[Illustration:
_The White House_
]
THE
LADIES OF THE WHITE HOUSE;
OR,
IN THE HOME OF THE PRESIDENTS.
_Being a Complete History of the Social and Domestic Lives of the
Presidents from Washington to the Present Time—1789–1881._
BY
LAURA C. HOLLOWAY.
_WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL AND WOOD._
CINCINNATI:
FORSHEE & McMAKIN,
188 & 190 WEST FIFTH STREET.
1881.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by
LAURA C. HOLLOWAY,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
FERGUSON BROS. & CO.,
PRINTERS AND ELECTROTYPERS.
PHILADELPHIA.
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 the historical works of the age—even in the biographies of the
Presidents themselves—not much has been said of women, who, for the most
part, were powerful adjuncts to their popularity, and exerted great
influence over their lives. The most that has been written of them
heretofore were descriptions in the daily papers of the appearance of
the lady of the White House on some public occasion, and with this the
world has been content until now. We have had a hundred years of
domestic honor in the White House—a hundred years which has added much
to the glory of the country abroad, and it is but fitting that women,
who have held the highest social and semi-official position in the
nation, should be made historic subjects. No better time than the
present could be found for filling this serious gap in general American
history. The moral influence that has been exerted by the untarnished
reputations and high social qualities of the women who have successively
filled the position of Hostess of the Presidents’ House, cannot be
estimated. Without the effective and intelligent aid they rendered, no
administration would have been satisfactory; and though the political
historian may ignore such service, the right-thinking, honorable men or
women of this country have a higher appreciation of the services
rendered by these ladies, who were the power behind the throne, equal in
social influence to the throne itself, and a historical work bearing
upon their lives is a valuable contribution to the nation’s official
history.
Such a one is now offered to the people of this country. It is a
complete work, comprising a biographical sketch of every President’s
wife and hostess of the Executive Mansion from Mrs. Washington down to
Mrs. Garfield.
The information contained in the volume has never been compiled in any
other form, and there are many historical facts of a most interesting
nature for the first time presented to the public. The book contains the
portraits of the wives of the Presidents, and of the ladies who presided
over the Mansion during the administrations of unmarried Presidents. At
a time when the women of this country are commanding the attention of
the civilized world by reason of their higher education, superior mental
attributes, and exalted social status, such a book is of exceptional
value.
The mechanical execution of the work will commend itself to all lovers
of excellence in book-making. Nothing has been left undone that would
make it worthy of the ladies whose records it contains. The unusual
attractions of the theme, the style in which it is published, and the
place in the country’s history which such a book fills, conspire to
render it a work which the public and private libraries of this country
cannot afford to be without; they cannot be called complete without a
copy of the “Ladies of the White House.”