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
President John Tyler was married to Miss Julia Gardiner the 26th day of
June, 1844, at the Church of the Ascension, New York city. Immediately
after the wedding, the bridal party returned to the White House, where
they held a grand reception in lieu of the usual wedding festivities. It
was the first, and up to the present time, the only instance of the
marriage of a President, and the affair created great excitement and
interest throughout the United States, heightened doubtless by the
recollection of the tragic death of the father of the bride, a few
months previous.
Miss Gardiner was the daughter of a wealthy gentleman residing on
Gardiner’s Island, and the eldest of three children. Her education,
continued at home until her sixteenth year, was completed at the Chegary
Institute, in New York city. Immediately after the termination of her
school life, she accompanied her father to Europe. Returning from abroad
after an extended tour, she visited, during the sitting of Congress, the
National Capital, and there for the first time met the distinguished man
to whom she was afterward married.
It was while on a visit to Washington in the winter of 1844, that Mr.
Gardiner and his young daughter were invited by Captain Stockton to
accompany a large party of the President’s friends to Alexandria, and on
the return trip, when just opposite to the fort, all the gentlemen were
invited on deck to witness the firing of the “peacemaker.” Many of the
party, who were all partaking of a collation, responded to the
invitation; among the number the father of Miss Gardiner. The explosion
startled the President, who with the ladies had remained below, and in a
moment the piercing cries of the wounded filled the hearts of the
passengers with terror. Death had made fearful havoc, and the living
waited in breathless anxiety for the announcement of the names of the
victims.
The bodies were conveyed to the White House, where the funeral services
were preached, and the last sad rites performed.
The following summer Miss Gardiner was married, and from that time until
the close of her husband’s administration, a period of eight months, she
did the honors of the Executive Mansion, performing her agreeable task
with credit to herself and pleasure to her friends.
After President Tyler’s retirement from public life, he removed to his
home in Virginia, where he continued to reside until his death, which
occurred in Richmond, the 17th of January, 1862.
Of late years Mrs. Tyler has suffered pecuniary losses, and in the
winter of 1879 she petitioned and received from Congress a pension. She
has resided for the past few years in Washington City, and at present
(1881) is living in Georgetown. A devoted Catholic, she finds it
pleasant to be a resident of that retired and peaceful place, near to
Washington, and yet not in it.
XV.
SARAH CHILDRESS POLK.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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