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White House Weddings – Part Two

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In Part One of the two part series on White House Weddings I discussed the weddings that took place from 1820 to 1886 starting with Maria Monroe, John Adams II, Elizabeth Tyler, Nellie Grant and President Grover Cleveland, the only President to be married in the White House.  In Part Two, I will discuss the weddings from 1906 to 1971 that include Alice Roosevelt, the three daughters of President Woodrow Wilson, Lynda Johnson and Tricia Nixon.

February 17, 1906 – Alice Roosevelt and Nicholas Longworth

The wedding of Alice Roosevelt and Nicholas Longworth III took place on February 17, 1906 in the East Room of the White House and it was the grandest social event of the Washington D.C. season.  Alice was the twenty-two year old daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt (the 26th President) and Nicholas was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Cincinnati, Ohio.  Alice had gained fame and was the darling of Washington during her father’s term in office.  She was strong-willed and, like President Roosevelt, she had a zest for adventure.  Nicholas was 14 years older than Alice and a romantic relationship had developed during a diplomatic trip aboard and the two became engaged in 1905.

Shown above is a special commemorative postcard
for the wedding of Alice Roosevelt and Nicholas Longworth

Since Alice was the eldest daughter of President Roosevelt, there was enormous international interest in her wedding and more than a thousand guests were invited to the White House ceremony and reception.  On the day of the wedding there was so much excitement and anticipation in Washington that a large crowd had gathered outside to catch a glimpse of the bride.  Inside the White House the East Room had been lavishly decorated with the window draped with gold trimmed curtains and decorated with bunches of smilax and lilies.  A large platform was specially built so that the guests in the overcrowded room would be able to see the bridal couple and it was covered with an Oriental rug.  Behind the makeshift altar were palm trees and floral arrangements while on either side of the platform were several porcelain vases and urns filled with lilies.  After the ceremony and during the wedding reception, Alice seemed to be dissatisfied with the ordinary knife set on the table.  So, in a moment of spontaneity, she called to borrow the military sword of a nearby officer and that is what was used to cut the cake.

The East Room wedding decorations for Alice Roosevelt and Nicholas Longworth

On her wedding day, Alice wore a lovely blue wedding dress with an 18 foot long train made of silver brocade.  Always a person that wanted to be the center of attention she choose not to have any bridesmaids but she did agree to have her father walk her down the aisle.

  

Alice Roosevelt Longworth

The newlyweds had a brief honeymoon in Cuba before embarking on a more lengthy journey to Europe where they were entertained by King Edward in England and Kaiser Wilhelm in Germany.  Afterwards, the couple settled into a house in Washington D.C.  Although he lost the election of 1912 Longworth returned to Congress in 1914 and later became the Majority Leader of the House in 1923.  He died in 1931 from pneumonia and is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio (It has been reported that Alice burned her husband with his prized Stradivarius violin)

For a marriage that started out with such hope and promise, Alice and Longworth grew distant when the two found themselves having opposing political views but the couple stayed together for twenty-five years until Longworth’s death. Meanwhile, Alice continued to be active in politics and she relished the Washington social life.  She claimed that she had known personally every president, both Republican and Democratic, from the late 1890s to 1980.  At the age of 96, Alice died in 1980 from emphysema and pneumonia; she is buried at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington D.C.

The weddings of the daughters of President Wilson

During his two terms in office President Woodrow Wilson (the 28th President) has the distinction of hosting two weddings of his children, daughters Jessie and Eleanor.  The oldest sister, Margaret, choose to remain single for the rest of her life and in 1940 she moved to India where she became a Hindu nun, she died there in 1944.

November 25, 1913 – Jessie Wilson to Francis Sayre

Jessie Wilson married Francis Sayre in the East Room of the White House on November 25, 1913.  Instead of having a large and very public wedding like Alice Roosevelt did seven years earlier, the couple decided to have a small but still grand ceremony.  Jessie was the second daughter of President Wilson and Ellen Axson Wilson and Francis was a recent graduate of Harvard Law School.

In preparation for the wedding ceremony, a platform was set-up in the far end of the East Room in front of the window which was draped with curtains.  An altar was set in the center of the platform, covered with cloth and decorated with lilies, several palm trees, ferns an floral arrangements were also used as decorations.

The East Room wedding decorations for Jessie Wilson and Francis Sayre

For the wedding reception a New York bakery made a 185 pound wedding cake, it was two large layers and covered with white frosting and decorated with piping.  For display at the reception a large cut-glass vase with flowers was placed on top and the table was decorated with greenery.

The wedding cake for Jessica Wilson and Francis Sayre

Jessica Wilson Sayre

After returning from their honeymoon in Europe, the couple settled in Williamstown, Massachusetts where Francis worked at Williams College as an assistant to the president of school.  Francis and Jessica went onto have three children; Francis Jr., Eleanor and Woodrow.

After World War I, the Sayre family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where Francis became a professor at the Harvard Law School, later he served as a Foreign Affairs Adviser and High Commissioner of the Philippines.  Jessie became a political activist involved in social issues and women’s right to vote, she was also active in the League of Nations and the Democratic Party.  Jessie died in 1933 age the age of 45; she is buried in Nisky Hill Cemetery in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  Francis died in 1972 and he is buried at the Washington National Cathedral.  (Special Note: After President Woodrow Wilson’s death in 1924, he was interred in a sarcophagus in the Washington National Cathedral.  He is the only president whose final resting place is within Washington D.C.)

May 7, 1914 – Eleanor Wilson and William McAdoo

Eleanor Wilson married William McAdoo in the Blue Room of the White House less than a year after her sister.  Eleanor was twenty-three years old and the youngest daughter of President Wilson and William was the fifty-six year old Secretary of Treasury in the Wilson administration.  William was a widower with children and the couple had begun a romance which was kept a secret from President Wilson until their engagement was announced.  Special Note:  Since President Wilson’s wife, Ellen was in declining health the wedding of Eleanor and William was a much more subdued ceremony and reception than her sister’s wedding a few months earlier.

  

Eleanor Wilson McAdoo

After returning home from their honeymoon, Eleanor and McAdoo remained in Washington D.C. where McAdoo continued to work as the Secretary of Treasury in the Wilson administration.  The couple had two daughters, Ellen and Mary, but sadly the marriage proved to be an unhappy one and Eleanor divorced McAdoo in 1934.  Eventually, Eleanor had moved to Montecito, California and in 1965 she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.  In April 1967 she died at her home and she is buried at the Santa Barbara Cemetery, at the time of her death she was the last surviving child of President Wilson.

Special Note:  When First Lady Ellen Axson Wilson died in August 1914, it was the third time that a wife of a sitting President had died during their term in the White House.  (Letitia Tyler died in 1842 and Caroline Harrison died in 1892)  President Wilson was devastated by the death of his wife but only a few short months later he met Edith Bolling Galt and quickly fell in love with her and proposed.  Although he was advised by his political associates to wait to remarry until after the upcoming election the couple decided to proceed with their plans to wed.  So, in December 1915 President Wilson married Edith at her home in Washington, D.C.  Then, in October 1919, President Wilson suffered a severe stroke and for all intent and purposes Edith assumed and performed many of the presidential functions.

December 9, 1967 – Lynda Johnson and Charles Robb

Lynda Johnson married Charles Robb on December 9, 1967 in a private ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Lynda was the eldest daughter of President Lyndon Johnson (the 36th President) and his wife Claudia Taylor Johnson (known as “Lady Bird”) and Charles Robb was a U.S. Marine Corps Captain and was set to leave on a tour of duty in Vietnam.

Since the wedding was held during the holiday season, the East Room was decorated with Christmas trees while evergreen boughs were draped across mantels and down staircase banisters.  Lynda wore a white silk wedding gown made by Geoffrey Beene which featured long-sleeves, a high neck and a train that gathered at the middle of her back.  To complete her wedding ensemble, Lynda wore a long white veil and carried a small bouquet of white flowers.  The seven bridesmaids wore red velvet long-sleeved dress and matching velvet bows in their hair.

Lynda Johnson Robb

Lynda Johnson and Charles Robb

After the brief ceremony the couple, the bridal party and family moved into the Yellow Room to take photographs while their 650 guests were served cocktails in another room in the White House.  In the meantime the East Room was reset for the wedding reception with a splendid buffet and a band was brought in for entertainment.

Lynda Johnson and Charles Robb cutting their wedding cake

After returning from Vietnam, Robb became a lawyer.  The couple had three daughters; Lucinda, Catherine and Jennifer.  Robb was later elected as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 1977, served as Governor of Virginia from 1982 to 1986 and then he was a U.S. Senator for two terms from 1989 until 2001.  Robb and Lynda currently live in McLean, VA and Lynda supports the children’s literacy programs

Special Note: Technically, the wedding of President Johnson’s other daughter does not count as a White House wedding because the ceremony did not take place there.  Since she had converted to Catholicism, the wedding of Luci Johnson and Patrick Nugent took place on August 6, 1966 at Shrine of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. although their wedding reception was held in the East Room of the White House.  Luci was the youngest daughter of President Johnson and Lady Bird and despite the controversy of the ongoing Vietnam War there was great interest in the wedding.  So, it was decided that it would be the first wedding of a child of a president to be broadcast on television and it was watched by 55 million viewers.  Luci and Patrick were married for over ten years and had four children; Patrick, Nicole, Rebekah and Claudia.  Later the couple divorced and the marriage was annulled in August 1979, Luci married Ian Turpin in 1984.

Luci Johnson and Patrick Nugent
cutting their eight-foot tall wedding cake in the East Room of the White House

June 12, 1971 – Tricia Nixon and Edward Cox

The wedding of Tricia Nixon and Edward Cox took place on June 12, 1971 in the Rose Garden of the White House.  Tricia (Patricia) Nixon was twenty-five years old and the eldest daughter of President Richard Nixon (the 37th President) and Thelma Ryan Nixon (given the nickname “Pat” by her Irish-American father when she was a child).  Edward was a Princeton graduate and had known Tricia since the 1960s.

Mrs. Nixon had suggested that the ceremony should take place in the White House Rose Garden since it would be in full bloom in the summer.  This was a risky choice given that the weather in Washington D.C. often forecast rainstorms at that time of year so a contingency plan was set to move the ceremony into the East Room.  But despite earlier rain showers on the day of the wedding the skies briefly cleared and the sun came out! The Rose Garden looked absolutely lovely that day with additional rose plants added in preparation for the wedding .  The ceremony took place under a lovely gazebo at the end of an aisle decorated with even more roses.  Special Note:  Twenty-five years later family and friends gathered at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda where Tricia and Edward Cox renewed their wedding vows under the same gazebo used at their White House Rose Garden wedding.

On display at the wedding reception was the massive three hundred and fifty pound wedding cake created by the White House pastry chef Heinz Bender.

Tricia Nixon and Edward Cox cutting their wedding cake

It has been said that perhaps Tricia was one of the most beautiful of all the White House brides; she was petite with golden hair and blue eyes.  The famous bridal fashion designer Priscilla of Boston made Tricia’s wedding dress; she had also designed the bridesmaids dress for Grace Kelly’s wedding to the Prince of Monaco and the wedding dresses for Luci Johnson and Julie Nixon.  Tricia’s silk organdy gown with a v-neckline and cap sleeves was accented with Alenson lace roses and pearl.  When First Lady Pat Nixon first saw the gown she was shocked at the low neckline but the bride insisted that it was what she wanted!  (Compared to today’s often strapless versions chosen by the modern brides, Tricia Nixon’s wedding dress in contrast seems to have been a very classic and elegant design)

Tricia Nixon Cox on the cover of the June 18, 1971 issue of Life Magazine

After returning from their honeymoon, Tricia and Edward lived in New York, they had one son named Christopher.  Edward is a corporate attorney and also headed the New York Republican State Committee, Tricia is involved with several medical research institutions and she also sits on the board of the Richard Nixon Foundation.

Special Note:  President Nixon’s younger daughter, Julie, was married after his election in November 1968 but before his inauguration in January 1969, for this reason it is not considered an official White House wedding.  When Nixon had been the Vice President to President Eisenhower and the two families spent time together.  It is possible that Mamie Eisenhower, the wife of President Eisenhower, encouraged the romance between Julie and David, the Eisenhower’s grandson.  Julie and David were married on December 22, 1968 at the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City.  The couple had three children; Jennie, Alexander and Melanie.  Today, Julie and David live in Berwyn, Pennsylvania and Julie sits on the board of the Richard Nixon Foundation.

For more information, please check out Part One of the two part series on White House Weddings which discusses the weddings that took place from 1820 to 1886 starting with Maria Monroe, John Adams II, Elizabeth Tyler, Nellie Grant and President Grover Cleveland, the only President to be married in the White House.

White House Weddings – Part One

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In this two part series on White House Weddings I will focus on eleven of the eighteen weddings that have been documented as taking place at the White House located in Washington, D.C., the Capitol of the United States.  The eleven weddings on the list include one President and the ten children of eight Presidents.  In Part One, I will discuss the weddings from 1820 to 1886 starting with Maria Monroe, John Adams II, Elizabeth Tyler, Nellie Grant and President Grover Cleveland, the only President to be married in the White House (more information on that later).   In Part Two, I will discuss the weddings from 1906 to 1971 that include Alice Roosevelt, the three daughters of President Woodrow Wilson, Lynda Johnson and Tricia Nixon.  (Special Note: The other seven weddings which have been recorded to take place in the White House included relatives or working associates of the President and will not be covered in this series)

March 9, 1820 – Maria Monroe and Samuel Gouverneur

The wedding of Maria Monroe and Samuel Gouverneur took place on March 9, 1820 but it would be overshadowed by controversy and an untimely death.  Maria was the seventeen year old daughter of President James Monroe (the fifth President) and Samuel was her twenty-one year old first cousin and also one of President Monroe’s White House secretaries.

At the time of the engagement the First Lady, Elizabeth Kortright Monroe, was unable to help with the wedding arrangements due to illness (the Monroe family rarely entertained during their time in Washington) and the job was taken over by Eliza Hays, the older sister of Maria.  According to White House records, the candlelight wedding ceremony for Maria and Samuel took place in the Elliptical Saloon, today the room is known as the Blue Room.  After the wedding ceremony there was a reception in the State Dining Room.  This small and intimate wedding outraged numerous political and diplomatic members of Washington D.C. society which had not been invited.  Perhaps to compensate for the error in judgement, several gala events were planned after the wedding day to honor the newlyweds.  But once again, unfortunate circumstances prevailed when the ball at the home of Commodore Stephen Decatur was marred by tragedy when days before the event he was killed in a duel.

Maria Monroe Gouverneur

Samuel and Maria Gouverneur eventually left Washington D.C. to live in New York where Samuel served as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1825 and then Postmaster of New York City from 1828 to 1836.  The couple had three children; James, Elizabeth and Samuel.  After the death of President James Monroe’s wife in 1830, the former President came to live at the Gouverneur’s home until his death in 1831.  In 1840, the Gouverneurs moved back to Washington D.C. and Samuel worked in the consular bureau of the US Department of State from 1844 to 1849.  Maria died on June 20, 1850, and a year later Samuel married Mary Digges Lee.  There is conflicting information as to when Samuel died, some obituaries state he died on September 29, 1865 while other sources say he lived until 1867.

February 25, 1828 – John Adams II and Mary Hellen

The wedding of John Adams II and Mary Hellen took place in the Blue Room of the White House on February 25, 1828.  John was the twenty-five year old son of President John Quincy Adams (the sixth President) and grandson of President John Adams (the second President) and Mary was the twenty-two year old niece of Louisa Adams, the wife of President John Quincy.  This lineage meant that John and Mary were first cousins.

Mary had come to live with John Quincy and Louisa Adams after the death of her parents.  Throughout her years living within the household, she became an outrageous flirt and tormented the three sons of Mr. and Mrs. Adams.  She first became romantically involved with Charles, the youngest brother, but when she quickly tired of him she turned her attention to George, the eldest brother.  But it was decided that George, a known alcoholic and womanizer, needed to focus on his studies at Harvard.  Ultimately with Charles away at college John, the middle brother, decided he would pursue Mary.  When they too became romantically involved Mrs. Adams, although she greatly disapproved of the match, decided that enough was enough and she quickly arranged their marriage.  Needless to say, Charles and George declined to attend the wedding.

John and Mary went on to have two daughters, Mary and Georgiana.  John attempted a career in business operating a Washington area flour mill which was owned by his father.  Eventually the business failure and John’s alcoholism lead to his death on October 23, 1834.  Mary lived with John Quincy and Louisa Adams and cared for them until their deaths in 1848 and 1852.  Mary died in Bethlehem, New Hampshire on August 31, 1870

January 31, 1842 – Elizabeth Tyler and William Waller

The wedding of Elizabeth Tyler and William Waller took place on January 31, 1842 in the East Room of the White House.  Elizabeth was the eighteen year old daughter of President John Tyler (the 10th President) and William was a young attorney and a family friend from Williamsburg, Virginia.

Elizabeth Tyler Waller

This White House wedding was a much larger occasion then the previous two weddings and necessitated the bigger East Room instead of the smaller Blue Room.  Since President Tyler had just recently been sworn in after the death of President William Harrison and because he was less than popular due to his political decisions Congress refused to appropriated funds to upkeep the White House and the event was more subdued.  The wedding of her daughter would mark the only public appearance by the ill First Lady Letitia Tyler and sadly she died later that same year.  Later, when President Tyler started courting the widow Julia Gardiner after a relatively short mourning period it caused a scandal in Washington.  In June 1844, the couple was married in New York.  (Special Note: As previously noted at the beginning of this post, President Grover Cleveland was the only President that was married in the White House.  This statement holds true because, although President Tyler married for a second time during his term in office, the wedding took place in New York)

Elizabeth and William later moved to Williamsburg, Virginia and they had four children.  Sadly Elizabeth died in childbirth in 1850 and William went on to marry twice more, he died in 1894.

May 21, 1874 – Nellie Grant and Algernon Sartoris

Nellie Grant and Algernon Sartoris married on May 21, 1874 in the East Room of the White House.  Nellie was the eightteen year-old daughter of President Ulysses S. Grant (the 18th President) and she was noted as being both beautiful and well educated.  She met the much older Algernon while onboard a ship in which she was returning from a grand tour of Europe.  She had fallen in love with the Englishman and despite objections her parents would eventually consented to the marriage.

Algernon Sartoris and Nellie Grant

At the time the White House was draped in black crepe on the doors, windows, mirrors and chandeliers in mourning for the death of President Millard Fillmore.  So, to prepare for the wedding these decorations were quickly removed.  In anticipated for the most grand event of the social season in Washington D.C, the East Room was redecorated with three new French chandeliers and freshly painted in white and gold leaf accents.  A special platform was built in front of the window; the four columns of the structure were decorated with patriotic red, white and blue.  A special bell-shaped floral arrangement of pink roses was suspended above the platform.  The curtains were closed and the room glowed with soft lighting and to complete the festive decorations palm trees and more floral arrangements were placed throughout the room.

The wedding ceremony of Algernon Sartoris and Nellie Grant

In other areas of the White House, the State Dining Room was set for a breakfast with specially invited guests and the room was decorated with pink and white roses and azaleas.  Since President Grant was a great Civil War general and admired by many people in the country, many expensive gifts had been sent to the White House in the weeks before the wedding, it was considered a custom to display these in one of the rooms of the White House.

The wedding gifts for Algernon Sartoris and Nellie Grant on display in the White House

Nellie wore a wedding dress of white satin with a six-foot train, she also wore a rose-point rose lace wedding veil attached to her head with a crown of white orchid and orange blossoms which were grown in the White House conservatory.  Nellie carried a bouquet of roses with a pearl fan attached; it was a gift from her parents.

Nellie and Algernon went on to have four children but it was not a happy marriage due to the fact that he was an alcoholic and a womanizer.  Algernon died in 1893 and Nellie remarried in 1912.  In 1914 she suffered a stroke which left her paralyzed, she died in 1922.

June 2, 1886 – President Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom

President Grover Cleveland served two separate terms; he was both the twenty–second (1885 to 1889) and the twenty-four (1893 to1897) President of the United States.  It was during his first term that President Cleveland married his ward, Frances Folsom, he was 49 and she was 21 years-old.  The wedding took place on June 2, 1886 in the Blue Room of the White House; he was the only President to be married within the executive mansion.

President Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom

Frances was the daughter of Grover’s law partner and friend, Oscar Folsom.  Grover had known Frances since her birth and when her father died in 1875 (she was eleven years-old at the time) Grover became executor of the Folsom estate and as a result Frances became his ward.  In the following years Grover supervised expenses and arrange her education and by the time Frances was a student at Wells College in New York she had grown into a beautiful young girl.  Then in 1885 things started to happen rather quickly and in March when he started his first term in office President Grover was still a bachelor.  He had fallen in love with Frances and with her mother’s permission Grover began to seriously court her.  In August, after her graduation from college, Grover proposed to Frances and the engagement was kept a secret until a few days before the wedding.

The White House was beautifully decorated for the summertime wedding.  In the East Room the fireplace and mantel were covered with flowers from the White House conservatory and large palm trees were set in porcelain vases throughout the room. The columns in the Cross Hall were draped with garlands and large patriotic shields were created from red and white roses and blue carnations.  The Red and Green Rooms were also decorated with floral arrangements.  The Blue Room fireplace was filled with red begonias to represent a fire, while on the mantel numerous pansies had been arranged to form the initials “C” and “F”, the chandelier was decorated with roses and palm trees were also placed throughout the room.  In the State Dining Room the large table was covered with a white damask tablecloth with the long Monroe plateau arranged with an abundance of flowers set with a special floral ship representing the bridal couple sailing toward blissful matrimony.

The wedding ceremony of President Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom

Frances wore a wedding dress of ivory satin trimmed with orange blossoms, later she had the dress altered to be worn at White House receptions and she also wore the dress in a formal portrait.  The President wore a classic tuxedo with a white bow tie on their wedding day.

   

Frances Folsom Cleveland on her wedding day

Despite this seemingly scandalous situation of a much older man marrying a young girl (keep in mind that Grover was 27 years older than Frances and she was previously his ward) the nation openly accepted the President and the new First Lady.  When he lost his re-election, Frances is quoted as telling the White House staff that they would soon be back.  Indeed four years later in 1893 when President Cleveland won a second nonconsecutive term they did return!

President Cleveland and Frances have a very happy marriage and had five children – Ruth, Esther, Marion, Richard and Francis.  After retirement the family had moved to the Cleveland estate, Westland Mansion, in Princeton, New Jersey.  President Cleveland died in 1908 and is buried in Princeton, New Jersey.  Five years after his death Frances married Thomas Preston and when she died in 1947 she choose to be buried alongside her first husband, President Cleveland.

Next, in Part Two of White House Weddings, I will discuss the weddings from 1906 to 1971 that include Alice Roosevelt, the three daughters of President Woodrow Wilson, Lynda Johnson and Tricia Nixon.