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—1789–1881Holloway, Laura C. (Laura Carter)
History
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
Holloway, Laura C. (Laura Carter)
Presidents -- United States -- Biography; Presidents' spouses -- United States -- Biography
In her present retirement with her children, of whom two remain to bless
her evening of life, and grandchildren to cheer her with their innocent
gayety, let us hope that further trials may be spared her, and that even
to the end she may enjoy the sweet security of a promise made to those
like her, who have finished their course, and are called to enter into
the joys of their Lord.
[Illustration:
MRS. MARTIN VAN BUREN.
]
X.
HANNAH VAN BUREN.
The wife of President Van Buren was born at Kinderhook, on the Hudson,
in the year 1782, a few months after the birth of her future husband,
whose schoolmate and companion she was during their early years. She was
of Dutch descent, and the original name Goes, but pronounced by her
ancestors Hoes, and since so called by all the members of the family in
this country, is familiar to those who are acquainted with the history
of the Netherlands.
If the charms of nature—grand scenery, magnificent views, and the
ever-varying harmony of beautiful skies—could add to the growth and
development of childhood, Hannah Hoes was incomparably blest. The years
of her life were spent in a happy home circle in the most beautiful
section of her native State—a State remarkable for the grandeur of its
mountain scenery, and the number of its romantic rivers. Chief among
these, and surpassed by none in the world, is the Hudson, in sight of
whose classic waters she lived and died.
Her ancestors were sturdy, enterprising Dutch, whose homes for many
generations had been along the banks of the stream discovered by their
renowned countryman, and not one of the rosy urchins of their households
but knew of the adventures of Hendrick Hudson, and reverenced him not
only as the hero of their race and the discoverer of their river, but
the founder of their prosperity. Nor could the tales of the old dames
who resided nearest the lofty Catskills—that he and his followers still
haunted the mountains and were the direct cause of calamities—divest
their minds of his wondrous exploits. In each ripple of the dancing
waves, in the denseness of the gray fog, or perchance in the quiet
stillness of eventide, they recognized some similarity, and recalled a
parallel of his experiences.
Mid such scenes and under such influences passed all the years of Mrs.
Van Buren’s life.
In February, 1807, at the age of twenty-five, she was married to Mr. Van
Buren. The intimacy which resulted in this union was formed in early
childhood, and the marriage took place as soon as his position at the
bar would justify such a step. The steadfastness of his attachment to
his young relative was a remarkable trait in the character of Mr. Van
Buren, and adds a lustre to his honored name.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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