot, the kid sister of George Steptoe Washington, Dolley’s brother-in-law. It would be several days before Mr. and Mrs. Madison had any time alone.

An early image of Montpelier

Naturally a toddler needs attention and care, one additional reason for Anna Payne joining their household. Dolley, ten years older, was her sister-mother, and had been since she was born. Now Anna would help to raise Payne. 

From the start, Payne was cute as a button and a charmer like his mother, but a handful. Eighteenth century parents were seldom indulgent; child rearing was a serious business. Educating them (particularly a boy) was even more serious. Basic lessons started at three or four. 

When George Washington declined a third term in 1796, Congressman Madison decided to retire as well – at least for a while. Thus Payne’s early childhood was spent at Montpelier, a sprawling and thriving plantation in Virginia’s Blue Ridge, not far (in today’s transportation) from Jefferson’s Monticello. JM channeled most of his energies into the plantation, including a major house renovation, adding a separate wing for his aging parents (who were delighted that their eldest son had finally married), and plenty of room for himself, his new bride and “their” son, which included the hope that brothers and sisters would join Payne in the nursery. 

Dolley Madison was a good lookin’ lady.

One of their biggest disappointments was that their own family did not expand.

Medium Payne

It became obvious soon enough that Payne Todd did not like studying. Period. He was much happier running free on the grounds, particularly down in the slave-quarters, where he played with little children his age. They liked him. He liked them. He did not like books and lessons. He didn’t like them when him mother tried to teach him, or his Auntie Anna, or even when his patient stepfather took on the tutoring responsibilities himself. 

Aunt Anna (Cutts) helped raise Payne.

Meanwhile, his stepfather’s many plantation activities also included high level political and social activities. Little Payne was surrounded by elegant and important people from the beginning. He learned to make courtly bows and charm everyone. But since the Madisons entertained frequently and their social obligations increased, it likely eroded the attention and time to spend with Payne. 

When Payne was about eight, Thomas Jefferson was elected President and sent for Madison, his closest political and personal friend. Jemmy and Dolley were thrilled to move to the new Washington City and stay at the uncompleted White House for a brief time. Between buying a new house for themselves, the moving, the responsibilities of Secretary of State, helping Widower Jefferson with occasional social events, hosting their own frequent social events, the parents Madison had even less time (and perhaps inclination) to devote to Payne. 

Nevertheless, his education was becoming essential. Madison had hopes of sending him to the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in due time. It was his alma mater, and his memories of those days were not only happy, but vital to the man he became.

The only known portrait of Payne Todd

They were advised that St. Mary’s Academy in Baltimore might be the perfect boarding school for a likable but lazy and inattentive student. While it was a Catholic school, and the Madisons were not Catholic, it was not an obstacle. Both Quaker Dolley and Episcopal James Madison were ecumenical in religion. Boarding schools were commonplace for young men of means. Baltimore was not that far from Washington. And a Catholic school education was always considered excellent. 

Both Madison and Dolley believed that Payne could benefit from a peer atmosphere, hoping that their diligence and good habits would rub off on their son.

It was wishful thinking.

Sources:

Gerson, Noel B. – The Velvet Glove: The Life of Dolley Madison – Thomas Nelson Publ., 1975

Mattern, David B. and Shulman, Holly C. (Eds) – Selected Letters of Dolley Payne Madison, University of Virginia Press, 2003

Moore, Virginia – The Madisons: A Biography, 1979, McGraw Hill

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/first-ladies/dolleymadison

http://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/dmde/bio-intro.xqy

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/dolley-madison

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George Washington: I Can’t Tell A Lie: A Book Review

Posted on January 22, 2024 by Feather Foster

Stories and legends are vastly overlooked and an under-regarded part of history. They have been around since the beginning of time. Bible stories (and indeed stories connected with all religions) abound and are treasured. Aesop’s Fables predate Empires, and are never out of print. 

Nobody seriously believes the “absolute truths” of Noah collecting a male-and-female everything, Greek gods meddling in the Trojan War or rabbits running foot races with turtles. Nevertheless, these stories, these legends and fables have withstood the test of time for a reason: they contain life-lessons, truths and moral decisions that guide our lives even today. If we look for them.

Mason Weems (1759-1825) or “Parson” Weems, as he was known in his own time), was medically trained as a youth, relinquished medicine for the pulpit, and then relinquished that in part, to become a book seller and author. He wrote an effusive biography of George Washington, which in the very early 19th century consisted of a collection of recollections and anecdotes connected with the famous man who died in 1799. It became a best-seller for three generations. Abraham Lincoln was known to have read it when he was a youngster.

Most importantly, Weems compiled the book from recollections of people he interviewed, and the unquestioned purpose was to to tell the “story” of a fine man, worthy of emulation.

Weems was mildly connected to Washington via his wife, the former Fanny Craik, a niece of Dr. James Craik, one of GW’s oldest friends. They had met when they were in the early twenties – even before the French and Indian War. The friendship was a close one, and Dr. Craik was in attendance when the Great General died. 

According to Author Jim Bish, whose book I Can’t Tell A Lie: Parson Weems and the Truth About George Washington’s Cherry Tree, Prayer at Valley Forge and Other Anecdotes, is an exhaustive search into the lineage of practically everyone GW ever said hello to. Truth? Well perhaps like everything else, pieces of truth.

Bish is a dedicated and relentless pursuant of genealogy, and those who relish that pursuit will seldom find anyone more meticulous and knowledgeable. His challenges are formidable. First and foremost, the huge distances and primitive transportation options in the 17th and 18th century. Five or ten miles of travel was a journey. Then there were the convoluted family “connextions”. Life expectancy was short, especially among women. Birth control was non-existent (except for the obvious). Thus multiple marriages and inter-family marriages between widows and widowers resulted in a plethora of step- and half- siblings, inlaws and “removals” with an even larger plethora of surnames. You definitely need the scorecards that Bish is happy to provide.

The care and detail that Bish has taken in creating the minutiae of family trees and map locations in the Virginia of Washington’s youth is truly outstanding, albeit a little mind-boggling. Dedicated genealogists owe him a round of hearty applause.

Of course there are “ah, buts” involved, as one might expect, since modern historians and biographers look with amusement at the good Parson and his effusive verbiage. Author Bish can verbiage himself very nicely as he tries to bolster bits and pieces into “surely,” “likely” and “must have” connections.

Much of the youthful George Washington connections come via his mother, Mary Ball, who married Augustine Washington, a much older widower, when she was in her twenties. Poor Mary had a rough childhood. Her mother (a second-or-third wife of a much older man) was widowed when little Mary was still a toddler. She remarried shortly thereafter, and died when Mary was twelve or so. The bottom line was that she was the decades-younger step- or half-sister, or ditto niece-cousin in a family that paid scant attention to her. She had no full-blood-kin of her own. 

Author Bish relies on various visits Mary Ball made to her distant kin as a young mother. Making occasional visits “back then” was an ordeal, especially with small children in tow. That “Little George” played with some of his Ball-relatives (with a variety of surnames, by the way) is likely enough. That their childhood memories are spot-on some sixty years later does leave room for pause. And since GW, personally, was not around to confirm or deny some of the famous stories, we need to acknowledge the ah-but-pause.

Bish also relies on the equally effusive recollections of George Washington Parke Custis, GW’s step-grandson, written when GWP was elderly and Weems was long dead. Washington died when GWP was 18. He never met Weems. Grain of salt needed here.

While it is well documented that the mature Planter-General-President Washington was a genial Mount Vernon host to a variety of his relatives (as well as his wife’s), most of those relationships were mainly via siblings. A few stray cousins and their descendants pop up on occasion, either in person or through correspondence, but GW is equally well-known for his polite-but-aloof nature. Familiarity was not in his persona. And he “likely” would have cringed at speculation into his personal life. 

Did little GW take a whack out of his father’s cherry tree? We know for a fact that he was a little boy at some point, and that a child-sized tool was a common gift in the 18th century. But we have no indication that GW ever talked about it. “Is possible.”

And was he seen on his knees in prayer at Valley Forge? GW was a conventionally religious man, a church goer and a vestryman, true enough. But the Age of Enlightenment was different than the Second Great Awakening. More salt needed. Weems’ contributing sources were “probably” looking to perpetuate glory (via their own inclinations).

Anyone who has ever attended a class reunion some twenty or thirty or more years after graduation will “undoubtedly” recognize the amazing-but-common truth: no two people remember the same event the same way.

I Can’t Tell A Lie may be too complicated for the casual reader. But the serious devotees of genealogy, whether their own or their “American” forefather ancestry, will find it fascinating and worth their time! Well done, Mr. Bish!

I Can’t Tell A Lie: Parson Weems and the Truth about George Washington’s Cherry Tree, Prayer at Valley Forge, and Other Anecdotes – 2023 – $24.95

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8376943281

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, George Washington, Nifty History People, Recommended Reading | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nabby Adams and the Royall Tyler Affair

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Feather Foster
It wasn’t an affair. It was mostly a meddle-muddle.

The Enigmatic Miss Nabby

Abigail (Nabby) Adams (1765-1813), the only daughter of John and Abigail Adams was a hard one to figure. By her mid-teens (considered courtin’-age, if not actually marriageable), she was considered a fine looking young woman, well dressed and well mannered. Most people commented on her good sense, combined with a formidable reserve, which tended to keep people at a distance.

Even her mother, a formidable woman herself, recognized Nabby’s “apparent coldness and indifference”, and perhaps almost “wooden” traits. Tainting with faint praise, Abigail commented on Nabby’s prudence and lack of Sensibility. In AA’s time, “Sensibility” connoted more emotional softness of manners.

While some sources comment on Nabby’s closeness to her mother, others conclude that the young teenager was happy to escape Abigail’s overwhelming presence whenever she could. When Nabby visited Mercy Warren (on her own), it was noted that she not only enjoyed herself, but was reluctant to return to Braintree. Her visits to her Aunt Mary Cranch also afforded her time away. Some sources claim she missed her brothers John Quincy and Charles dreadfully when they went to Europe with their father; others note that she seldom wrote to them. 

The formidable mother.

As the older sister to three younger brothers, Nabby, like her mother, was not unaware of the marvelous opportunities destined to fall in her brothers’ laps, and lack of them in her own. She may also have suspected her own lack of intellectual genius, or “curiosity.” She kept most of her thoughts to herself. Definitely enigmatic.

Mr. Royall Tyler

Royall Tyler (1757-1826), was Boston born and raised in a wealthy family, educated at Boston Latin School and Harvard University. When his parents died, young Tyler inherited a considerable estate, but gossip had it that he dissipated it substantially while “sowing his wild oats” at Harvard, which may (or not) have included fathering a child with a serving girl. 

He served briefly in the militia during the early days of the Revolutionary War, studied law, passed the Massachusetts Bar, and, as a “reformed rake” with more maturity and purpose, moved to Braintree to open an office and pursue a legal career. 

Royall Tyler

When Nabby first heard of the new fellow in town, she warned her cousins Betsy and Lucy Cranch  against Tyler’s “artfulness,” since he boarded with the Cranches. Nabby also resolved to avoid him completely, since “our sex cannot be too careful of the characters of the acquaintance we form.”

Naturally Tyler became acquainted with Abigail Adams, ostensibly requesting to borrow some law books. He was invited to call. Attractive, well dressed and mannered, witty and very amiable, he met young Miss Adams, eight years his junior. Notwithstanding her reservations at sixteen, Nabby appears to have been smitten, although she was not easily wooed. 

Mr. Tyler however, was definitely smitten, and proceeded to call at the Adams home regularly.

As soon as Mamma Abigail noticed a budding romance, she wrote her husband, (who responded to his daughter’s situation much faster than he did to his wife’s other letters), indicating his displeasure. Despite the pater-familias mindset of his generation, John Adams was sincerely an affectionate and caring parent. His disapproval of Nabby’s “courtship” was partly due to her youth, and partly due to whatever character defamation gossip Abigail included in the letter. He had little faith that a “reformed rake” could mend his ways. 

The formidable father

John also disapproved of “courting the mother.” Mr. Tyler seems to have enjoyed his conversations with Mrs. Adams – perhaps even more than Nabby’s company. And there is no indication that Nabby was writing to her father, desperately wanting to marry…

Mary Cranch, Abigail’s sister (where Tyler was boarding) continued to add indignant aspersions to Tyler’s character, (although his conduct was above reproach in Braintree, and he continued to build his law practice). Interestingly, Abigail, who seldom altered her opinions or resolve, had grown not only to like Mr. Tyler, but had begun to regard him favorably as a potential “relation.”

Nevertheless, Abigail, Aunt Mary, Aunt Betsey, John’s aged mother, Abigail’s aged father, and even her uncle Cotton Tufts were all chiming in with opinions on the match!

Abigail was also in the process of planning to join her husband in Europe by this time, and expected to take Nabby with her. Her daughter offered no objection. Europe would be nice, and she would never marry without her father’s consent. John was conflicted about Tyler, but perhaps wavering.

Change of Heart, Change of Mind

By the time the Adams women sailed for Europe in 1784, an engagement between Nabby (now seventeen) and Tyler was at least tacit, if not actually formalized. The couple had exchanged miniature portraits.

Both John and Abigail believed that an ocean of separation would either strengthen the bond, or weaken it. Either way, it was a good thing. Again, Nabby said little, but her serious nature had always masked her “Sensibilities.”

Abigail Adams Smith

John was coming around; Abigail was certain that Nabby and Tyler would marry in time. But the letters were few. More letters seem to have been exchanged between Tyler and Abigail, rather than with Nabby. Reports from relatives suggested that his conduct had lapsed.

Then unsettling rumors abounded that Tyler had returned to Boston, living in a boarding house run by a niece-by-marriage to Mary Cranch. Even more rumors abounded that he fathered another child, this time with his landlady. Hmmm.

Nabby eventually wrote to end their engagement, which did not seem devastating to either of them. Or to the senior Adamses.

She was now being courted by Col. William Stephens Smith, former ADC to General Washington and now private secretary to her father. John and Abigail approved, and were pleased to give their blessing. Nabby also seemed pleased, but again left the matter with her parents and fiancée. 

An Ironic Epilogue

Not long before the Adams family returned from Europe, relatives strongly suggested that they required a better house than their little salt box cottage. After all, JA was A-listed for an important position in his fledgling country.

A fine house not far away had recently come on the market, and Abigail had visited there on occasion. She asked her Uncle (via power-of-attorney) to purchase it for them if he believed it was suitable. It was, and it became “Peacefield,” the Adams house for four generations, and “the country’s” to this day.

Peacefield

The house had previously been owned by Royall Tyler.

Sources:

Akers, Charles W. – Abigail Adams: A Revolutionary American Woman – The Library of American Biography – Pearson Longman, 2007

Gelles, Edith B. – Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage – William Morrow, 2009

Levin, Phyllis Lee – Abigail Adams – St. Martin’s Press, 1987

https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/william-stephens-smith-1755-1816/

https://www.nps.gov/adam/learn/historyculture/places.htm

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, John Adams, Nifty History People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Eliza Monroe Hay, the Irony of Good Feelings

Posted on January 8, 2024 by Feather Foster
Most people liked President James Monroe well enough – but not his womenfolk.

The Era of Good Feelings

The Monroe years 1817-25, are commonly referred to as “The Era of Good Feelings,” with fair reason. The country was at peace, following a military and economic misery known as the War of 1812. The Democratic-Republicans were in high political ascendancy; the old Federalist Party was practically moribund, with little political leadership or clout. The country was growing by leaps and bounds, both in land and population. The economy was strong, and anyone who wanted to work could find it easy to find a job – or a piece of cheap land for the taking. Times were good.

James Monroe

And James Monroe (1758-31), sometimes considered the last of the Founding Fathers, perhaps more like an older brother, was a man well known to the electorate, and one who came with long list of public offices on his resume. 

Born and raised in Virginia, he attended the College of William and Mary just prior to the American Revolution, and served as scout and officer to General George Washington himself. Recuperating from serious wounds, he returned to Virginia to read law with its Governor Thomas Jefferson. Preferring public service to mundane law practice, he held various offices in Virginia’s Legislature plus a couple of terms as its Governor. He served via the Articles of Confederation and was named to the Constitutional Convention, and knew just about everyone who counted.

Monroe had a stellar resume

Once the USA became officially the USA, served as Virginia’s Senator. President George Washington assigned him to high diplomatic post in Paris. Once Thomas Jefferson became President in 1803, more diplomatic assignments followed. Once James Madison became President in 1809, cabinet positions followed. Monroe was a sure winner in 1816. 

The Distaff Monroes

The tall Senator serving in then-capital New York, saw and fell in love and married a pretty and petite daughter of a former British soldier (French-Indian War) who stayed in America. In early 1786 when they married, Monroe was twenty-seven. His bride, Elizabeth Kortright, was seventeen. In a difficult to document relationship (they were seldom apart), it appears to have been a happy marriage of more than 40 years, despite her frail health, which modern history believes to include recurrent seizures: epilepsy. Her condition was downplayed. It bore a stigma kept from public knowledge.

The young Elizabeth Monroe

Their first child, a daughter named Eliza, was born within the year. 

When Eliza was about six or seven, the Monroes were sent to Paris by President George Washington. The French Revolution was already underway, but the upstart USA (who understood Revolution pretty well) needed to maintain diplomatic ties with its former friend and ally – without getting too involved or alienating any other country.

Little Eliza was placed at the Maison d’education de la Legion de Honneur, run by the aristocratic Henriette Campan, who had been a lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette. But the former French Monarchs had been deposed and indeed executed. The “Reign of Terror” was giving way to the Age of Napoleon. 

Eliza Monroe Hay, the most disliked woman in Washington

One of little Eliza’s school chums was Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of Josephine, the stunning widow who became Napoleon’s wife. The friendship between the two little girls lasted the rest of their lives. They continued to correspond regularly, and in later years, when Eliza (now Mrs. George Hay) bore her only child, she named her Hortensia. Hortense de Beauharnais (now the wife of Louis Bonaparte) was the Queen Consort of Holland, happy to stand godmother to the daughter of her American friend.

The imperial connections also colored the image and behavior of both Elizabeth and Eliza Monroe permanently, and both mother and daughter were indelibly stamped with the formality of diplomatic Europe, and maintained those remote “aristocratic airs” permanently. 

Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen of Holland

When Monroe became President in 1817, his wife and daughter considered themselves equal in status to the crowned heads in Europe.

President Monroe’s Social Headache

Undoubtedly the First Lady’s predecessor Dolley Madison was a social entity unto herself. Confident, sincerely outgoing and accessible to all, she was a hard act to follow. The Monroe mother and daughter had no intention of even making the effort. 

The beloved Dolley

From the outset, they announced that in the European style, they would neither pay or return calls. Claiming poor health, Elizabeth Monroe generally declined many of her First Lady social duties, allowing “Mrs. Hay” to substitute. It did not set well in the new democracy.

Believed to be in a contentious marriage with attorney and legislator George Hay, Monroe’s elder daughter had neither charm nor diplomatic skills. Her pretensions and tactless comments alienated much of social Washington, making White House dinners and receptions formal, icy and stag affairs, devoid of society’s matrons. 

Even when she arranged her much-younger sister’s wedding (the first Presidential daughter to be married in the White House), Eliza Hay further estranged much of official Washington, limiting the guest list to only family and very close friends. The new couple, Maria Hester and Samuel Gouverneur, were overpowered by the domineering Mrs. Hay, and said to have moved to New York as soon as possible to disassociate themselves from their officious relative and her imperious manners.

The other Monroe daughter, Maria Hester

One story about the bickering Hays’ comes from a diary entry of one Egbert Watson… “I do not think I heard them agree on one subject since I am here…I think I heard him tell her today at dinner 3 distinct times “that she talked too much and should talk less.”

Later….

When her mother, father and husband all died within a year, Eliza Hay moved to Paris, where she had enjoyed her happiest times. She converted to Catholicism, and became a nun. She did not have to socialize.

Sources:

Caroli, Betty Boyd – First Ladies: An Intimate Look at How 38 Women Handled what may be the most Demanding, Unpaid, Unelected Job in America – Oxford University Press, 1995

Unger, Harlow Giles – The Last Founding Father – DeCapo Press, 2009

Wead, Doug – All The Presidents’ Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America’s First Families – Atria – 2003

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/bios/james-monroe

First Ladies Never Married to Presidents: Eliza Monroe Hay

Eliza Monroe Hay

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, George Washington, James Monroe, Nifty History People, Thomas Jefferson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dr. Charles Leale: Forgotten Hero of Ford’s Theater

Posted on January 2, 2024 by Feather Foster
Had he been a little older, Charles Leale would definitely be well remembered.

Ford’s Theater: April 14, 1865

Enjoying a pleasant night out, Abraham and Mary Lincoln and their guests attended a comedy at Ford’s Theater. Around 10:30 p.m. a shot rang out in the Presidential Box, and a scream was heard. Within moments, John Wilkes Booth, a well known actor leaped from the box brandishing a dagger, and escaped through a back door.

Within minutes, Dr. Charles A. Leale had reached the Presidential Box.

Dr. Leale

Charles Augustus Leale (1842-1932) was just 23, and had received his medical degree only six weeks earlier from Bellevue Hospital in New York. Having served for a time as a medical cadet in the Union Army, he was reassigned to the Wounded Commissioned Officers’ Ward in Washington DC.

Dr. Charles Leale

Leale had been interested and involved in medicine since early youth, and had begun formal medical studies when he was eighteen. His devotion to the profession never wavered, and he was trained for gunshot wounds and surgery as well as for heart and lung diseases.

A few days earlier, rejoicing (along with the rest of the country) that Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House signified the end of the horrible war, and the death and mourning, Leale was part of the crowd outside the White House that attended Lincoln’s last public address. The young doctor, profoundly impressed and intrigued by the President’s facial features, hoped for an opportunity to study them further. When he read that Lincoln was expected to attend Ford’s Theater, he tried to obtain tickets, primarily (according to his memoir) to see the President. Unfortunately the only seat available was in the front – out of prime view of the Presidential Box.

Minutes Later

With the pandemonium of the situation, Leale heard cries that the ‘President had been murdered’… and immediately ran to the Presidents box where he found Major Henry Rathbone badly gashed, and Lincoln slumped over in his armchair, barely breathing with only a faint pulse. An hysterical Mrs. Lincoln, learning that Leale was a doctor, exclaimed several times, “‘O Doctor, do what you can for him, do what you can’!” Leale laid him on the floor, and cut his collar and shirt, to check for wounds.

The craggy faced President
The Presidential Box

When he noticed that Lincoln’s eyes were dilated, he immediately searched and found a bullet wound at the back of his head, too deep to probe. Nevertheless, he discovered a blood clot which he removed, and which immediately eased his breathing. The young doctor, perhaps with more experience than he realized, extended Lincoln’s life for a few more hours, but knew the sad effect. His diagnosis was immediately telegraphed to the country: “His wound is mortal; it is impossible for him to recover.”

By that time, other medical professionals had rushed to the scene.

Since there was no way the wounded President could survive a carriage ride back to the White House, Leale took charge, and with two other doctors and four soldiers, gently carried the unconscious Lincoln to the Peterson boarding house across the street and laid him diagonally on a borrowed downstairs bed.

Within the hour, several medical professionals arrived on the scene, including Dr. R. K. Stone the President’s personal physician. Leale turned the situation over to Stone, and modestly relegated himself to holding the President’s hand throughout the night, “to let him know that he was in touch with humanity and had a friend.”

According to Leale’s speech more than 40 years later, “I left the house in deep meditation. In my lonely walk I was aroused from my reveries by the cold drizzling rain dropping on my bare head, my hat I had left in my seat at the theater. My clothing was stained with blood, I had not once been seated since I first sprang to the President’s aid; I was cold, weary and sad. The dawn of peace was again clouded, the most cruel war in history had not completely ended.”

One of many deathbed depictions…

The young doctor, only a year older than Lincoln’s son Robert, was invited to be an Honor Guard in the funeral procession and ceremonies mourning and honoring the fallen President. He was also permitted to attend the trial of the assassination conspirators.

The Lincoln hearse

Then he was forgotten.

Much Later…

Dr. Leale submitted a lengthy and detailed report to Representative Benjamin F. Butler’s commission investigating the assassination, but it was never made public, and was indeed lost until a copy was discovered at Georgetown University in 2008. Another copy was discovered in the National Archives in 2012.

An older Dr. Leale

But in 1909, the Centennial of Lincoln’s birth, when Dr. Leale was nearly seventy, he was invited to address New York’s Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States on “Lincoln’s Last Hour.”

It was the only time he spoke publicly about his recollections of that horrific night.

After his discharge from the Army, Leale traveled/studied in Europe, married raised a family and retired from many years of medical practice in 1928. He died in 1932, at age 90, one of the last surviving witnesses to the Lincoln Assassination.

Perhaps if he had been a few years older, with more experience and medical credentials and perhaps military medical “clout,” his place of importance would be remembered today.

But as it was, his diagnosis was spot on: “His wound is mortal; it is impossible for him to recover.”

And his immediate treatment was impeccable.

Sources:

Charles A. Leale – Lincoln’s Last Hours: Address Delivered Before the Commandery of the State of New York Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (Privately published, New York, 1909)

Steers, Edward –  Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. University Press of Kentucky, 2001.

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860.0034.105/–dr-charles-a-leales-report-on-the-assassination-of-abraham?rgn=main;view=fulltext

https://www.nps.gov/foth/learn/historyculture/dr-charles-leale.htm

https://www.friendsofthelincolncollection.org/lincoln-lore/lincolns-first-responder-dr-charles-augustus-leale/

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Lucy Hayes: Camp Mother

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Feather Foster

Lucy Hayes was born to be a mother.

Lucy: Girl to Woman

Lucy Ware Webb (1831-1889) was born and raised in Chillicothe OH, when the state was becoming a major industrial force in the country. In-home manufacturing was declining and large factories were beginning. The population was exploding, and towns and cities were growing. 

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Lucy’s childhood is that she was raised by a single mother. Her father, a doctor, had died while treating friends and patients during a cholera epidemic. Lucy was two, and had no memory of him. Her mother, a devout Methodist, Maria Cook Webb never remarried, and raised Lucy and her two older brothers alone.

Education was first and foremost on the agenda during Lucy’s early years. Higher learning was a given for her older brothers. In the 1830s, well-born girls were expected to read and write and do sums, but serious academic knowledge was not a common part of the picture. Except to Mrs. Webb. She had become a great admirer of Lucy Stone, an early advocate of higher education for women. As a particularly good student, Lucy Webb was permitted to audit classes at Ohio Wesleyan University (where her brothers attended); when she was fifteen or sixteen, she attended Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College, one of the few institutions of higher learning available to women. She graduated in 1850.

Young Lucy

She first met Rutherford Birchard Hayes a few years earlier. He was ten years her senior, and had graduated Kenyon College, and Harvard Law School. Like Lucy, he had been raised by a single mother. His father had died two months before he was born. Interesting enough, Mrs. Hayes and Mrs. Webb had become acquainted, and subsequently good friends. When Lucy was 19, her acquaintance with “Rud” was renewed on a different level. She was now a pretty young woman, with soft manners that belied a strong sense of moral fiber and purpose. He was enchanted.

Marriage and Motherhood

Lucy married Rutherford B. Hayes in 1852. He had been fast-tracked as an attorney from the start. His bachelor uncle Sardis Birchard, who had been a father-figure to him from infancy, was a prominent and well-to-do Ohio businessman, happy to turn over his legal matters to his capable nephew. While the Hayeses were never wealthy, they would always be comfortably fixed throughout their lives. 

Lucy and Rud had eight children, five of whom lived to maturity. Her “higher learning” notwithstanding, she was content being Mrs. Hayes. Her obvious education and scholarly interests made her an asset to her husband, and an adept hostess for their growing social set.

The young Hayeses

As a couple, they were both ardently opposed to slavery and just as ardently opposed to secession. And they both supported the growing temperance movement. As an aside, Rutherford Hayes was known to bend a convivial elbow with his fellows while he was a student, but it was occasional – and when he met Lucy, it was not hard for him to renounce spirits altogether.

But first and foremost, Lucy was a caring mother, who enhanced and mentored her children’s education. It was a happy situation all the way around. 

The Civil War Years

When the Civil War began in 1861, Rutherford Hayes was 40, a successful attorney, and father of three sons – with another on the way. He was certainly eligible to be deferred from military service. Nevertheless, he wanted to enlist, eagerly supported by his wife, and especially since Lucy and the children were well looked after by Uncle Sardis. He signed on as a major, adapted to military life quickly and ably, promoted to Colonel, and then to Brigadier General of the Ohio 23rd Regiment.

Wives encamping (whether long or short term) with their husbands during the Civil War was not uncommon, particularly among the officers. Lucy visited her husband on several occasions when active fighting was at a lull.

There is one story that Lucy was visiting his encampment, sitting outside his tent mending his shirt or sewing his buttons on. A young private passed by and was advised by one of his fellow enlistees (perhaps as a joke), that the motherly-looking woman he saw would be happy to sew on his missing buttons. The private returned with a few shirts needing repair. Mrs. Hayes was happy to oblige. When the private returned to pay her later in the day, she said there was no charge. It was not until later that he was astounded to learn that the “General’s wife” was the seamstress.

The Injured Part

General Hayes was a somewhat rarity among Civil War Generals: amateur soldiers (no military training) who proved to be brave and capable officers. He saw active duty, and was injured four separate times – once seriously. When he was injured, Lucy came immediately to personally care for him, and more importantly, free others for more pressing duties.

In September, 1862, not far from Antietam, Hayes was hit in the arm by a musket ball, and despite insisting he would remain with his army, he was carried by his men to a surgical tent for immediate treatment. To delay would likely have required amputation. Lucy was notified at once, but due to confusion (she believed he was in Washington), it took her several days before she located him – in Maryland. She took over his nursing care, and continued making frequent visits to his army camps for the rest of the war, which invariably included numerous inspections of the field hospitals.

Her devotion to the Ohio 23rd won her the lifelong affection of its members, who remembered her sitting with the wounded soldiers, re-settling their blankets and pillows, mopping feverish brows, or coaxing them to a spoonful of soup.

Demonstrating Affection

Once the Civil War ended, army reunions became a tradition for decades. For the rest of her life, Lucy and her husband never missed an occasion whenever the Ohio 23rd got together. Both of them were generous supporters of veterans’ groups, and war widows and orphans organizations.

The Hayes Family

And when President and Mrs. Hayes celebrated their 25th (Silver) Wedding Anniversary in the White House, a huge, specially engraved silver serving tray was presented to them – from the members of the Ohio 23rd.

Sources:

Anthony, Carl Sferrazza – First Ladies 1789-1961, William Morrow,1990

Geer, Emily Apt – First Lady: The Life of Lucy Webb Hayes – Kent State University Press, 1984

https://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/lucy-webb-hayes/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucy-Hayes

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GW: The Very First New Year’s Day Reception

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Feather Foster

George Washington held the first New Year’s Day Reception at the President’s House in New York.

GW adopted the old Dutch Custom

New York: 1790

The weather was unseasonably balmy January 1, 1790. The doors and windows were opened wide and throngs of well wishers and visitors poured into the house on Cherry Street, which had become entirely too small to accommodate the social needs of both President and First Lady Washington. They would move soon.

But it was the “Second” Lady, Abigail Adams, who not only witnessed this first “public” open-to-everybody reception, but wrote about it in a letter to her sister.

The First Presidential Mansion

It was an old Dutch custom.

Flashback to 1621

New York, originally part of New Netherlands, was first settled by the Dutch West India Company circa 1621, primarily to capitalize on the fur trade. At the time it was colonized, it occupied what is now parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and even parts of Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. 

The New Netherlands grew and prospered. By the 1650s, Manhattan Island in “New Amsterdam” was a major port on the American East Coast, with a population of around 2000. Trading vessels came regularly. 

Less known in American history, the English and the Dutch were spending a huge chunk of the seventeenth century at war. Not here. Overseas. The tiny colonies in North America were basically commercial collateral damage. 

In 1650, the English trounced the Dutch in the Second Anglo-Dutch War (over there) and in 1664, Fort Amsterdam (over here) became a British possession. 

The Dutch (over there) retook Manhattan in 1673, but that didn’t last long, and they re-ceded it back to the English about a year later, after the Third Anglo-Dutch War. By that time, New Amsterdam’s population was nearly 9000. Location, location.

But after the “Glorious Revolution” in England (1688) William, the Protestant Dutch Prince of Orange, and his wife Mary, a Protestant English Princess (heir to the English throne), were invited to become “William and Mary” the co-monarchs of England. That worked out pretty well all the way around. 

There weren’t any more Anglo-Dutch wars, and New Amsterdam became New York. Permanently.

But by that time, there was a significantly potent Dutch presence in the area. They had become wealthy, prominent, had large tracts of property, and a very strong Dutch tradition. Enough to provide a new country with three future presidents: Martin Van Buren, and both Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt. 

 Back to New York and Cherry Street, 1790

Abigail Adams wrote to her sister about the fashion of “New Year’s Cooky. This & Cherry Bounce as it is called in the old Dutch custom of treating their Friends upon the return of every New Year.”

Second Lady Abigail Adams attended the event

She further commented that the common people, who are ever ready to abuse Liberty on this day… excuse it “by saying it was New Year, & every body was joyous then…”

It seemed a harmless enough custom to permit the common people, so long as they were well-behaved and properly dressed (the Washingtons were picky about this) to come to the President’s House (wherever he lived), and if they were willing to stand in line and wait their turn, he and the First Lady would greet them with a handshake or a nod or slight bow, and wish them a Happy New Year. And maybe a “cooky.”

George Washington was well aware of the need to “be seen” and “press the flesh” as it were. Neither was particularly palatable to him. Personally aloof by nature, he still knew it was important. He also knew that other than some engravings of his likeness, very few Americans had any idea of what he looked like. Or what his voice was like. He was only a name and a reputation. But he began to note, to his satisfaction, the large and growing numbers of people who attended his and Martha’s levees each week. 

Martha Washington’s levees were very popular.

Later that year, he again opened his Presidential house for the Fourth of July. People could stand in line to shake his hand again and receive a few words of pleasant greeting. But this time, President Washington was living in a mansion on Broadway, not far from Trinity Church. It was much larger and could accommodate many more people.

The Tradition Continues

President and Mrs. Washington only lived in New York for two years. Congress had arranged to build a brand new capital city (which they decided to call Washington) on a few square miles of land donated by Virginia and Maryland. It was a compromise between “north and south.” Naturally it would take several years for an entirely new city to be built.

So in the interim, it was decided that the “capital” would move back to Philadelphia, still the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the country. (New York was nipping at its heels, and Baltimore was a distant third.) But every January 1, Washington’s rented house in Philadelphia was open to the public for a New Year’s Day reception. 

It was also decided that Philly would remain the capital for eight more years, giving sufficient time for the District of Columbia (thus Washington D.C.) to be adequately planned and somewhat paved, with a) a building to accommodate the Legislature, i.e. the Capitol; and b) an Executive Mansion (later known as the White House) to get it started. 

George Washington was on hand to lay the cornerstone, and even in his retirement, rode over from Mount Vernon periodically to see how it was progressing. Then he died in December 1799. He never got to actually see the city that would bear his name.

Second President John Adams was the first POTUS to live in the White House. Only weeks after he moved in during the fall of 1800, he opened the cold, damp and unfinished Executive Mansion for a public reception, thereby continuing the old Dutch New Year’s Day tradition. And it was a tradition for the next 130 years. (Not sure about the cooky.)

John Adams continued the tradition

Sources:

Fraser, Flora – The Washingtons: George and Martha – Alfred A. Knopf, 2015

Mitchell, Stewart (ed.) NEW LETTERS OF ABIGAIL ADAMS – Houghton Mifflin Co., 1947.) 

www.https://whitehousehistory.org/john-and-abigail-adams-a-tradition-begins

www.https://gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/early-settlements/essays/conflict-and-commerce-rise-and-fall-new-netherland

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George Washington and George III: Mindsets

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Feather Foster

The General and the King each had definite ideas, goals and responsibilities.

Earlier Georges

George I

George I became King of England following the death of the last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne in 1714. With no direct line of succession, the Hanoverian Princes/Electors had a somewhat convoluted kinship traced back a century to the Protestant children of King James I. He spoke no English, preferred his German courtiers, and returned to Hanover as often as possible. It was during his reign, mostly due to his lack of understanding (and perhaps interest) in his adoptive country, that the roles of ministers to the King became predominant.

George II

His son, King George II was also German-born in Hanover. He also spoke German as his first language, and spent as much time as he could in Hanover. Somewhat crude and temperamental, he was nevertheless a fair and competent administrator, and enjoyed on-and-off general good will of his British subjects. It was he who came to rely on Robert Walpole as the first de facto Prime Minister.

George I had a difficult relationship with his son, who he considered a rival. George II had a disastrous relationship with his son Frederick, who he had left as a youngster to be educated in Germany. They did not see each other for fourteen years, and then, when they did, it was rancorous and distrustful, and Frederick became the “face” of the political opposition.

Happily (at least to George II), Frederick predeceased his father. The heir to the Throne of Great Britain became Frederick’s son, born and educated in England and who never visited Hanover. 

George III, King

George III, the grandson of George II, was born in 1738, six years after George Washington was born in Virginia. 

King George III

He received a stellar education, and learned English, German, French and Latin, politics and constitutional law, commerce and music and extensive and systematic studies in science. Plus fencing, dancing and riding. 

His relationship with his grandfather was cool until the death of his father Prince Frederick. Once George became the heir apparent, Grandpa took more interest. 

When his grandfather died in 1760, George became George III at only twenty-two. His uppermost thought was according to the doctrine of Divine Right of Kings. This meant that a monarch derived his authority from God alone, and no temporal authority could surpass it. Period. Rebellion or revolt by subjects was the worst of all political crimes. 

George Washington, Virginian 

George Washington was the fourth “George” so named in his family history, and unlikely that he was named for the monarch when he was born. Nevertheless the name “George” was a very popular one in early eighteenth century America.

The “American” George

His own education was a fraction of the extent of his British counterpart, however. When his father died, GW was eleven, and an expected classical education was not forthcoming. 

His half-brother Lawrence took young GW under his wing at Mount Vernon, his patronymic plantation, and introduced him to his Fairfax neighbors. They were arguably the wealthiest, highest ranking and most cosmopolitan people in Virginia, and they recognized young George’s innate abilities, and helped advance his career as a surveyor, then a prestigious and honorable trade. 

Those skills and experiences surveying “western” lands led to GW’s service with the Virginia militia, where he spent the better part of eight years, mostly during what was called the French and Indian War (in North America), and the Seven Years War (in Europe). Serving under British General Edward Braddock, the young GW learned more than military techniques and discipline; he learned the essence of command, and how to think like a commander. 

Braddock: An under-rated mentor

He assiduously tried to receive a commission in the British Army, but was consistently rebuffed. When he finally resigned the Virginia militia, he was its highest ranking officer: a colonel. 

The Georges Road to Revolution

King George III took his role as British Monarch very seriously. He was by and large a serious (rather than frivolous) man, and sincerely wished to be a fair, competent but firm ruler of his growing dominions. His recent war with France left the country in dire straits, however. He believed his American Colonies should pay its fair share of the war, and taxes were imposed accordingly. He believed his main role was to preserve his empire, and hand it over, intact, to his heir. 

George Washington, once he inherited Mount Vernon and became a full time planter, was building his own estate, which was thriving under his astute business management. This led him to realize that the balance of trading power (stringently limited and proscribed by Great Britain) had become extremely skewed in favor of England. He had always considered himself a loyal British subject, but by 1770, began leaning toward independence for America. American needs, desires, talents and perhaps most importantly, character, had become different than that of Englishmen. 

By the time “disgruntled” became rebellion on the part of Americans, and “coercion” became intransigence on the part of Great Britain, the lines had become clearer. 

The Differences of the George Strategies

George Washington had a huge plate of responsibilities in creating his Continental Army: training, maintaining, instructing officers, logistic – and finding the resources to feed, shelter, arm and supply the troops. But the key to winning the Revolution was based on one overweening criteria: keep his army together. If it fell apart – for any reason, independence was lost. 

Thus despite more losses than victories, GW managed by strategic withdrawals and retreats to keep his army alive to fight another day. That strategy was tantamount to his sub-commanders as well.

George III had his own strategy. No independence. Period. 

But his Army and Navy were being bled dry financially trying to suppress a rebellion 3000 miles away. Parliament was becoming shakier in dealing with the King’s resolve.

Eventually, the need for independence had become more important to the Americans than the need to deny it by the British. 

Sources:

Beschloss, Michael – Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America (1789-1989) – Simon and Schuster, 2007

Chernow, Ron – Washington: A Life – Penguin Press – 2010

Randall, Willard Sterne – George Washington – Galahad Books, 2000

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/george-washington#george-washington-during-the-american-revolution

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/king-george-iii

http://www.frauncestavernmuseum.org/history/

Posted in American Civil War | 1 Comment

JQA: The First Trip to Russia

Posted on November 20, 2023 by Feather Foster

John Quincy Adams was fourteen years old and incredibly bright.

First…Naming Rights

It has been fashionable lately to name one’s offspring as if it came out of a Scrabble box. But for centuries many people considered it a time-honored tradition to name one’s children in honor/memory of someone who was dearly beloved or admired. Perhaps they believed that their child might be blessed with the stellar qualities of the deceased.

When John Quincy Adams married Louisa Catherine Johnson, having a family was a given, and something to be awaited with pleasure. Unfortunately, while Louisa found it easy to become pregnant, it was very hard for her to stay pregnant. She had fifteen conceptions, and only four live births; the last baby living only a year. 

Her first son, born in 1799, was named George Washington Adams, for the old General and First President of the USA who died within the year. Nevertheless, President Washington had been duly impressed with young Adams, and set him on the diplomatic role that later led to his presidency.  

Charles Francis Adams

His second son, was named John Adams II, (no Quincy) in honor of his father. 

His youngest son was named Charles Francis Adams. The Charles-part was for JQ’s younger brother who he loved dearly, and whose misfortunes culminated with dissipation and an early death. The Francis-part was for Francis Dana, who was also instrumental in preparing a young John Quincy for his eventual greatness.

The Young Traveler

John Quincy Adams was only ten when he accompanied his father to Europe in 1778. The exceptionally gifted student with an inquisitive mind was placed in the best schools available, and disappointed no one either in academics or behavior. Happily, one of his better talents was an ear for language. He mastered French within six months, and eventually would be fluent or conversant in several others. 

Young JQA

The Adams father-and-son returned to Boston in late 1779, rather dejected – and rejected. Expecting to retire to his long-neglected law practice, he was recruited by his fellow citizens to help draft a constitution for their new state. Within a few months, JA was re-recruited by Congress to return to France as part of a commission to negotiate the terms of peace with Great Britain, ostensibly ending the long War for Independence. 

John Adams accepted the assignment with alacrity, and this time brought along young JQ and his brother Charles, younger by three years. 

Francis Dana

On the ship that carried Adams and Sons back to Europe in late 1779, they were accompanied by a fellow Massachusetts attorney, about eight years younger than the senior Adams. Francis Dana came from a distinguished family, was an ardent patriot and member of the Sons of Liberty, and had been elected to Congress in 1777, and was now sent to join the Peace Treaty Commission as its secretary. 

Francis Dana

While the sea was calm on this journey, their sailing vessel was awash with leaks and structural disrepair, forcing the passengers to help “crew” the ship to land at the first safe port they could reach in Europe – in a remote part of northern Spain. The Adamses and Dana then hired carriages to take them 1000 miles across the Pyrenees in the dead of winter. 

The long haul gave Adams a chance to assess Dana, and gave Dana a fine opportunity to assess the younger Adams. 

Preparation for Diplomacy

The Peace Treaty Commission was unsuccessful for Adams. The French diplomats did not like him. The “commissioners” themselves did not get along well due to incompatible personalities, styles and dispositions.  

John Adams

With the boys in school, and the commission going nowhere, John Adams made a crucial decision: he would go on his own recognizance (i.e. no Congressional appointment or credentials) to Holland, a republic and commercial powerhouse. There he would attempt to gain not only recognition for the USA, but some financial loans to help establish the young wannabe nation. 

He took the boys with him, and placed them in another school. JQ, at thirteen, already fluent in French, both written and oral, came to learn sufficient Dutch to get by, and in time, would master German fluently. He had also learned Latin, classic literature and history, both ancient and modern. And his close companionship with his father during the last three years exposed him to a basic understanding of law. His temperament was diligent, careful and detailed.

He had developed fine penmanship. Unlike the large unwieldy scrawl of his father, JQ’s writing was small, clear, and envied by most. 

The eventual success of the Senior Adams to secure favorable loans from the Dutch was one of his crowning achievements. But while in Holland, he also championed the nomination of Francis Dana to become the Minister to Russia, which Congress acceded to in the summer of 1781. 

The Empress Catherine

Dana’s French (the international language of diplomacy) was mediocre at best, and he recruited young JQA to accompany him as his secretary-translator. At fourteen, he was far too young for any official post, but thrilled for the opportunity to serve – and learn. John Adams was pleased for his son, and charged Dana with finding appropriate continuation of JQ’s education. 

Dana’s mission was unsuccessful. Catherine the Great did not accept his credentials due to some convoluted prior naval treaty arrangements and other complications. Nevertheless, JQA remained in St. Petersburg for fifteen months – sufficient time for him to learn a fair amount of Russian. Then he traveled on his own, to rejoin his father in the Netherlands. 

Epilogue

Frances Dana had a successful legal and business career, and became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts.  

John Quincy Adams returned to Russia nearly thirty years later as the senior American diplomat in Europe with solid diplomatic credentials. He stayed in Russia for five years. He later became Secretary of State under President James Monroe, and President of the USA in 1824.

Sources:

Kaplan, Fred – John Quincy Adams: American Visionary – Harper Collins, 2014

Unger, Harlow Giles – John Quincy Adams – DeCapo Press, 2012

https://millercenter.org/president/jqadams/life-before-the-presidency

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-03-02-0236

https://www.masshist.org/object-of-the-month/objects/i-am-here-too-soon-francis-danas-failed-attempt-2007-09-01

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