Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison [1 ed.] 9781617281600, 9781604562712

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Copyright © 2008. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison, edited by Anne Chieko Moore, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central,

Copyright © 2008. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison, edited by Anne Chieko Moore, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central,

CAROLINE LAVINIA SCOTT HARRISON

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(A VOLUME IN THE PRESIDENTIAL WIVES SERIES)

No part of this digital document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means. The publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this digital document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained herein. This digital document is sold with the clear understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, medical or any other professional services.

Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison, edited by Anne Chieko Moore, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2008. ProQuest Ebook

OTHER BOOKS IN THE PRESIDENTIAL WIVES SERIES Dolley Madison Paul M. Zall 2001. ISBN 1-56072-930-9. (Hardcover) 2001. ISBN 1-56072-937-6. (Softcover) A “Bully” First Lady: Edith Kermit Roosevelt Tom Lansford 2001. ISBN 1-59033-086-2. (Hardcover) 2003. ISBN 1-56072-648-8. (Softcover) Sarah Childress Polk, First Lady of Tennessee and Washington Barbara Bennett Peterson 2002. ISBN 1-59033-145-1. (Hardcover) 2002. ISBN 1-56072-551-1. (Softcover)

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Frances Clara Folsom Cleveland Stephen F. Robar 2002. ISBN 1-59033-245-8. (Hardcover) 2004. ISBN 1-59454-150-7 (Softcover) Lucretia John Shaw 2002. ISBN 1-59033-349-7. (Hardcover) 2004. ISBN 1-59454-151-5 (Softcover) Edith Bolling Galt Wilson: The Unintended President James S. McCallops 2002. ISBN 1-59033-556-2 (Hardcover) Betty Ford: A Symbol of Strength Jeffrey S. Ashley 2003. ISBN 1-59033-407-8(Hardcover) 2004. 1-59454-149-3 (Softcover) Ellen A. Wilson: The Woman Who Made a President Sina Dubovoy 2003. ISBN 1-59033-791-3 (Hardcover)

Jackie Kennedy: Images and Reality Mohammed Badrul Alam 2002. ISBN 1-59033-366-7 (Hardcover) Jackie Kennedy: Trailblazer Mohammed Badrul Alam 2007. ISBN 1-59454-558-8 (Softcover) Eliza Johnson: Unknown First Lady Jean Choate 2004. ISBN 1-59454-097-7 (Hardcover) Eliza Johnson in Perspective Jean Choate 2006. ISBN 1-59454-723-8 (Softcover) Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison Anne Chieko Moore 2004. ISBN 1-59454-099-3 (Hardcover) Nancy Reagan: The Woman Behind the Man Pierre-Marie Loizeau 2004. ISBN 1-59033-759-X (Hardcover) Nancy Reagan in Perspective Pierre-Marie Loizeau 2005. ISBN 1-59454-695-9 (Softcover) Lou Henry Hoover: A Prototype for First Ladies Dale C. Mayer 2004. ISBN 1-59033-806-5 Dutiful Service: The Life of Mrs. Mamie Eisenhower Robert E. Dewhirst 2004. ISBN 1-59454-007-1 (Hardcover)

Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison, edited by Anne Chieko Moore, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2008. ProQuest Ebook

CAROLINE LAVINIA SCOTT HARRISON

Copyright © 2008. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

ANNE CHIEKO MOORE

Nova History Publication New York

Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison, edited by Anne Chieko Moore, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2008. ProQuest Ebook

Copyright © 2009 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. For permission to use material from this book please contact us: Telephone 631-231-7269; Fax 631-231-8175 Web Site: http://www.novapublishers.com

NOTICE TO THE READER

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The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers’ use of, or reliance upon, this material. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison / Anne Chieko Moore [editor]. p. cm. -- (Presidential wives series) Originally published: 2005. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61728-160-0 (E-Book) 1. Harrison, Caroline Lavinia Scott, 1832-1892. 2. Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901. 3. Presidents' spouses--United States--Biography. I. Moore, Anne Chieko. E702.2.C37 2008 973.8'6092--dc22 [B] 2008017026

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

New York

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CONTENTS

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Preface

vii

Chapter 1

Childhood to Young Adult

1

Chapter 2

Marriage and Family

7

Chapter 3

Civil War Years

11

Chapter 4

Prosperous Post-War Years

17

Chapter 5

First Ladyship

27

Chapter 6

Legacy

59

Bibliography

61

Index

65

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PREFACE Caroline Scott Harrison was the friendly, enthusiastic and intelligent wife of the twenty-third President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison. She was a graduate of Oxford Female Institute in Oxford, Ohio, where her father, an advocate for women’s education, was president of the school. In 1889, she walked gracefully into the limelight of the first lady’s position, confidently assuming leadership in a number of activities and accomplishing much through the next three years. She had little fear of performing social duties in Washington. The White House was filled with four generations of Harrison family members living there at Caroline’s invitation. She was devoted to Ben and her family, and personally supervised this large household. Providing comfortable, attractive living quarters, not only for themselves, but for the first families in the future, was Caroline’s major challenge. Her personal leadership for architectural planning for a new White House is regarded as her significant achievement, an effort considered far ahead of her time, even though the plans were rejected by Congress. Instead, $35,000 was appropriated to redecorate the dilapidated White House, and Caroline became the first first lady to supervise the complete refurbishing of the executive mansion from attic to basement. The first installation of electricity for a bell system and lights in the White House in 1891 was another important achievement. Caroline’s personal confidence in her artistic skills resulted in her creation of a patriotic symbolic design for the handsome set of Harrison White House china. She learned to use the power of the first lady’s office to influence special requests. When Johns Hopkins Hospital officials asked her for help in raising funds for their medical school, she challenged them to improve the status of women. And establishing the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution as the first president general required much more responsibility than an honorary chair implies.

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viii

Anne Chieko Moore

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Caroline had a strong Christian faith and desire to help less fortunate people. She gave years of service at orphanages and hospitals at Indianapolis and Washington, D. C. The President Benjamin Harrison Home is a unique source for information about this first lady. Her lifestyle is better realized by examining her garments, decorative arts, paintings, books and music in her Victorian home. Her letters afford insight to her close relationship with her family. A variety of publications, original artifacts, and archival materials were perused to produce this biography of Caroline Scott Harrison and to summarize her effort to live an exemplary useful life, as she perceived it. This remarkable person deserves a better remembered place in American history. The author extends her sincere thanks to Carol Edgar and Hester Anne Hale for their valuable assistance in the preparation of this book and to the President Benjamin Harrison Home for access to archival materials and original Harrison artifacts.

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President Benjamin Harrison

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Four Generations: John Scott, Caroline Scott Harrison, Mary Harrison McKee, Benjamin McKee and Mary McKee.

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The White House Mary McKee, Russell Harrison, Benjamin McKee and Marthena Harrison. His Whiskers-goat.

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Interior view Conservatories: The White House

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Chapter 1

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CHILDHOOD TO YOUNG ADULT Caroline Lavinia Scott was born in a small college town of Oxford, Ohio, on October 10, 1832, the second of five children. She had an older sister Elizabeth, a younger sister Mary and two younger brothers John and Henry. She enjoyed a close relationship with her siblings and parents in a loving intellectual and Christian home environment.1 Her mother Mary Potts Neal was a teacher in a girls’ school in Washington, Pennsylvania, when she met John Witherspoon Scott, a professor of mathematics, physics and natural science at Washington University; they were married in 1825. Dr. Scott had earned his Master of Arts degree at Yale and his Doctor of Divinity from Augusta College. Although he was an ordained Presbyterian minister, he was employed for most of his life as a professor of mathematics or science.2 When he brought his wife to Oxford in 1828, Dr. Scott found a primitive village with a population of 500. It contained sixty dwelling houses, three taverns, one hotel, one tannery, four shoemaker shops, three cabinetmaker shops, one cooper shop, one wainwright shop, one saddlery and one clockmaker shop. He had accepted a teaching position at Miami University, a Presbyterian school that had just opened in 1824. The campus consisted of two large buildings surrounded by stumps from trees cut to clear building sites, with no landscaping. Dr. Scott’s colleagues included Professor William H. McGuffey and President/Professor Robert Hamilton Bishop. Dr. Scott had inadvertantly found a compatible intellectual center for himself. In 1831, he bought a choice lot and had a 1

2

American First Ladies: Their Lives and Their Legacy (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996), p. 260. Lewis Gould, editor. Harriet McIntire Foster, Mrs. Benjamin Harrison: the First President General of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, (1908), p. 6.

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handsome brick family home built on it, with an assessed value of $1,700, one of the highest assessments in the community. It was here that Caroline was born.3 As a child, Caroline, often called “Carrie,” was active and fun-loving, and her father became anxious about her lively behavior when she was nine years old. In a letter to his wife who was visiting relatives in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, he wrote, “Tell Caroline she must try and act a lady now, and leave off her romping and venturesomeness.”4 He complained of her mirthfulness when he sternly expected her to be solemn. Caroline’s talent in music and art were nurtured from childhood. Her mother taught her to play the piano. They delighted children by teaching them songs and making exquisite dolls dance to their music. Caroline enjoyed and understood music and developed advanced skills in piano playing by the time she was a teenager.5 Aunt Caroline Neal often visited the Scott family in Oxford, and gave her niece Caroline many hours of instruction and guidance in drawing and painting. The Scott family left Oxford in 1845 when Dr. Scott and Dr. Bishop, the former president of the school, were dismissed from their jobs at Miami University because of their liberal religious views and strong support of the abolitionists. Slaves were sometimes hidden in Oxford on their way to Canada, and Dr. Scott was suspected of using his home as a station for the underground railroad system. A former student of both of the professors, Freeman Carey, invited them to join his faculty at Farmer’s College in Pleasant Hill, sometimes called College Hill, near Cincinnati, which they did. Mr. Carey encouraged Dr. Scott, a pioneer for women’s education, to start the Ohio Female College at Pleasant Hill. He was apparently soon working in both institutions.6 In 1847, fifteen-year-old Caroline was creating a small book, Floral and Poetical Album, containing examples of her artistic ability and poetry selections. It is hand bound and unpublished, preserved in the President Benjamin Harrison Home collection. Seventy-five pages are carefully penned in her fine script and embellished with detailed floral and landscape illustrations rendered in pencil and watercolor. Caroline’s growing interest in literature is evidenced in her selections of sentimental inspirational verse and romantic poetry about death, a popular topic for music, literature and art during the nineteenth century. Caroline may have 3

4 5

6

Ophia D. Smith, Old Oxford Houses and the People Who Lived in Them (Oxford, Ohio: Oxford Historical Press, 1941) pp. 27, 28. John Witherspoon Scott to Mary Neal Scott, June 29, 1841, Harrison MSS. Kate Scott Brooks, “Memories of Our First President General,” National Historical Magazine, Vol. LXXVI, No. 1 (January, 1942), p. 7. Ibid., p. 29.

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composed some of the poetry in the book. The following is an example of the selections. Charity Soft peace she wings wherever she arrives And builds as quiet as she forms our lives Lays the rough paths of peevish natures even And opens in each heart a little heaven

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Quarles7

Benjamin Harrison, grandson of President William Henry Harrison, from North Bend, Ohio, enrolled at Farmer’s College. Until his senior year was completed, Ben did not realize his father’s great financial sacrifice of mortgaging much of their farm to send him and his older brother Irwin to college at the same time. Ben was a bright earnest student, aspiring to the advocacy of scholarship in history and philosophy by Dr. Bishop, the strong guiding spirit of the institution.8 Dr. Scott, a chemistry and physics teacher, genial and well liked by students, welcomed Ben’s frequent visits to his home in Pleasant Hill. There Ben became acquainted with and was charmed by attractive, fifteen year old Caroline.9 She was vivacious and optimistic, with a keen sense of humor; she was a petite five feet and one inch tall, with large brown expressive eyes, thick brown hair and tiny hands and feet. In complete contrast, Ben was serious, scholarly, reserved, and had a gift for oratory. He was five feet and seven inches tall, with piercing blue eyes and blond hair. They had one important trait in common: they were both religious Protestants, raised with Presbyterian instruction at home, who made their lasting commitment to the Christian faith during their teen years. In 1849, a Presbyterian group in Oxford organized the Oxford Female Institute and invited Dr. Scott to become its first president.10 He accepted and the family moved back to Oxford, where he served as principal of the school for seventeen years. Classes began with thirty boarding students, and one hundred day students were soon added to the enrollment. Caroline was seventeen years old when she enrolled as a student. Caroline’s mother was the dean of women and the house manager, the first woman to hold such positions at Oxford. In 1850, Aunt Caroline Neal came to teach at the Institute.11 7 8

9 10 11

Carrie L. Scott, Floral and Poetical Album, Pleasant Hill, Ohio, unpublished, 1847. Harry J. Sievers, Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier Warrior: Through the Civil Wear Years 1833-1865 vol. 1(Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1952), pp. 31, 32, 33. Ibid., p. 47. Smith, op. cit., p. 29. Ibid., p. 30.

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When Ben arrived at Miami University in 1850, the school was enjoying its most prosperous year thus far, with an enrollment of over 250 students. Intellectual standards were maintained at high levels. The university was the thirteenth to be established in the United States, and compared favorably with other institutions in the country.12 Ben would benefit from his enrollment at Miami University, but he also followed Caroline to Oxford for the purpose of resuming their friendship. Although the Scott parents made strict rules about male callers, Caroline’s earnest pleading relaxed some of them. She even persuaded Ben to take her to a few dance parties off-campus, even though he did not participate and only watched. Dancing was against the rules of the school, and considered a sin by the Presbyterian church.13 Caroline would change Ben’s outlook on this activity in the future. On Saturdays, the young couple spent many evenings together on buggy rides and sleigh rides. Ben’s classmates teasingly called him “pious moonlight dude.”14 During their senior years, Ben and Caroline were secretly engaged to be married. The senior year was a busy one for Caroline. She taught in the music department of the Institute that year, due to the illness of a teacher, her aunt Caroline Neal, for whom she provided considerable nursing care. Caroline is listed among the faculty as an assistant in piano music.15 Her diploma states her degree in language, music and art from Oxford Female Institute on June 22, 1852.16 In the meantime, Ben was an honors student at Miami University, graduating on June 24, 1852, a presenter of one of the commencement speeches. He had been elected president of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in 1851, and assumed an active role in promoting the society. Although he made a serious commitment to enter the Presbyterian ministry, he eventually changed his focus to the legal profession.17 Following graduation, Ben went to Cincinnati to read law as an unpaid apprentice with the prestigious Storer and Gwynne law firm. Bellamy Storer was one of Ben’s father’s personal friends. Fortunately, Ben did not need to seek a boarding house; his sister Betty and her husband Dr. George Eaton welcomed him to their home in the city and provided a room for him.18 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Sievers, op. cit., p. 48. Smith, op. cit., p. 31. Sievers, op. cit., p. 54. Smith, op. cit., p. 31. Caroline Scott diploma, Harrison MSS. Sievers, op. cit., pp. 58, 61, 62, 63. Ibid., pp. 67, 68, 69.

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Caroline Lavina Scott Harrison

5

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Caroline traveled to Carrollton, Kentucky, to teach music and sewing in a girls’ school with Mrs. Bethania Bishop Bennet.19 During the year Caroline became ill with overwork and exhaustion. Ben became extremely concerned and decided he should marry her to relieve her of the necessity to teach. He wrote to his close friend John Anderson that he was convinced she might die if he did not provide his protective care. John Anderson wrote, “Why Ben, you are crazy … Love is a powerful incentive, but will it pass current for potatoes and beef? Coffee and muffins for two are not paid for by affection existing between the ‘two.’ Hard cash buys! Where will it come from?”20 In two days, Ben wrote to John that he had made plans. He would take Caroline to the Point farm to live at no cost with his siblings and father. Since Caroline had plenty of clothes, there would be few personal expenses. That August, despite John Anderson’s admonitions and advice, Ben and Caroline decided to marry within two months.

19 20

Smith, op. cit., p. 31. Sievers, op. cit., p. 76.

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Chapter 2

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MARRIAGE AND FAMILY Caroline was intent on keeping the wedding a secret. She sewed garments and other items by hand in privacy “to blind the curious.”1 Ben made his own preparations for the wedding. In a letter, he respectfully asked Dr. Scott to perform the wedding ceremony. Then he asked his father to accompany him to the county seat at Hamilton to sign the marriage license, because he would not be the legal age of twenty-one years old until August of the next year. His brother Irwin helped him to select a new black suit with a satin vest. On the morning of October 10, 1853, Ben and Caroline were married in the parlor of the Scott family home in Oxford, Ohio, with a simple ceremony officiated by the bride’s father, Dr. Scott. Family members and a few friends, including John Anderson, attended. Caroline wore a simple gray traveling dress, and Ben wore his black suit. Following a wedding breakfast, the newlyweds traveled to the Point, Ben’s father’s home in North Bend, Ohio.2 A week after the wedding, Ben wrote to John Anderson, “Carrie is now sitting at the fire plying her needle, while I was writing at the window. . . Her presence and the consciousness that she is my wife . . . afford an infinitude of happiness.”3 Ben’s father, John Scott Harrison, left for Washington early in December to serve as a congressman for the Whig Party. While the couple lived at the farm, Ben finished his law

1 2 3

Harry J. Sievers: Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier Warrior: through the Civil War Years 1833-1865 vol. 1 (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1952), p. 79. Ibid., p. 82. . Ibid., p. 83.

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readings at the Storer and Gwynne Law Firm. In 1854 he attained his cherished goal when he was admitted to practice before the Ohio bar.4 Ben and Caroline considered carefully their plans for the future. Ben definitely wanted to build a practice independently, apart from friends and acquaintances in Cincinnati. Opportunities of Chicago and Indianapolis were weighed. Following a trip to Indianapolis in March, Ben received an enthusiastic, persuasive letter from a cousin, William Sheets, a successful paper manufacturer there. Indianapolis, capital of Indiana, had a population of 16,000 in 1854, with prospects of growth in industry and commerce supported by a large system of railroads that converged in the city. The decision was made to move to Indianapolis. In March 1854, Ben received timely gifts, an $800 inheritance from the estate of a deceased aunt in Cincinnati and a farewell gift of $500 from his father. One large box of worldly goods was shipped for ninety-one cents freight charge to the home of William Sheets. After a sentimental parting of friends and family, Ben and Caroline took pleasure in traveling together for several hours to the city that would become their permanent home. Upon arrival in Indianapolis, they enjoyed the hospitality of William Sheets for a few days while looking for a place of their own. Soon they were settled into a downstairs apartment of a two-story frame boarding house on Pennsylvania Street.5 They quickly developed a friendship with the second story occupants, who were another newly married couple, Dr. and Mrs. John M. Kitchen. The first year in Indianapolis was filled with hardships. A fire forced the young couple out of their residence; then within a few months, they faced their first separation. Due to lack of money and Caroline’s need for medical care in her fifth month of pregnancy, they decided that she should journey to her parents’ home in Oxford, Ohio to wait the arrival of their baby. On August 12, 1854, she gave birth to a son Russell, named for her older sister Elizabeth’s husband Russell Farnum Lord. Later the name was changed to Russell Benjamin. Because Indianapolis in the summer was hot and humid and considered unhealthy, Caroline and newborn Russell remained in Ohio, visited proud grandfather Harrison at the Point Farm in North Bend until the “sickly” season was over, and returned to Indianapolis in October.6 Ben welcomed his wife and baby home to a small rented house on Vermont Street with a kitchen, a dining room, a bedroom, and a shed for summer cooking. Caroline did all her own housekeeping. Struggling to establish his law practice, 4 5 6

Ibid., p. 84. Ibid., p. 88. Ibid., p. 93.

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Ben became discouraged sitting alone in his office waiting for clients. To augment his income, he worked as a court crier for $2.50 a day. He told a friend that receiving a $5 bill was an event. Shortly after their first Christmas, Caroline and Russell returned to Oxford because they were both ill and hoped to benefit from the care provided by the Scott parents. Money was borrowed to pay for medical expenses for Caroline and their baby from the court clerk John Rea and the pharmacist.7 Ben remembered well the vulnerability and anxiety of poverty. His professional reputation was slowly being developed and recognized. Thanks to John H. Rea, Clerk of the District Court of the United States, Ben assisted the successful prosecution of a burglary case in his first jury trial. Soon afterward, in March 1855, his financial circumstances improved when William Wallace, an established Indianapolis lawyer with political aspirations, invited him to become a partner in his firm. Ben worked diligently and the legal practice began to flourish.8 As devout Christians, religious faith guided the lives of the young couple. Continuing the practices of both the Harrison and the Scott families, Bible reading and prayers were a daily routine. The Sabbath was observed strictly and quietly after attending church services, with reading, taking walks and singing hymns. Ben and Caroline both were active members of the First Presbyterian Church on the east side of Circle Street and regularly attended services, occupying pew 106. Ben taught classes, was a leader in the Y.M.C.A., and became superintendent of the Sunday School. He also served as a trustee, deacon and elder. Caroline taught children’s classes, became superintendent of the primary department of the Sunday School, and played the organ. Her vivacious, friendly leadership influenced and attracted a following of younger women. Most of the family’s social life centered on church activities, including strawberry festivals, bazaars and oyster dinners.9 With his increased income, Ben purchased a larger comfortable home on Alabama and North Streets, a two story frame house with a stable on the lot. The Harrisons both enjoyed gardening among strawberries, vegetables and flowers. Their family increased with the birth of a daughter Mary on April 3, 1858. These became secure years for the young family. Ben concentrated his efforts and increased success in the law practice. With her cheerful disposition, Caroline made friends easily and was busy with domestic responsibilities and activities at the church. She was interested in charity work at the Orphans’ Asylum and in 7 8 9

Ibid., p. 102. Ibid., p. 104. Centennial Memorial 1823-1923: Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana (Greenfield, IN: William Mitchell Printing Co., 1925), p. 113.

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1860 became a member of the Board of Managers, a position she held until her death.10 Caroline had a natural fondness for animals. Her niece Kate Scott Brooks remembered seeing her Aunt Caroline encouraging pet chickens Brownie and Speckles to eat out of her hand and tenderly caring for chicks and kittens. And a bird constantly followed her through the house or sat on her shoulder. Dash, the collie, never waited long for friendly attention. In addition to feeding her horse sugar cubes and apples, Caroline also hitched him up to the carriage herself to drive to her charity or church work or stop at the law office for Ben, who took the reins for the ride home.11 Ben’s political involvement began in 1858 when he was elected city attorney. The following year, he became secretary of the Republican State Central Committee, and in 1860 he won the position of reporter for the State Supreme Court of Indiana. During his term of office, he published two volumes of Reports, XV and XI, and had nearly completed XVII, which provided additional income..12 As demands of work increased and professional standing advanced, he spent less time with Caroline and their children.

10

11

12

Dorothy Schneider and Carl J. Schneider, First Ladies: A Biographical Dictionary (New York: Facts on File, 2001), p. 149. Kate Scott Brooks, “Memories of Our President General,” National Historical Magazine, Vol. LXXVI, No. 1 (January, 1942), p. 5. Sievers, op. cit., p. 173.

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Chapter 3

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CIVIL WAR YEARS Following the announcement of the firing on Ft. Sumter on April 12, 1861, Ben felt a pressing duty to join in the military effort to preserve the Union. However, responsibilities at home deterred him at this time. In addition to the two children, six-year-old Russell and three-year-old Mary, Caroline was expecting her third child. She was in her eighth month of pregnancy. Two more dependents were living in his household; his brother John was staying there while attending school, as well as nephew Harry Eaton, son of sister Betty in Cincinnati. Ben was also sending cash gifts to his brother Carter and his sister Jenny.1 A month later, Ben and Caroline experienced their first intense and prolonged sorrow when their baby daughter died at birth. On the back flyleaf of Caroline’s black leather bound New Testament is written in her dainty script: May, 1861. A daughter born. Death came with friendly care The opening bud to heaven convey’d And bade it blossom there.2

John Scott Harrison sent a comforting letter of warm condolences, “I hear with sorrow the loss and disappointment you sustained in the death of your little babe. . . . You have lost a little one, too young to know and love you, but God in his mercy is sparing to you two bright and intelligent children who have learned to do 1

2

Harry J. Sievers, Benjamin Harrison: Through the Civil War Years 1833-1865, vol.1 (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1952), p.164. The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ according to the common received version (New York: American and Foreign Bible Society, 1840), back fly leaf.

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this. . . . Carrie has our sincere sympathy.” 3 In his expense account, Ben noted $10.50 for a child’s coffin and a box for the grave.4 Reports of battles of the Civil War were eagerly read by Ben and Caroline, particularly those involving the Indiana troops. They each had a brother in the Eleventh Indiana Volunteers, Lt. Irwin Harrison and Pvt. Henry Scott. Henry held a close relationship with both Ben and Caroline. He had stayed with them before the war and came to their home again after he left the military due to illness. He read law at Ben’s new firm, Harrison and Fishback, and provided valuable service.5 By the summer of 1862, the people in Indiana were becoming disillusioned and disappointed with the war. When President Lincoln requested more troops, Governor Morton made a strong appeal for volunteers that went practically unheeded. Ben and his former law partner, Will Wallace, met with the dejected governor on July 9, 1862, when he expressed his concern of the prevailing apathy and indifference of the war. Ben immediately offered to volunteer and raise a regiment. The governor told him he would not be expected to go into the field himself, but Ben insisted that he would not recruit and then stay at home. That evening he announced the news to Caroline, who accepted his decision and encouraged him. Ben made adequate provisions for his family; and he asked his law partner, William Fishback, to provide Caroline with money. Will Wallace and Ben gave many sincere persuasive speeches and recruited 1,000 men by July 22, 1862.6 In less than two weeks Ben’s rank changed from 2nd lieutenant to captain. Then on August 8, he was Colonel Harrison, regimental commander of the Seventieth Indiana Volunteers.7 He chose his brother-in-law, Henry Scott, as a First Lieutenant for the regiment. A novice at military training, Ben applied himself diligently to learn the details of drill and discipline. On August 13, 1862, the Seventieth Indiana boarded a train for Bowling Green, Kentucky. In a letter to his wife, Ben complained about the ignorance of firearms among his recruits and the necessity for strict discipline. He quickly learned that the price of enforced strict discipline cost him his own popularity and had a sobering effect on the men. Ben was nevertheless pleased with the progress of the training of his troops. While the first six months were passed in monotonous training and waiting, Ben spent much of his time writing letters and reading Hardee’s “Rifle and Light 3 4 5 6 7

Sievers, op. cit., p. 168. Ibid., p. 167. Ibid., p. 168. Ibid., pp. 168-171. Ibid., p. 185.

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Military Tactics.” Much later he won respect of his men. They retold tales of his fearless leadership in the battles, his protests of unnecessary haste on marches, the sacrifice of his comfort to carry arms for exhausted men, or walking while a wounded or ill soldier rode his horse. He dispensed hot coffee that he had prepared himself, from a large container, to men on guard duty on freezing winter nights, and sent wounded men home with gifts of his own money. Like hundreds of women throughout the United States, Caroline anxiously followed war news and waited for Ben’s letters. She contributed to the war effort as a leader of the Ladies Patriotic Organization and the Ladies Sanitary Committee and participated in community drives to collect clothing and medicines for the soldiers. In the Indianapolis hospitals, she helped to nurse wounded soldiers, and extended cheer and solicitude. At Christmas she brightened the holiday for them by distributing turkeys, chicken, pies, cakes and fruit. Caroline journeyed to Ben’s headquarters in Bowling Green, Kentucky, visiting him in camp on August 31, 1862 and on October 30, 1862. She told a reporter, “Those were my sad days, but I forced myself to be cheerful, and looked after my home and little babies until merciful Providence restored my husband to me.”8 Ben sent many letters to Caroline, recording his wartime experiences in detail. He described miserable conditions of camp life, humid hot and often rainy weather, lice and other insects filling the bedrolls, difficulties of marching on muddy terrain, the horrors of the battles, and ministering to the wounded and ill. He was recipient of a formal complaint for acting as a chaplain. The Seventieth Indiana fought in more than thirty battles. Ben wrote of the love he had for his men for their bravery and shared dangers, and of his patrio tism inspired by the sight of the raised United States flag through all the fighting. He had sobering and sentimental thoughts before a battle. As he reassessed his priorities in life, he assured Caroline that he would spend more time with her and their children when he returned home. I know I have the best intentions and strongest resolutions to devote myself more to your happiness than I have ever done since our marriage… . I have a good hope that every asperity may be banished from our family intercourse and that we may always express in our lives the devoted affection which I know we 9 have for each other and must have till death parts us.

8

9

Phebe A. Hanaford, Daughters of America; or, Women of the Century (Augusta, ME: True and Co., 1889), pp. 124, 125. Sievers, op. cit., p. 316.

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In September, 1864, he came home on leave, but spent much of his time on a statewide speaking tour campaigning for the office of supreme court reporter, resulting in his reelection in October. The following January, on his second furlough, he took his family on a trip to visit relatives in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, where they all succumbed to scarlet fever and were quarantined for three weeks. When they recovered from their illnesses, Caroline returned with the children to Indianapolis, while Ben hurried to join his troops at Goldsboro, North Carolina. He journeyed by train to New York, then commanded the steamer Fulton to Camp Sherman before boarding the steamship Champion. The steamship had stopped at Wilmington on April 10, when he learned that Lee had surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. The usually sober Ben wrote to Caroline that he had joined in the jubilation and enjoyed a “collation” with General Joseph Hawley. In the future, they would meet again as United States Senators. When he finally reached his headquarters at Goldsboro on April 19, Ben was very pleased to be enthusiastically welcomed by “his boys” of the Seventieth Indiana. But he was shocked to learn that President Lincoln had been assassinated four days earlier. Ben delivered a eulogy to President Lincoln at a memorial service. In Indianapolis, a day of mourning was observed on April 15. All businesses were suspended and the city was draped in black bunting. On April 30, the funeral train arrived in Indianapolis, and Lincoln’s body lay in state in the State House. For eighteen hours, 300,000 people came to pay their last respects. On April 30, Harrison’s Seventieth Indiana joined other troops and began the two week march to Richmond and to Washington. Ben took pride in his disciplined troops in the Grand Review of Western Armies on May 24, 1865. For his success and bravery at the Battle of Resaca and the Battle of Peach Tree Creek near Atlanta, he attained the rank of Brevet Brigadier General. Following the Battle of Resaca, Ben valued the warm personal tribute from his troops when they christened him “Little Ben,” connoting respect for his courage and daring. He survived many battles without serious injury or illness, and mustered out of Federal Service with the Seventieth Indiana on June 8, 1865. The war was over! The Indiana troops were welcomed home with demonstrations and festivities. In the midst of the war, Ben remembered a special date and wrote the following to his wife. On this tenth anniversary of the day we pledged ourselves to each other for better or for worse, I could have wished that we might not be separated. . . . I

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wrote some time ago to Mr. B___ to prepare a ring for you and have it sent to 10 you today. With that ring, I do thee wed again.

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The ring set with three diamonds Caroline would always wear with her wedding band. Perhaps the three diamonds represented their three children. Gratefully, together again at last, Caroline and Ben resumed their lives.

10

Ophia D. Smith, Old Oxford Houses and the People who Lived in Them (Oxford, OH: Oxford Historical Press, 1941), p. 33.

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Chapter 4

PROSPEROUS POST-WAR YEARS

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COMMUNITY LEADERS IN INDIANAPOLIS The twenty years following the Civil War were happy ones for Caroline. She supervised her children’s growing to maturity; she was busy with activities she enjoyed and had many friends. As Ben promised Caroline during the war, he was for a time attentive to Caroline and their children: attending social events, opera and theater with his wife, taking the family on excursions in a new buggy, and going fishing with his son. But when he became concerned about paying debts accumulated during the war, he was overworking again. Ben’s law practice was prosperous and his political aspirations were just beginning to be realized. Social responsibilities were beginning to include proper training for the children. In 1867, Caroline and Mrs. Fred Baggs, after attending a meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Peace in the Home, addressed a challenge. They both had young daughters who wanted to learn how to dance. Caroline saw little reason for the church to restrain dancing. Knowing they were going against Ben’s conservative Presbyterian views did not deter them from finding a solution. Caroline said, “I don’t know what to do; Ben won’t allow an ungodly fiddle in the house.” But Mrs. Baggs, a Methodist, arranged to have a private quiet dancing class of select students at her house under the instruction of Athlick Smith. The enrolled ladies were Mamie Baggs, Mamie Harrison, Mezzie Harrison, Nancy Newcomer, and Haute Tarkington. The gentlemen were John Kitchen, Russell

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Harrison, Walter Bradshaw and George Newcomer.1 If Ben suspected what was going on, he apparently expressed no remembered opinions. In 1867, Ben bought a double lot on Delaware Street for $4,200. He consented to sell his home on Alabama Street to an interested buyer on the condition that the Harrisons would continue to reside there until they were able to move into their completed house on Delaware Street. During 1874 and 1875, Caroline and Ben closely supervised the work of an Indianapolis architect, Herman Brandt, contracted to build their fine Victorian house. The sixteen room, three story brick Italianate house, the carriage house, landscaping and driveway of paving brick cost $24,008.59. The construction began with the cellar excavation and stone masonry which cost $3,035. For the house, 380,552 bricks and masonry cost $4,473.98, using red brick for the exterior. Softer yellow brick formed the interior walls. On June 5, 1874, 86 feet of tin furnace pipe were installed as well as twelve registers and a coal chute. By July 17, 1874, 670 feet of gas pipes were laid, and by May 15, 1875, 312 feet of two inch water pipes were laid. Roofing was slate. Architectural features for the interiors included heavy walnut front doors with glass panels deeply etched with Benjamin Harrison motifs, specially designed fireplaces for the front and back parlors, ornamental plaster medallions for the parlor and dining room ceilings, three pairs of brackets for the arched doorways, French plate glass for the tall windows, transom lights, eighteen cellar windows and picture rails. Chandeliers designed to burn natural gas, a newel post with a gas line through its center, a coal fed gravity furnace, fireplaces in nearly all the rooms, and basic plumbing fixtures, as well as a crank door bell and a burglar alarm, were installed when the house was built. Caroline planned and supervised the interior decorating, experiences that she later applied to renovating the White House. Outside, painted picket and rail fences lined the property, two cisterns were built, a portable water fountain was featured on the lawn and eight trees were planted: two soft maples, four sugar maples, one elm and one small oak.2 In 1875, the Harrisons moved into their newly completed stately house on North Delaware Street. Russell was enrolled in Lafayette College at Easton, Pennsylvania, studying Greek and science. When Mary finished high school in Indianapolis that year, she was enrolled at the Chestnut Street Female Seminary in Philadelphia. Caroline kept an organized household. She regularly went to market at 6 A.M. to select meats, poultry and vegetables for the cook to prepare. Breakfast was 1 2

Jacob P. Dunn, Greater Indianapolis vol. 1 (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1910), p. 493. Benjamin Harrison file, Manuscript Collection, Indiana State Library.

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served at 7:30 A.M., lunch at 1:30 P.M., and dinner began at 6:30 P.M. Ben led daily devotions and prayer after breakfast. Servants were employed for the first time, and Caroline closely supervised their domestic work. Women servant’s quarters were on the second floor above the kitchen, and the men servants used the second floor of the carriage house. Social responsibilities increased at the Delaware Street home. Caroline’s calling days were Thursday afternoons and she entertained with dinner parties and receptions, always beautifully presented. Usually the guests were intimate friends and neighbors; the same circle of people met for parties, dinners and receptions through the social season. Her New Year’s Day Open House was an annual event. In 1889, less than two months prior to leaving for the White House, approximately 2,000 people attended Caroline’s last New Year’s Day reception at her Delaware Street home. A group of friends assisted and luncheon was served continuously in the dining room. Caroline became an active participant in several organizations in Indianapolis. She was appreciated for her dedicated work in the literary societies, the Fortnightly Club, and the Catherine Merrill Club. She also worked for the Indianapolis Art Association.3 She served on the board for the Indianapolis Orphan’s Asylum, attending meetings regularly and taking her turn in monthly visits. Her leadership at the First Presbyterian Church continued and the missionary society met regularly at her home. When the men went on their frequent hunting and fishing expeditions, the women looked forward to working on projects with Caroline. On some days, they were busily plying their needles, quilting on the spacious third floor while sharing local news. As a leader of the Impromptu Club, Caroline encouraged men and women to read, discuss and dramatize literature together, at a time when the literary societies were usually sexually segregated. She became well-known for her portrayal of scenes from works of a favorite author Charles Dickens.4 Caroline also set aside time to play the piano, produce fine needlework and develop her artistic skills. She was one of the first in her circles to learn Honiton lace making, which soon became popular. On the north side of the second floor of the Delaware Street home was Caroline’s well-lighted art studio where she often invited artists and shared with them her precious paints and other supplies and taught classes in china painting. The variety of flowers in her garden were her favorite subjects, and she spent hours studying, drawing and painting images of 3

4

Phebe A. Hanaford, Daughters of America; or, Women of the Century (Augusta, ME: True and Co., 1889), p. 123. American First Ladies: Their Lives and Their Legacy (New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1966), p. 265. Lewis Gould, editor.

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sweet peas, pansies, cosmos, globe amaranth, morning glories and chrysanthemums. Sometimes she pressed flowers. A talented German artist, Paul Putzki, had trained at Dresden and taught painting in Chicago before arriving in Indianapolis with his wife Kate, around 1886. Caroline became one of his excellent pupils in watercolor and china painting. The parlors, dining room and library in her home were filled with her art work.5 Caroline took pride in operating her own kiln to fire her hand painted china and was fascinated with the results. For several years she entered her work in the Indiana Exposition and won prizes. In the meantime, Ben was remembering his wartime friends. The Civil War permanently bonded Harrison with the veterans of the Union Army. He organized annual reunions of the Seventieth Indiana and other groups, and the men gathered together to enjoy comaraderie and reminisce their war experiences. His speeches were requested for numerous meetings. He became a loyal leader of the Grand Army of the Republic and attended their encampments. As his law practice prospered, Ben established a reputation as an outstanding lawyer. The Nancy Clem and the Milligan cases brought him national notoriety. At the same time, he became more involved in politics. When he returned from the Civil War, the court reporter’s position that he had won in the 1864 election was waiting. His oratorical ability brought requests to speak at numerous political gatherings, and his standing increased within the Republican Party. In 1876 he was defeated in a race for governor of Indiana against James D. “Blue Jeans” Williams. Republican Godlove Orth withdrew his candidacy for governor on August 2, 1876, due to rumors of scandel. Ben was pulled into the race in the “eleventh hour” and lost in a close election, but gained in prestige and popularity.6 Caroline was soon introduced to her role as a politician’s wife. During August 1879, Ben and Caroline called on President Rutherford Hayes and his wife at the White House. During that summer, President Hayes appointed Ben to the Mississippi River Commission. Caroline entertained the Hayeses with a lavish lawn party at the Indianapolis home, following a parade of political dignitaries, in October 1879. On the expanse of lawn lit with Chinese lanterns was an immense bank of white flowers on which was lettered in heliotrope, “Ducet Amor Patria.” Admiring enthusiastic crowds hailed Caroline’s lawn party the social event of the year.7 5

6

7

Harriet McIntire Foster, Mrs. Benjamin Harrison: The First President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution (1908), p. 13. Harry J. Sievers, Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier Statesman: From the Civil War to the White House 1865-1888 vol. 2 (New York: University Publishers, Inc., 1959), p. 123. Ibid., p. 167.

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SENATE YEARS Many Republicans voiced their support for Harrison for the U.S. Senate in 1880. Stenographer Frank Tibbott sent copies of Ben’s appeal for his candidacy to the senators across the state to be read before meeting in Indianapolis. The Indiana legislature convened on January 6, 1881. On January 18, 1881, the Indiana legislature elected Ben Harrison to the U.S. Senate.8 During 1880, Harrison had gone on a speaking tour in Indiana, the Midwest and the East. In one speech, he defended presidential candidate James Garfield in response to an attack by Indiana Democrat Thomas Hendricks. Caroline sent Garfield a copy of the speech. After he was elected president, Garfield invited the Harrisons to visit him at his farm in Mentor, Ohio. A few days before they were to leave, Caroline slipped on the ice and hit her head, resulting in two black eyes, and was unable to go on the journey. Some scholars date this incident as the beginning of deteriorating health for Caroline. On a wintery day, Ben traveled by train to Ohio alone. Garfield and Harrison spent a congenial weekend, discussing politics all day and long into the night. Ben was persuasively offered a cabinet position,9 which he turned down, preferring to go to the Senate, where he served from 1881 to 1887. Caroline, twenty-six year old son Russell, and twenty-two year old daughter Mary, accompanied Ben to Washington for his swearing in. Over the next six years, Caroline gained entry to Washington society as a senator’s wife. She and Mary found suitable living quarters in a boarding house on Vermont Avenue, and later a larger apartment on Woodmont and Iowa Avenue, where she gave simple receptions and dinners. Due to frequent illnesses, Caroline missed many social events. In January 1883, she began a three month convalescence at a New York hospital following surgery.10 Russell came from Montana to be near his mother, staying at the Metropolitan Club, and Mamie kept house for her father. Ben finally took Caroline home to Indianapolis where she regained her health and soon returned to Washington. During the Senate years, Caroline became interested in charities in Washington and was an active member of the Board of Lady Managers of Washington’s Garfield Hospital. She remained a faithful board member of the orphanage in Indianapolis, working there in the summer when Congress was not in session to make up for time she was unable to give while she was away in 8 9

Ibid., p. 189. Ibid., p. 150.

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Washington.11 As a senator’s wife, Caroline learned about Washington’s complex social duties and became acquainted with families in state and diplomatic circles, which would prove to be a great advantage to her in 1889 when she would be the first lady. As senator, Harrison actively worked on many government issues. His efforts included pushing for statehood for Washington, Montana and Wyoming, not realized until his presidency. He fought for pensions for Union veterans and civil service reforms. Meanwhile, Harrison kept close ties with his family. Russell received his degree in mechanical engineering from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania in 1877. Then he studied at the Indianapolis College of Law. His first job was as an assayer at the Philadelphia mint, and later he became superintendent of the United States Assay Office in Helena, Montana from 1878 to 1886. He owned a gold mine and later, a cattle ranch. His interest turned to newspapers and he became editor and proprietor of the Helena Daily Journal. He began to visit Washington frequently after meeting “the Belle of Washington,”12 May Saunders, the attractive and popular daughter of Nebraska Senator Alvin P. Saunders. On January 9, 1884, Russell married May in a ceremony held at Trinity Cathedral in Omaha. Mary Harrison and J. Robert McKee were respectively bridesmaid and usher of the wedding party. Russell had May’s wedding ring made of gold from his Montana mine. Due to illness, Caroline was unable to attend the beautiful wedding, although Ben waited until the last train, hoping she might regain her strength and leave for Omaha with him. However, she prepared a lovely reception at the Delaware Street home for the newlyweds for their first stop on their honeymoon, a few days after the wedding. Five hundred guests were invited to the Harrison home to greet them. For their wedding gift, Caroline and Ben gave them a set of silver flatware with a chrysanthemum pattern.13 After Mary completed her classes in Philadelphia, she returned to Indianapolis. She had attended Chestnut Street Female Seminary, later named Ogontz Seminary, a finishing school where women studied music, art, Latin, German and French. She became an accomplished pianist. While Caroline and Ben enjoyed their daughter’s ebullient presence and help in Washington, Mary’s thoughts were often on J. Robert McKee, a young businessman in Indianapolis. On November 5, 1884, the proud parents held a lavish wedding reception in their 10

Dorothy Schneider and Carl J. Schneider, First Ladies: a Biographical Dictionary (New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2001), p. 150. 11 Foster, op. cit., pp. 11, 12. 12 Sieves, op. cit., p. 224. 13 Ibid., p. 236.

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Delaware Street home for Mary and Robert McKee, following ceremonies at the First Presbyterian Church. Five hundred guests were invited. The couple received guests in the front parlor beneath a canopy of foliage and white flowers.14 After their honeymoon trip, the newlyweds settled into the Harrison residence while the Hoosier senator and his wife returned to Washington for the remainder of the senate years. For Caroline, the year 1884 was one of intensive wedding preparation. A memorable trip West began in July 1885, a second honeymoon for Caroline and Ben. Initially, Caroline traveled to Montana, visiting Russell and May, waiting for Ben while he journeyed with his Senate sub-committee on Indian Affairs to several reservations. Then in August Ben and Caroline traveled on to the Pacific Coast to Washington, Oregon, California, and then eastward to Yellowstone Park. They arrived back in Indianapolis on September 7, 1885. Some of the same locations were revisited on Harrison’s presidential trip to the Pacific Coast in 1891.15 Beginning in May 1886, both parents were deeply concerned about their son Russell who had become entangled in immense financial problems involving his cattle and mining enterprises in Montana. He was nearly thirty-two years old, immature in business, but obsessed with achieving a financial empire with getrich-quick schemes. Ben had involved his law partners and other friends as shareholders of the Montana cattle ranch. Miller had invested $15,000. They would not approve Russell’s latest scheme to turn the Montana enterprise into a New York City speculation, arousing hostility on both sides. Stephen B. Elkins, a wealthy leader of the Republican party and chief supporter of James Blaine, was a lawyer and a mine owner. Ben was not pleased to learn that Elkins was encouraging the latest speculation and requested his cooperation to disuade this venture. Ben had made investments in his son’s name for six years. Now he was extremely anxious to save Russell from failure, and wrote many carefully worded letters full of strong advice and encouragement, while Senate work waited. Much to his father’s relief, a sobered son Russell finally returned his attention to Montana.16 On the political scene, Ben unexpectedly lost reelection to the Senate to David Turpie in February 1887. Since neither party held the majority, the decision was made by the federal district attorney. Ben found it difficult to accept his defeat.17 14

Ibid., p. 263. Ibid., p. 276. 16 Ibid., ,p. 298. 17 Ibid., p. 306. 15

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Soon after Ben and Caroline returned to their home in Indianapolis, Mary McKee gave birth to a son in the early morning hours of March 15, 1887, and named him Benjamin Harrison McKee. His new grandparents were ecstatically proud of their first grandson18 and totally ignored advice from relatives and friends to refrain from spoiling the baby. On January 18, 1888, Russell and May’s first child Marthena was born in Omaha. At the end of February the Harrison grandparents took a rail trip to Omaha for a joyous meeting with their first granddaughter Marthena, and Russell, May, and the Saunders grandparents. Another granddaughter Mary Lodge McKee was born on July 4, 1888.

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PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN Although Ben kept silent and was inactive in politics for several months, his name was brought forward at the Republican Convention. On June 25, 1888, at the Civic Auditorium in Chicago, Ben received the Republican nomination for President of the United States on the eighth ballot. Ben had driven his horse and carriage to his Indianapolis law office to await news of the balloting. When the victory news came from Chicago, Ben was overwhelmed; feeling faint and had to lie down.19 Dignified judges and lawyers were cheering until they were hoarse and supporters scrambled up the stairs yelling their congratulations to Ben. Enthusiastic crowds were shouting in the streets. Caroline, at home with her daughter Mamie, watched men, women and children congregating on her front lawn and knew the results of the balloting. Ben hurried home and gave the first of his front porch speeches. On July 4, 1888, the Notification Committee officially presented the nomination of the Republican presidential candidacy to Benjamin Harrison at the his home in Indianapolis. For the occasion, Caroline filled the house with patriotic bunting, flags and flowers in red, white and blue. Ben stood beside Caroline in the portal between the two parlors and gave a short acceptance speech before the many guests standing in both rooms and the hallway waiting to witness the event. That afternoon, ninrty-one veterans of the Tippecanoe Club of Marion County with an average age of seventy-five, rode street cars to Harrison’s home instead of marching in the rain. Led by Marshall Isaac Taylor, they came to offer their congratulations to Old Tippecanoe’s grandson. Ben and Caroline shook hands with each of them as they came in and gathered in the parlors. Their written 18 19

Ibid., pp. 308, 322. Ibid., p. 353.

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formal resolution to support Ben as they had William Henry Harrison was read before the gathering. Ben told them he was deeply touched by this token of respect and confidence. Then they crowded into the dining room where Caroline served them simple refreshments.20 For this campaign, the Harrisons stayed at home. Caroline stood beside Ben to review huge parades and provided hospitality and beds for numerous visiting dignitaries. Thousands of well wishers came into their home. Caroline kept the punch bowl filled in the dining room and noticed her carpets becoming worn and furniture being damaged. The pickets on the fence were stolen for souvenirs, and the lawn was trampled. Caroline remarked to a friend, “Well, it’s the White House or the poor house with us now.”21 Harrison was called a front porch campaigner. From July to November, he presented more than eighty campaign speeches to approximately 300,000 people, gathered to see him in Indianapolis. On days when Ben gave seven speeches, he was exhausted and irritable. His friends became concerned for his health. When the crowds grew too large to be accommodated on the lawn, the Harrison Marching Club, now the Columbia Club, came to Ben’s assistance. The members organized and scheduled campaign programs to include the speechmaking, music, and parades to be presented at University Park,22 away from the Harrison residence. The efficient secretary, Frank Tibbott, recorded Ben’s speeches accurately in shorthand, transcribed them, and sent them on Associated Press wires. They were published the following morning, reaching a national audience. On November 6, 1888, election night, the Harrisons were at home with family members and a few friends. Assembled in the library around a large oval table, were Ben, Russell, Robert McKee, two law partners William Miller and John Elam, and a half dozen other men. A telegraph operator was stationed near the bay windows to receive bulletins of election returns from the Republican National Headquarters in New York. Ben was reported calm and self possessed, often pausing to chat with his wife at the back parlor where she was entertaining the women. Most of the party departed about midnight, and Ben and Caroline retired at 1:00 A.M., leaving the library to Russell and Robert. The following morning, Ben learned that he trailed Grover Cleveland by 90,000 popular votes, but won the presidential election through the electoral college by 233 to168.23

20 21 22 23

Indianapolis Sentinel, July 5, 1888. Schneider, op. cit., p. 150. Sievers, op. cit., p. 372. Ibid., p. 425.

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Ben told National Chairman Matthew Quay that he earnestly believed that Providence had been on the Republican side. The day after the election, Ben began receiving bushels of congratulatory telegrams and letters. While two stenographers helped to sort the mail, Caroline and Mamie slipped away to New York for some pre-inaugural shopping. Upon returning, Caroline worked with Ben to make final plans for the move to Washington. On the morning of February 25, 1889, the Harrisons had their breakfast together, followed by Bible reading and prayers led by Ben in the library. A procession including Governor Hovey, Mayor Denny, General Lew Wallace, G.A.R. veterans, and members of the Indiana legislature escorted the president elect’s carriage for fifteen blocks along Pennsylvania Street, lined with hundreds of enthusiastic supporters. At Union Station, awaiting departure for the White House, was a special train, compliments of The Pennsylvania Railroad. Ben expressed his heartfelt thoughts in a brief farewell speech. My good friends and neighbors: . . . I love this city. It has been my cherished home. . . . The memory of your favor and kindness will abide with me, and my strong desire to hold your respect and confidence will strengthen me in the discharge of my new and responsible duties. . . . There is a great sense of loneliness in the discharge of high public duties. The moment of decision is one of isolation. But there is One whose help comes even into the quiet chamber of judgement, and to His wise and unfailing guidance will I look for guidance and safety. My family unite with me in grateful thanks for this cordial good-bye and with me wish that these years of separation may be full of peace and happiness 24 for each of you.

To the cheering throng, Ben bowed and Caroline waved her handkerchief as the train slowly disappeared from view.

24

Ibid., p. 429.

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Chapter 5

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FIRST LADYSHIP Benjamin Harrison’s presidency began on March 3, 1899. In spite of torrential rain and fierce winds, the incoming Republicans enthusiastically celebrated Inauguration Day. Grover Cleveland protectively held an umbrella over Ben before the ceremonies began. Benjamin Harrison removed his silk top hat and placed his right hand on selected pages of his opened black leather bound Bible held by the Court clerk. At Psalm 121:1-6 is written in pencil: “My hand was here when the oath was admastred [sic] B H.”1 He repeated the oath and was inaugurated the twenty-third President of the United States. Ben’s inaugural speech was deliberately shorter than that of his grandfather William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia a month following his inauguration. Facing a sea of black umbrellas, the president articulated a plea for his campaign issues: broadened industries, protective tariff, building of the navy, social justice for all, strengthened foreign policy, statehood for territories, pensions for veterans, universal education and deeper patriotism. The speech was praised as a document of literary as well as political merit.2 Caroline insisted Ben wear chamois skin underwear under his suit and a Prince Albert coat on this cold wet day. She was dressed in a silk faille gown of dark sage color embroidered in black silk with a matching shawl. A small gold and black hat completed the costume, and she held a bouquet of fragrant lilies of the valley. To the cheering crowd of an estimated 40,000, Ben, Caroline and their family joined in a slow procession from the Capitol to the White House for a traditional luncheon. Later the president, vice-president and other dignitaries proceeded to 1 2

Holy Bible (Oxford: University Press, n.d.). Harry J. Sievers, Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier President: The White House and After vol. 3 (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc., 1968), pp. 35, 36.

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the reviewing stand to watch the four hour long splendid show of civil, political and military pageantry. Along the streets, thousands of orderly men, women and children waited patiently in the rain and applauded the procession.3 The brilliant Grand Ball closed the festivities of Inauguration Day, attended by more people than any previous inaugural ball. The Washington Post reported that 15,000 had purchased tickets for the event. The Pension Office on 5th and F Streets was transformed into a beautiful ballroom, elaborately decorated with patriotic bunting, flags, colorful beaded and fringed silk banners and large framed painted portraits of the president and vice-president. Hundreds of cut flowers embellishing huge garlands of evergreens draped over balconies and spiraled down enormous columns, and clusters of tall potted palms on the floor added to the festive aura. Extensive preparations for the banquet were under the direction of Mr. George C. Boldt, proprietor of Bellevue and Strattford Hotels and the Bullitt building restaurants of Philadelphia, who was determined to show the people that his business was competitive to New York’s Delmonico. He built a 160 foot kitchen outside the supper rooms and brought huge coffee boilers, heating apparatus, game birds and meat that were buried in lard for freshness, over 5,000 live terrapin and everything else he needed. One hundred trusted employees accompanied Mr. Boldt from Philadelphia.4 The menu included blue points on ice, fried oysters, sweetbread pate a la reine, cold tongue, ham, turkey a la Americaine, terrapin Philadelphia style, lobster salad, breast of quail, pate de foie gras a la Harrison, terrine of game a la Morton. Desserts included a beehive of bon-bons Republican, assorted fancy cakes, orange water ice, Roman punch, ice cream, nougat renaissance and fruits.5 At 10:30 P.M., the grand promenade descended the long staircase to the music of the Marine Band directed by John Philip Sousa. First in the procession came a dozen men who were half of the reception committee, then President Harrison, the remainder of the committee, the first lady Mrs. Harrison, Mr. and Mrs. Robert McKee, Mr. and Mrs. Russell Harrison, and Mr. and Mrs. Levi Morton and their daughters.6 Caroline’s elegant silver gray satin inaugural ball gown with a brocade court train received the approval of admiring supporters and newspaper reporters. The opening of the V pointed bodice was filled in with beaded net attached to a band around the throat and the elbow length sleeves were edged with crystal fringe. The 3

Ibid., p. 37. Washington Post, March 3, 1889. 5 Joseph Nathan Kane, Presidential Fact Book (Random, House, Inc., 1998), p. 145. 6 Washington Post, op. cit. 4

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skirt featured alternate panels of brocaded burr oak leaf design and lace covered apricot crepe. Gold, silver, amber and pearl beads, crystal fringe and pessamentaries softly radiated a subdued sparkle. To comply with Ben’s campaign platform favoring protection of American industry, the fabric and gown were made in the United States. Mary Williamson, an art teacher in Lafayette, Indiana, designed the oak leaf pattern. Logan Silk Mills of Auburn, New York, manufactured the fabric, and New York designers styled and created the gown. The American-made gowns of daughter Mary McKee and Mrs. Levi Morton, wife of the vice-president, were also noted and admired. For Mary McKee’s gown, Mary Williamson designed a pattern of goldenrod, her father’s favorite flower.7 The Pension Hall was so crowded there was no space for dancing. The presidential promenade advanced slowly across the large ball room through a path forcibly opened for them to proceed and eventually return to their reserved rooms upstairs. They received several hundred callers in the rooms. When Ben and Caroline left around midnight, they were exhausted and retired immediately. Before leaving Indianapolis, Ben and Caroline casually invited Hoosiers to visit them at the White House. Long before noon on the day after inauguration, crowds of Hoosiers among other well wishers arrived to call, and the crush of callers increased by mid-afternoon. Caroline began her own tradition of holding a bouquet of flowers instead of shaking hands. “Ben’s Boys” of the Seventieth Indiana Regiment served as volunteer guards. The White House doors were bolted to restore order and to give the presidential family time be served an undisturbed dinner. Open house continued for two days, and executive business remained untouched.8 As the courtesy callers dwindled, Ben was confronted by a deluge of demanding job seekers. For the three days of the Washington Centennial Celebrations beginning on April 29, 1889, President Harrison and his family journeyed north in New Jersey near New York City. Ben surprised Caroline with a precious gift to wear for the event: an eighteen carat gold brooch set with rubies surrounding an enameled shield bearing the coat of arms of the Washington family. He had requested it from the Queen’s jeweler in England to match the medal that was given to him to wear in his lapel for the celebration.9 Upon entering the crowded New York harbor on the U.S.S. Despatch, the Centennial President was honored with dipped colors and/or fired salutes by steel cruisers, revenue cutters, harbor tugs, yachts, merchant ships and steam boats. In her diary, Caroline, on a different vessel, 7

8 9

Phebe A. Hanaford, Daughters of America; or, Women of the Century (Augusta, ME: True and Co., 1889), pp. 127, 128. Sievers, op. cit., pp. 38, 39. Ibid., p. 62.

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noted a beautiful day, with ships elegantly decorated, but she felt somewhat uneasy for fear of collision. Washington’s arrival to New York City was reenacted by Harrison and Morton. Leaving the Despatch, they were seated in a barge manned by twelve oarsmen who landed at a pier where dignitaries welcomed the president and vice-president with much ceremony. Patriotic banners, bunting, flags and fireworks, a six hour long parade on Fifth Avenue and artillary salutes honored the Centennial President. In his speech, Ben began a personal crusade to develop greater respect for the American flag by requesting that flags be raised over every public and educational institution, executive department and the White House.10 The lavish celebration agenda included concerts, religious services, a grand ball and banquet. At the grand ball, Caroline and former first ladies Julia Grant and Frances Cleveland occupied their own V.I.P. viewing boxes. Caroline wrote in her diary of lifting her skirts and walking on tip toe to step over champagne spilled by exuberant attendees of the banquet.11

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FOUR GENERATIONS OF FAMILY Caroline and Ben invited four generations of family members to live at the White House. Dr. John Witherspoon Scott, Caroline’s ninety-year-old father, was already in Washington working as a clerk at the Pension Office; he resigned his job reluctantly when he moved to the Executive Mansion. Daughter Mary (Mamie) and her husband Robert McKee, who was a partner with his brother Edward in wholesale shoe business in Indianapolis, brought their son Benjamin (Baby) and daughter Mary. Son Russell, an editor for a paper in Montana where he owned a gold mine and a ranch, came with his wife Mary (May) and their daughter Marthena. Caroline’s sister Elizabeth Lord was brought to the White House in the fall, and later her widowed daughter Mary (Mame) Lord Dimmick was invited to join the family and help Caroline with secretarial duties.12 Caroline supervised a well organized house for her large family with a daily schedule similar to the one she used in Indianapolis. She went to market at 6 A.M., often taking Baby McKee with her. To a questioning reporter, she replied, “Do my own marketing? Why certainly, always; how else could I expect to have things

10 11 12

Ibid., p. 70. Caroline Harrison, White House Diary, unpublished, p.24. Sievers, op. cit., p. 52.

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to please me?”13 After 8:00 A.M. breakfast, Ben led the family in thirty minutes of devotions and prayer before beginning his office work promptly at 9:00 A.M. When he was away, Caroline’s father took his place in leading devotions. Lunch was served at 1:30 P.M. and dinner started at 6:30 P.M. Ben frequently invited guests to lunch or dinner without notice. The White House steward, Hugo Zeiman, had hired a new French chef for the Harrisons, Madame Pelouard. She prepared rich pastry and sauces, and the president complained that her cuisine “laid him out,” but she refused to cook plain food. The chef was finally fired and the steward resigned. Madame Pelouard threatened to sue, but it came to nothing. Her replacement was Dolly Johnson, a black woman from Kentucky, and the White House kitchen ran smoothly. The Harrisons were pleased with her plain daily cooking, and her artistic state dinners featuring succulent meats and delicate pastries. Hugo Zeiman was replaced by Philip McKim; Caroline discussed items on the day’s menu with the steward who supervised the domestic staff.14 Frank Carpenter, a Washington correspondent, complimented Caroline for being the best housekeeper of the Executive Mansion. She knew every detail of the household and no dusty corner escaped her eyes. Except for one, all former servants remained to work for her.15 Mamie McKee wrote in a letter to her husband, Everything here in the house is moving along so much smoother than it did last spring— the servants are better and more attentive to their work. The new steward is very capable and a great improvement over Mr. Zeiman. Mama’s energy and perseverance has made another place of the Executive Mansion. 16 Auntie can tell you how bright and clean and sweet every room seems.”

Caroline and Ben delighted in showering the grandchildren with personal attention. “We enjoy so having them here, they seem to bring so much life to the house.”17 It was Caroline who supervised most of the care of Baby McKee (she always called him Benjamin), his sister Mary and their cousin Marthena at the Executive Mansion. The grandson and namesake of the president, fondly known as “Baby McKee,” became nationally famous through reporters who wrote front page stories about him, ignoring Caroline’s pleas for privacy. She finally made weekly 13 14 15 16

Hanaford, op. cit., p. 122. Sievers, op. cit., pp. 53, 54. Frank G. Carpenter, Carp’s Washington (New York: McGraw-Hill Co., Inc., 1960),p. 301. Mary McKee to Robert McKee, December 21, 1889, Harrison MSS.

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appointments with the photographers to permit them to take unlimited pictures of Baby McKee on a certain day in exchange for their promise to leave her grandson alone for the rest of the week.18 The president’s affection for this child was well publicized. At the dinner table, Baby McKee’s highchair was pulled close to the right of his grandfather’s. When the grandson was ill, only his grandfather could calm and comfort him, carrying the boy in his arms and walking him for hours during the night. On March 4, 1891, Caroline and Ben gave a festive fourth birthday party for Baby McKee. The children all sat in high chairs waiting for the president to serve them cake. The Marine Band provided music while the grandparents led the happy toddlers down the hall in dancing the Virginia reel.19 Hundreds of children came pouring on the grounds for the traditional egg rolling on Easter Monday, 1889, a bright and beautiful day. After lunch the president went out with the family. Baby McKee, taken up in the president’s arms, waved his handkerchief to the cheering crowds. Performing for the first time for this occasion, the Marine Band played from 2:00 to 4 :00 in the afternoon.20 On May 31, 1889, Mary Lodge McKee was christened with water from the Jordan River by her great grandfather Dr. Scott in the Blue Room of the White House. Cabinet members who had just attended a meeting with the President were invited to attend the unpublicized ceremony.21 Animal pets drew Caroline’s attention at the White House; several were given specially for Baby McKee’s delight. A beautiful fawn was an early gift to the grandson when he was two years old. One of the remembered news stories of these days featured the stout president in his frock coat and top hat waving his cane and chasing the runaway pet goat, His Whiskers, down Pennsylvania Avenue with an exhilarated Baby McKee bouncing in the cart.22 An enormous Siberian bloodhound as a watchdog, a symbol of protective tariff, and two opossums named Mr. Protection and Mr. Reciprocity were gifts with political humor directed to the president. A billing, dated April 4, 1892, from Edw. S. Schmid in Washington D.C., lists items indicating birds and rabbits at the White House: 1 box parrot biscuits, 1lb. canary seed, parrot crackers, sunflower seed and 1 pr. 17 18

19

20 21 22

Harrison, op. cit., p. 44. Smithsonian Book of First Ladies: Their Lives, Times and Issues (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1996), p. 140. Edith Mayo, editor. Harriet McIntire Foster, Mrs. Benjamin Harrison: The First President-General of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (1908), p. 20. Harrison, op. cit., p. 17. Ibid., p. 29. John Whitcomb and Clare Whitcomb, Real Life at the White House: 200 Years of Daily Life in America's’Most famous Residence (New York: Routledge, 2000), p. 202.

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rabbits. On April 16, 1889, daughter Mamie returned from a trip to St. Augustine, Florida, with a young alligator. For a time a gift pony was a daily companion to Baby McKee and the family dog, a collie named Dash, made himself at home at the White House.

CHRISTMAS Celebration of Christmas was important to the Harrisons. Ben declared to a reporter,

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I am an ardent believer in the duty we owe ourselves at Christians to make merry for children at Christmas time, and we shall have an old-fashioned Christmas tree for the grandchildren upstairs; and I shall be their Santa Claus myself. If my influence goes for aught in this busy world, let me hope that my 23 example may be followed in every family in the land.

It was for the grandchildren that the very first decorated White House Christmas tree was set up in the library on the second floor in 1889.24 On Christmas Eve, Ben and Caroline were both dressing the large tree with flags and ornaments and stuffing gifts in the branches. Hundreds of gifts and remembrances sent by friends and presidential admirers were piled around the tree. Early Christmas morning, the maid Josephine Kneipp was helping Baby McKee and his sister Mary find surprises in their stockings. After breakfast, the lighted candles on the gorgeous tree signaled the beginning of the day full of festivities. All the staff employees and servants were called in, including the cooks, laundresses and waiters; they were as pleased as the children. Ben gave turkeys to men who had family, and gloves to the single men. Caroline added her personal gift to each person. Everyone was well-remembered. Potatoes shipped from Salt Lake City, the smallest weighing three or four pounds, were relegated to Steward McKim. Baby dolls, boy dolls, lady dolls, a child-sized piano and kitchen set for Mary; a steam engine, a couple trains, a full suit of armor and books for Baby McKee, were but a few of the heaps of playthings for the children under the tree. Caroline received a gilt-incised Fisher upright piano from Russell, a pair of gold side combs from Mamie, and a gleaming repousse silver vanity set from Ben. She was also delighted with gifts of a pair of diamond earrings, an opera glass, 23 24

Albert J. Menedez, Christmas at the White House (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1983), p. 111. Ibid., p. 39.

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fine handkerchiefs and a silver martin spoon. Ida Honore Grant sent Caroline a lovely ostrich plume fan in appreciation for her husband Frederick Dent Grant’s appointment to the Court of Vienna. Frederick was Ulysses Grant’s son. Installed in a corner of the room was White House electrician Ike Hoover’s handmade gift of a glowing red-bodied spider on a silver wire web; the red body was an electric light bulb. In 1891 Baby McKee and his sister Mary delighted their grandfather and grandmother by reciting Christmas wishes to them in German, directed by governess Fraulein Hampe. A light lunch was served at half past one and dinner began at four o’clock.

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Caroline’s Menu for the 1890 Christmas Dinner Blue Point oysters, half shell Consomme Royal Bouches a la Reine Turkey Cranberry Jelly Potatoes Duchesse Stewed Celery Terrapin a la Maryland Lettuce Salad Plain Dressing Mince Pie American Plum Pudding Tutti frutti Ice Cream Lady Fingers Macaroons Carlsbad Wafers Apples, Florida Oranges, Bananas, Grapes, Pears Black Coffee The Harrison White House Christmas Dinner was described as elaborate, ending with expensive imported fruit.25 Caroline also held Christmas parties for fifty or sixty guests.

WHITE HOUSE REFURBISHING When Ben and Caroline took over the White House in March 1889, they found the building in need of repairs and major improvement. More than half of the upstairs spaces were used as offices, and only part of the hallway was available for a private parlor. There were five bedrooms and one bathroom. The

25

Ibid., p. 83.

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carpets were worn, the curtains were tattered, and upholstery was threadbare on the furniture. Caroline decided it was an unsatisfactory residence for her family and immediately began to research and create architectural plans. She became known for her campaign for a new White House. The engineer-architect David Owen, Senator Leland Stanford and Congressman Seth Milliken met with Caroline at her request, and gave enthusiastic support. They called the new first lady’s project, “Mrs. Harrison’s Place.” She proposed three architectural plans for the White House. Mr. Owen drew up blueprints and an architect’s model and presented them to Congress.26 The first was a separate private residence erected on 16th Street. The second featured the development of the White House grounds as a hollow square with an allegorical fountain honoring Christopher Columbus in the center. Using the White House as a starting point, several new structures would be built around the hollow square. The third plan provided an addition of two round buildings at either end of the White House, one to be used for executive offices and the other to be used for an entertainment suite. Critics regarded her plans as palatial, gargantuan and grandiose. However, in the opinion of William Seale, a leading American architectural historian, the details for architectural changes of the White House in Caroline’s plans are “a perfectly logical expansion . . . . The plan, . . . as tailored to the needs of the house, would work well today.”27 None of Caroline’s plans was approved. Even though the Congressional bill passed the Senate, it did not go to the House because Ben had ignored House Speaker Thomas B. Reed’s choice for collectorship of Portland, Maine.28 Instead, Congress appropriated $35,000 for redecorating the White House. During an interview with the press, Caroline stated, We are here for four years. I do not look beyond that, as many things occur in that time, but I am anxious to see the family of the President provided for properly, and while I am here I hope to get the present building into good condition. Very few people understand what straits the President’s family has been put to at times for lack of accommodations. Really there are only five 29 sleeping apartments and there is no feeling of privacy.

26

27

28

29

Bess Furman, White House Profile: A Social History of the White House, Its Occupants and Its Festivities (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc., 1951), p. 250. William Seale, The White House: the History of an American Idea (Washington, D.C.: The American Institute of American Architects Press, 1992), p. 153. Carl Sferrazza Anthony, The Saga of the Presidents’ Wives and Their Power (New York: William Morrow, 1990), p.268. Furman, op. cit., pp. 250, 251.

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Over the years, many first ladies had complained about the need for refurbishing the White House, but Caroline was the first to personally plan and supervise the cleaning, renovation and restoration of the Executive Mansion from attic to basement.30 Without commenting on her disappointment for the rejection of her plans, Caroline energetically and systematically began the refurbishing of the living quarters, being careful to spend the money wisely. Since the weather was getting hot, she had the carpets taken up, put away and the floors thoroughly scrubbed for the first time in many years. She arranged with a specialist in interior decorations, E.S. Yergason of W.H. Post & Co., Hartford, Connecticut to redecorate the White House, through the Secretary of the Treasury, William Windom, in 1891.31 Mr. Yergason had a force of men ready to work and eventually made great improvements in the building. Mr. Joseph Tiffany wrote to the Public Buildings Commissioner that he was disturbed to hear that plans for refurbishing the White House had been made without an opportunity for his firm to offer plans and bids. Tiffany had previously redecorated the White House for President Arthur. Caroline secured four additional appropriations, which increased her total amount for restoration and refurbishing to $52,000.32 On June 6, 1891, Caroline wrote to her daughter Mamie, “They are going to begin repairs on the White House right away. We have contracted the Green Room, State Dining Room and the vestibule. The corridor needs to be left till next year. The bathroom and laundry and ceiling of the basement will also be done.”33 In her White House diary, Caroline wrote, “The rats have nearly taken the building so it has become necessary to get a man with ferrets to drive them out. They have become so numerous and bold they get up on the table in the Upper Hall.”34 Baby McKee told a reporter that Grandmother told him that he should not pet the ferrets. They killed hundreds of rats. Two private bathrooms were completed on September 16, 1891. Faulty plumbing was repaired and green mold was removed from the walls. Ben was delighted and declared in a letter to his wife who waiting for news of the progress, “The greatest beauty of all is the work in the bathrooms. With all the white tile and marble and porcelain-lined tub, they would tempt a duck to wash himself every day.”35 One bathroom was exclusively for the president and the first lady. The other bathroom had several tubs and was 30

Betty C. Monkman, The White House: Its Historic Furnishings and First Families (New York: Abbeville Press, 2000), p. 172. 31 Furman, op. cit., p. 251. 32 Charles W. Calhoun, “Caroline (Lavinia) Scott Harrison”, American First Ladies, Lewis L. Gould, ed. (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996), p. 272. 33 Caroline Harrison to Mary McKee, June 23, 1891, Harrison MSS 34 Harrison, op. cit., p. 42. 35 Sievers, op.cit., p. 207.

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shared by everybody else. The bedrooms had chamber sets with running water. Baby McKee delighted in upsetting his portable tub while leaning out to kiss the magnolia blossoms his grandmother had painted on it. The black dirty basement with damp floors and moldy walls housed the kitchen, laundry, servants’ living quarters, and storage areas for wood and coal. Several layers of rotting wood floors were replaced with crushed brick and cement. The kitchen was completely remodeled and modernized. The entire attic containing eight rooms was scrubbed, cobwebs were removed, and wagon loads of debris were carried away. Caroline personally examined, selected and supervised restoration and preservation of valuable forgotten relics, including pieces of furniture, silver, glass, and china. One of her discoveries was a desk presented to President Hayes by Queen Victoria of England. After restoration, it was used by Ben and almost a century later it was used by John F. Kennedy. Another uncovered forgotten item was a splendid thirteen and a half feet long bronze based mirror-lake with fine molded dancing figures positioned around the outer edge of a gold border. It came to the White House from Paris to James Monroe36 and had been displayed for many years before being relegated to the storerooms. Pieces of china were researched and identified, broken items were repaired, and from these Caroline is credited with beginning the collection of White House China, and making plans for a permanent display.37 Formerly, the steward made the decisions of what should be kept in the White House and many valuable treasures disappeared into the hands of auctioneers and private collectors. Caroline requested a complete inventory of furniture and other items of historic value in the Executive Mansion. A storage area in the attic was converted for Caroline’s use as an art studio. Caroline took pride in her extensive restored conservatories. A plethora of propagating plants was brought to the White House green houses from federal gardens in New York and Philadelphia. She enjoyed the unusual exotic plants, like the venus fly-traps, palms, ferns, and tropical trees bearing bananas, oranges, lemons, figs and nuts. Huge assortments of flowers were soon blooming in profusion, including roses, camelias and orchids. Hundreds of plants were moved into the White House to extravagantly decorate the rooms for special events. On one visit to the White House, a reporter estimated that in the East Room alone were about 5,000 decorative plants and about a mile of smilax for chandelier festoons. On mantels and window seats and elsewhere, he estimated seeing 2,000 azelea blossoms, 800 carnations, 300 roses, 300 tulips, 900 hyacinths, 400 lilies of 36 37

Carpenter, op. cit., pp. 302, 303. Monkman, op. cit., p. 172.

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the valley, 200 bouvardias, 100 sprays of asparagus fern, 40 heads of poinsettia and 200 small ferns. Caroline spent hours studying details with a magnifying glass, drawing, and painting plants in her conservatories, especially the orchids, which were new to her.38

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INSTALLATION OF ELECTRICITY On May 6, 1891, Ike Hoover began the installation of electricity for lights and bells throughout the White House for the Edison Company. The gas chandeliers were converted into combination fixtures to use electricity or gas, and the candle wall brackets were replaced with electric lights. While he was installing the electricity, Hoover enjoyed the attention of the friendly and curious Harrisons. The unsightly wires were buried in the walls with plaster in every room. Painting and wall papering waited the completion of this process. Initially, to avoid being shocked, the Harrisons continued to use the gas lights in their private rooms. In 1891, few people had enough faith in electricity to use it exclusively because it was not always dependable. In his book 42 Years in the White House, Ike Hoover wrote that the Harrisons were intrigued with the new bell system and the electric light switches. The entire White House was illuminated with electric lights on September 15, 1891.39 The cost of the installation was $13,450.40The installation of electricity at the White House for the first time in history was a significant accomplishment for the Harrison era.

CAPE MAY In 1890, Postmaster General John Wanamaker, with contributions of wealthy Philadelphia business friends, surprised the Harrisons with the generous gift of a newly built twenty room cottage on the shore at Cape May Point, on the southern tip of New Jersey. Caroline was thrilled at the prospect of spending the summers beside the sea. It was also a timely and convenient get-away from the White House while the refurbishing was in progress. When the gift of the house became public, newspaper reporters loudly accused the president of accepting the house as 38

Furman, op. cit., p. 253. Irwin Hood (Ike) Hoover, Forty-two Years in the White House (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1934), pp. 4, 6, 7. 40 Calhoun, op. cit., p. 272. 39

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a bribe.41 Although Ben eventually gave John Wanamaker a check for $10,000 for the cottage, the damage was done. In spite of the negative publicity, Caroline’s letters describe many pleasant vacations with family members and friends at Cape May Point over the next three years. A president’s office was established in a nearby building. Boating, ocean fishing, crabbing, swimming and carriage rides were favorite activities at the seaside retreat. And the grandchildren loved to romp in the surf and sand.

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DEER PARK Ben and Caroline began looking for another vacation hideaway in addition to the house at Cape May. One possibility was Cresson, a fashionable resort at the summit of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania, where the Harrisons had stayed during the first year. Then a scenic mountain retreat became available, a place the Harrisons had visited before at Deer Park in western Maryland. It had been developed by Henry Davis and his son-in-law Stephen Elkins, and was less expensive than other options.42 Stephen Elkins was later appointed Ben’s Secretary of War on his cabinet. The twelve room villa looked like a Swiss chalet with a pointed red roof and deep verandas; behind it was a densely wooded high hill. The decision was made to use Deer Park. Caroline selected household furnishings and a two seated surrey to be shipped from Indianapolis. Soon she had the house attractively organized with the downstairs for the family, a room for the president’s office, guest bedrooms and the garret for the servants. She asked Elijah Halford, Ben’s executive secretary, to prepare fishing equipment for the president to catch trout in the Youghiogheny River. Ben was comfortable at Deer Park and enjoyed the diversions of hunting, fishing, walking, bowling and billiards. Law partners, cabinet members and other friends often joined him there. Sometimes Caroline devoted herself to painting in this scenic environment.

SOCIAL EVENTS Visitors received admittance to the White House from 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. all year, regularly greeted by the first lady, Mary McKee or Mary Lord Dimmick. 41 42

Sievers, op. cit., pp. 155, 156. Ibid., p. 74.

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Caroline was knowledgeable about presidential and White House history, and often conducted tours of the Executive Mansion. During the day she dressed appropriately and conservatively. Her attractive suits and dresses in the Harrison Home collection are well tailored with fine details in trim and pleats. Sometimes visitors enjoyed a brief unexpected genial encounter with the president during a tour of the White House. For White House dinners and receptions, the government provided the house, furniture and decorations, including flowers and exotic plants from the greenhouses. All refreshments and food were provided by the president, which was costly. Caroline was an experienced political hostess. The diplomatic community complimented her social events and foreign visitors appreciated her dignity softened by her courteous graciousness. The Washington Post wrote, “Mrs. Harrison has mastered the art of entertaining . . . she has a friendliness of manner that is proof against criticism.”43 Caroline met her social duties enthusiastically, and felt no embarrassment in dealing with Washington society. Her events were praised for genteel gaiety and beautiful floral décor, and they were well-attended. In her diary she wrote, “One feature of entertainment which I was very pleased with--that is the lack of stiffness which generally characterized all such dinners & I believe all felt at home.”44 The press reported favorably about the charming Harrison ladies: Mary McKee, May Harrison, and Mame Dimmick, who acted as hostesses beside the first lady. Caroline was gratified and relieved to read complimentary newspaper reviews of her social events. She came to the White House well-aware of the immense popularity of her lovely predecessor, the youthful, winsome and stylish Frances Cleveland. Caroline wrote in her diary, The New Year’s reception was a great success. Those who have had good opportunities to know say it was the most brilliant reception ever held here. I suppose it will quiet the prophecies of those who were so disappointed at the Clevelands going out who said “there would be nothing going on at the White House under the Harrisons.” They can dry up their mourning for we will do all 45 we can to have the White House all it ever was before the Cleveland regime.

Caroline’s first state dinner honoring the cabinet members, said to be the handsomest ever given at the White House, was held on January 7, 1890. Decorations were praised as finer and more beautiful than ever. The mantels in the 43

Whitcomb, op. cit., p. 203. Harrison, op. cit., p. 46. 45 Ibid. 44

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State Dining Room were banked with white carnations and scarlet tulips. On the table a large floral ship seemed to float on the long mirror lake studded with ferns and flowers along its sides. On each end of the mirror stood a tall gilded basket heaped with roses and wax tapers burned in silver and gold candelabra. Caroline wore a white satin gown with a brocade train. Folded tulle filled the V shaped front and back openings of the bodice, the puffed leg of mutton sleeves reached to her elbows and side panels of the skirt were trimmed with white marabout feathers. She wore diamond jewelry and a white aigrette in her high hair do and she carried a point lace fan.46 Vivacious daughter Mamie McKee and son Russell Harrison’s beautiful wife May were responsible for bringing dancing back to the White House for the first time since Nellie Grant’s ball.47 Dancing became a regular part of Harrison receptions. Mary McKee’s ball on April 23, 1890, attended by 300, was a brilliant event. “Crash,” a canvas covering, was laid to protect the floor in the East Room. The Post noted, “Such revelry by night has not been known at the White House for many a long year.”48 During earlier days in Indianapolis, Ben had reservations about the propriety of dance but must have been gently persuaded by his wife to relax his opposition. At the White House, he was observed seeming to enjoy dancing the “German,” a popular but controversial dance that fell under the designation of a waltz that ended in hugging. The annual New Year’s Reception of 1892 was Caroline’s most successful social event. It featured the opening of the new Blue Parlor, redecorated and installed with electric lights. Each room extravagantly displayed hundreds of orchids and exotic decorative plants, grown in the restored conservatory.49 The Harrisons continued to prop up the State Room floors from the basement to support the weight of hundreds of guests attending the large receptions. Overcrowding forced guests to exit through the East Room window on a temporary wooden bridge.50 In April 1892, Ben and Caroline gave a dinner and reception honoring James Whitcomb Riley, Indiana author and poet and a personal friend from Indianapolis. Mr. Riley delighted guests with some recitations of his well-known work. Caroline personally selected the music and musicians for White House entertainment. “Mrs. Harrison’s Musicale” represented a variety of performing 46

Washington Post, January 7, 1890. Elise K. Kirk, Music at the White House: A History of the American Spirit (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1986), p. 147. 48 Loc. cit. 49 Furman, op. cit., p. 253. 50 Whitcomb, op. cit., p. 199. 47

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artists, including singers, child protégés, flautists and chamber ensembles. Caroline’s “Grande Musicale” held in the East Room once featured a group of bell ringers. Bandmaster John Philip Sousa’s Marine Band performances were ever popular. Some of the best remembered concerts featured black opera soloists. “Black Patti” Matilda Joyner performed at the Soiree Musicale. Following a luncheon in the Blue Room, “Brown Patti” Marie Selika gave a performance. Caroline was impressed and presented her a bouquet of orchids. Caroline’s mixed media programs became a prototype for future White House performances. She added her own personal touch of elegant programs printed on satin ribbon with embossed presidential seals, produced for the first time for a concert on April 18, 1890. For this program, nine musicians performed for over 100 guests.51 Tragedies, illnesses and deaths occurred in unprecedented numbers during the Harrison presidential term, causing cancellations and postponements of many carefully planned dinners and receptions on the White House social calendar. Caroline wrote to her daughter Mamie about her plans being cancelled for entertaining a group of people for a designated day, and summarized with, “Our cake’s all dough.”52 During the first winter, Elizabeth Lord, Caroline’s beloved sister was brought from a New York hospital to the White House on November 26, where she died on December 10, 1889.53 A few days later, one of Ben’s favorite nephews William Sheets Harrison died. It was a sorrowful time, so close to the Harrisons’ first Christmas at the Executive Mansion. Then on January 15, Walker Blaine, son of Secretary of State James Blaine, died unexpectedly after a brief illness. Ben had visited Walker a half-hour before his death. On February 2, James Blaine’s daughter Alice Coppinger died. The next day, on February 3, fire swept through the home of Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Tracy, destroying the house and killing his wife, daughter and a maid.54 The bodies were brought to the White House. Ben and Caroline invited Secretary Tracy to stay with them, which he did. Before the time of the Harrisons, no music was heard at funerals in the White House. At the funeral service for Secretary Tracy’s wife and daughter, the choir from St. John’s Church sang Caroline’s favorite hymn, “Lead Kindly Light.”.55 When she learned that Tracy’s French maid had no relatives in this country, Caroline made arrangements for her funeral 51

Elise K. Kirk, Musical Highlights from the White House (Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Co., 1992), p. 77. 52 Caroline Harrison to Mary McKee, April 13, 1890. 53 Harrison, op. cit., p. 44. 54 Sievers, op. cit., pp. 142, 143. 55 Kirk, op. cit., pp. 47, 48.

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and burial in Mount Olivet Cemetery. It was decided to cease all entertainment until after Lent. In January 1891, Harrison’s Secretary of the Treasury William Windom collapsed and died in New York after he closed his speech at a Board of Trade dinner. General William T. Sherman, with whom Harrison served during the Civil War, died on February 14, 1891. The president had appointed his close friend, John Anderson, a consul general to Egypt. While he was returning home, Anderson died in Liverpool, England on May 18. Former Secretary of State James Blaine died in January 1893. By the time Harrison left the White House, twenty members of his administrative family had died. Caroline’s White House day classes were successful social programs, well attended by wives and daughters of cabinet members and society women.56 A professor was hired to teach the weekly French language classes. Caroline wrote persuasive letters to her talented Indianapolis art teacher, Paul Putzki, encouraging him to move to Washington, with enticements of full enrollments of students for two weekly painting classes, and exhibits of his work at the White House. On May 22, 1889, she wrote, Mr. Putzki Dear Sir. . . . There is a great desire by many persons that you will come to Washington. A friend of mine has interested herself and secured many scholars for a class. I am only interested in your success be it here or elswhere. But if you think favorably of the change I will do everything I can for your success and so will many others. If you think it best we will go on and get a class (with written promise of attendance) as we will not undertake to have you make the change on any uncertainty. . . . I have not been able to take up my brush since I came here. The only hope for that pleasrue will be to join a class. . . . When I can 57 arrange it I am going to have some of your work here in the White House. . . .

In the fall, she learned from Paul Putzki, that Mrs. Putzki was recovering her health following illness. On October 3, 1889, Caroline wrote more persuasively, . . . I am sorry indeed to hear of Mrs. Putzki’s illness and of your misfortune. I hope before this reaches you that she may be entirely recovered. . . .(My friend) has gotten fifteen scholars that have signed a pledge that they will take lessons and I have four (and five if I can take myself which I shall make great efforts to do). . . I cannot but think that the prospect here is much better than where you are. You have the advantage of a better market for your work and the class will 56

57

Carpenter, op. cit., pp. 300, 301. Caroline Harrison to Paul Putzki, May 22, 1889, private collection of Patricia BishopGutting.

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Anne Chieko Moore certainly be as full as in Indianapolis. Baltimore is only an hour’s ride away from here (and their art is very high). We will do all we can (that is Mrs. Light 58 and myself) to get scholars and help you in showing your work. . . .

Soon Putzki was producing fine work in his studio at No. 1420 New York Avenue and instructing White House classes in watercolor and china painting. Each class had twenty-five registrants. On April 29, 1890, an announcement of a fine exhibition of china and watercolor painting by Paul Putzki and seventeen students including Mrs. Benjamin Harrison and Mrs. Russell Harrison appeared in The Washington Post .59 Apparently he was firing most of Caroline’s work in his kiln. Mr. Putzki worked closely with Caroline as her teacher and friend and was a frequent guest at the White House. In the conservatories, he had the freedom to access, examine, draw and paint the exotic plants and colorful flowers. His painted orchid garlands on walls from the dining room to the adjoining orchid greenhouses were greatly admired.

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WHITE HOUSE CHINA In 1891, Caroline was inspired to create a symbolic American design for the formal Harrison White House china. One of her original pencil drawings of corn for a plate is preserved at the President Benjamin Harrison Home. In a letter to her daughter, Mamie McKee, she described her plate design. She used the Lincoln china for a guide. The center is like the Lincoln set with an adaptation of the eagle and shield. Instead of round spots on the border, she placed forty-four small gold stars to represent the states in the Union. A delicate tracery of corn ears, stalks and tassels in gilt covered the dark blue border. Corn is dominant in the design because “corn is indigenous to the American soil. I think they will be right pretty.”60 Caroline asked Paul Putzki to execute the finished design composed from her ideas and sketches. Although she was a supporter of Ben’s America First policy, she was determined to have the finest china for the Harrison dinnerware and looked to Limoges, France. After many artists duplicated the plate design and submitted them, Caroline personally selected Tressmannes & Vogt of Limoges to produce the porcelain whiteware and the Harrison design on the china. On the reverse of each piece, the china is marked “T & V, France” in green, and “T & V” in a bell and “France decore M.W. Beveridge Washington, D.C.” in 58 59

Caroline Harrison to Paul Putzki, October 3, 1889, private collection of Patricia Bishop Gutting. Washington Post, April 29, 1890.

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gold, and Harrison 1892” in gold. The Washington firm of M.W. Beveridge supervised the orders for Tressmannes & Vogt. Col. Oswald H. Ernst from the Office of the Commissioner of Buildings and Grounds placed the first order to the Beveridge firm on October 21, 1891.

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Six dozen soup bowls @ $31.00 Six dozen dinner plates @ $31.50 Six dozen breakfast plates @ $31.00 Six dozen tea plates @ $28.50 Total

$186.00 $189.00 $186.00 $171.00 $732.00

The first order of Harrison china was received on December 30, 1891. The breakfast plates and tea plates of this original order had double borders. William Martin, part owner of the firm of M.W. Beveridge, who was handling the order, advised the change in design. Caroline was very pleased with the china. Unfortunately, she never saw the attractive after dinner cups and saucers, ordered on July 27, 1891, because they were delivered on January 3, 1893, two and a half months after her death.61 The Harrison dinnerware continued to be used and was reordered in 1898, 1899, 1900 and 1908 by the William McKinley and the Theodore Roosevelt administrations. Caroline’s china has been praised as the most handsome formal dinner service designed for the White House.

CONCERN FOR THE STATUS OF WOMEN Caroline took an interest in improving the status of women. When Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore asked Caroline to help raise funds for establishing a medical school, she agreed to do this on the condition that the school admitted women on the same terms as men students. As head of a Washington based committee, she led a group of professional and society women to raise funds for the medical school. She played an active role in this effort, lending the prestige of her name as well as hosting fund-raising receptions at the White House. The committees, cooperating with Mary Garrett of Bryn Mawr, raised $500,000. On November 14, 1890, for her successful efforts, Caroline was 60 61

Caroline Harrison to Mary McKee, June 23, 1891, Harrison MSS. Margaret Brown Klapthor, Official White House China: 1789 to the Present, second edition (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1999), pp., 127-131.

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honored with two receptions at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the most notable gatherings ever held in Baltimore. When the school opened, one female student, a graduate of Bryn Mawr, was admitted.62 Another occasion regarding woman’s issues was a meeting with Susan B. Anthony at the White House. Ms. Anthony explained her desire to have woman suffragists represented at the Columbian Exposition, scheduled to open in October 1892 in Chicago. Caroline received her courteously and promised to use her influence with senators and congressmen regarding this concern.63 Ben’s hiring of Alice Sanger as the first woman stenographer for a president had Caroline’s approval. Alice Sanger had previously worked as a secretary for Ben’s law office in Indianapolis.

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PRESIDENT GENERAL Caroline saw a political potential for women in building a unified lobby of women’s influence of government through the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution which was founded in1890. Caroline Harrison was appointed the first president general of the Society.64 Her admission to the Society was validated through her paternal ancestry to her Scotch great-grandfather, John Scott, from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who was a quartermaster for the Pennsylvania Line during the Revolutionary War. Her acceptance of the position as the wife of the President of the United States added prestige to the organization and was an official statement of approval of the new enterprise. It was because men in the Sons of the Revolution, after promising to include women in their membership, decided to exclude them, that the women organized their own group. The Society was founded for the following purposes: to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence, to promote institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge, to preserve artifacts, documents and records, and to foster true patriotism and love of country. Vice President Mrs. William Cabell handled most of the office affairs. As president general of the organization, Caroline worked tactfully and diligently to placate cantankerous personal rivalries, encourage hesitant individuals and establish credibility. She initiated the building campaign for Continental Hall in Washington, D.C., after politely resisting pressures to purchase property outside 62

Philadelphia Times, November 15, 1880. Women’s Tribune, Washington, D. C., January 29, 1892. 64 Anthony, op. cit., p. 270. 63

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of the city. Caroline held meetings in the Blue Room and presided many of them. On February 22, 1892, for the First Continental Congress of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, she prepared and presented her own speech.

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… We have within ourselves the only element of destruction; our foes are from within, not without. It has been said “that the men to make a country are made by self-denial,” and is it not true, that this society, to live and grow and become what we would desire it to be, must be composed of self-denying women? Since this society has been organized, and so much thought and reading directed to the early struggles of this country, it has been made plain that much of its success was due to the character of women of that era. The unselfish part they acted constantly commands itself to our admiration and example. If there is no abatement in this element of success in our ranks, I feel sure that their daughters 65 can can perpetuate a society worthy the cause and worthy themselves.

At the close of the Continental Congress, Caroline held a supper for 135 guests, including Ben, in the private dining room of the Executive Mansion. In addition to the historic china of Jackson, Lincoln and Grant administrations, the new Harrison china designed by Caroline were used for the first time.66 Because Caroline raised orchids in the conservatories and wore them in corsages to Society functions, the orchid was adopted as a symbol for the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.67

PERSONAL INTERESTS It was said of Caroline that she was never idle with her own time, usually concentrating on some useful productive activity. Caroline’s desk was heaped with mailed requests from all parts of the country to use her influence as the president’s wife, often for money or job appointments.68 One to which Caroline responded was a plea from a woman for help to get her betrothed husband, who was a deserter, released from jail. In her diary, Caroline had saved a note from the man, who thanked her sincerely and told of the productive life he was leading since his release. Her many personal 65

Schneider, op. cit., p.152. Washington Landmark: A View of the DAR-The Headquarters, History and Activities (Washington, D.C.: The National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1976), p. 102. 67 Smith, op. cit., p. 35. 68 Carpenter, op. cit., pp. 299, 300. 66

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kindnesses were appreciated and remembered. More frivolously, many women begged for recipes, for locks of her hair and scraps of fabric from her inaugural gown for crazy quilts. In spite of her full schedule, Caroline continued to express her joy of painting in work she produced in her White House classes, in her attic studio, in the conservatories and at vacations spots like Cape May. A closet in the White House was filled with white china dishes waiting to be painted for Washington women. When she learned of a baby who was named for the president, she took pleasure in giving him a hand-painted milk set. Washington correspondent Frank Carpenter reported that she decorated candlesticks, cheese covers, flower pot saucers, chocolate jugs and many more items, often marked with her tiny signature four leaf clover.69 All of her paintings of orchids were executed at the White House. Displayed at the President Benjamin Harrison Home is one of Caroline’s hand painted ceramic panels in its original velvet and wooden frame. Against a background of subtle gray moss green emerges a complex floral composition featuring delicate white and rose cosmos blossoms and mixed foliage. Under Paul Putzki instruction, she began to use a broad brush to improve her controlled rendering technique. The placement of shadowy leaves behind the stems of flowers is another example of Putzki’s influence. Attached on the back of the ceramic panel is a card indicating it was a personal gift precious to Jane Stanford, wife of Senator Leland Stanford. Caroline’s kiln, brought from Indianapolis, was set up at the home of Mrs. John Wight at Kendall Green. After viewing an exhibition of paintings in Washington by James Henry Moser, Caroline asked the artist for instruction in watercolor painting. He had continued to teach her for two years when he discussed her as an artist with a reporter. In the newspaper clipping found in the Harrison Home collections, Mr. Moser said, I have had a great many talented students, but none with more enthusiasm and genuine love for the art. She devotes her time to it … purely for the enjoyment of painting. She is conscientious in all her efforts… . I have known her to paint five hours in one day last summer at the [Cape May] Point and declare it was a real rest to her. She paints flowers on china in an almost professional way, and is indebted for her skill in this direction to her instructor in china painting, Mr. Paul Putzki of Washington, one of the finest painters in this 70 branch we have.

69 70

Ibid., p. 301. Press, February 28, 1892.

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“View of Cape May,” a watercolor by Caroline displayed at the President Benjamin Harrison Home, must have been painted under Mr. Moser’s instruction. Several original watercolors of landscapes and florals are preserved in the museum collection. When she found the time, Caroline still produced fine needlework, read literature and often played the piano. The Fisher upright piano, the Christmas gift from Russell, placed in the hall parlor on the second floor, was stacked with Caroline’s well-used music sheets. Likely favorites were gavottes and Moreau Gottschalk’s “The Last Hope.” Caroline increased her work with charities in Washington, begun during her husband’s Senate years; she served as Director of the Washington Orphan Asylum, and as a board member of the Garfield Hospital.71 The success of some of the work was largely due to her executive ability, energy and tact. At the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, her fine embroideries and hand painted china for bazaars sold for high prices in recognition of her name. When she had good health, Caroline frequently went on carriage rides, train trips and boat rides. She often went on shopping trips by train with Mamie to New York or Philadelphia, and was delighted with a trip to Florida. In her diary, Caroline recorded a trip to the quaint old town of Nantucket, where she visited the historic Smugglers House, an old mill, a cemetery, and a museum where she saw a large collection of curiosities and listened to an amusing lecture. On August 6, 1889, she took the Fall River steamer which she claimed was the finest steamer on the sound and enjoyed the sail very much. She traveled quietly, avoiding attention.72 During December 1890, she made her only journey to Indianapolis as the wife of the president. Her days were filled with luncheons, receptions and dinners. To please her friends, she wore her inaugural ball gown at a reception presented by Mrs. R. S. McKee. She even attended a board meeting at the Orphan Asylum during this short visit. Caroline was happy to see her many dear friends again.73

IN TUNE WITH THE PRESIDENT Ben and Caroline continued their thoughtful affectionate relationship through the White House years. They had a mutual appreciation and respect for each other. When his wife was away, Ben was lonely and full of complaints. Caroline’s 71

Frank Leslie’s Weekly, November 3, 1892. Harrison, op. cit., p. 36. 73 Foster, op. cit., p. 20. 72

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graciousness was a great asset to the president, who was reserved and sometimes perceived as cold and brusque. She enjoyed traveling with Ben on presidential trips, notably the George Washington Centennial Celebration at New York in April 1889, and the five week trip to the South and Pacific Coast that began on April 14, 1891. The latter was an unprecedented round trip presidential speaking tour of 9,232 miles, on which Harrison gave more than 140 speeches. The luxuriously appointed five-car passenger train stopped at many towns and cities where a president had never visited. Ben and Caroline were warmly greeted.74 In California, at a shipyard in San Francisco Bay, Caroline christened the armored coast-defense vessel Monterey, the first built on the West Coast.75Among the hundreds of thoughtful and appropriate gifts they received was an album of pressed local wild flowers from school children of Leadville, Colorado, still preserved in the President Benjamin Harrison Home collections. Caroline’s outgoing friendliness combined with Ben’s impromptu speechmaking skills enhanced the impressions of the hundreds of people who gathered to greet the presidential party across the Southern and Western states. Ben did not hesitate to talk over state affairs with Caroline, and valued her advice and support.76 She knew her husband’s stand on issues, such as antilottery, tariff and reciprocity of trade, and she sometimes sent copies of his speeches to appropriate people. Caroline, who was at Cape May on July 12, 1890, was the first person he wrote announcing the passage of the Sherman Silver Act in Congress. She stood beside Ben to review parades of organized labor workers, publicly adding her support, at a time when he was believed by many to be against them. To keep herself informed on current affairs, she read the newspapers; she felt Chicago editors misrepresented the president’s views. In letters to her daughter, Caroline sometimes commented on Ben’s political problems. On June 30, 1891, she wrote, He (Ben) has the Bering Sea matter about settled. It has come upon your father to attend to. Mr. Blaine has been too unwell to even read the state papers that were prepared and sent to him… . I am rather disgusted with the way he & his friends act in the matter. They claim all the credit when your father has done 77 all the work. . . .

74

Schneider, op. cit., p. 269. Homer Socolofsky and Allan B. Spetter, The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1987) p. 174. 76 Caroline Harrison to Mary McKee, June 30, 1891, Harrison MSS. 77 Anthony, op. cit., p. 268. 75

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Caroline was deeply distressed by political attacks on both of them; she was shocked by published partisan lies and slurs on Ben’s integrity. They were accused of accepting the Cape May house as a political bribe, and using their grandchildren to win public favor. By political enemies, she was criticized for her refurbishing work on the White House and she was sneered at for being overly domestic. Washington social circles gossiped that she could think of nothing better to do. She saw herself ridiculed in an unflattering sketch of her in a QD girdle fastener advertisement. Mrs. Blaine, who had expected to be first lady and considered the Harrisons her social inferiors, complained, “Her American Majesty . . . is too much given . . . to making everybody comfortable.” Critics claimed she was a mindless homebody. The jibes were painful78 but Caroline reacted publicly with silent dignity. Although conceding her grace and poise as first lady, the critics chose to underestimate her political assets and ignored her achievements.

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ILLNESS, DEATH, FUNERAL During the winter of 1891-1892, while she tried to fulfill her social obligations, Caroline was frequently unable to do so due to respiratory illnesses. In March, she developed catarral pneumonia, followed by hemorrhages of the lungs. She attended her last reception on April 6 in the Blue Parlor where she was observed to be very pale, and she coughed nearly every time she spoke. On the advice of her family physician, Dr. Frank A. Gardner, she was taken by train five hundred miles to Loon Lake in the Adirondack Mountains on July 6, 1892.79 When Ben and Caroline arrived on July 7, the owner of the cottages, Mrs. Chase, personally welcomed them. The two-story frame cottage rented for Caroline contained five bedrooms with a scenic view of the lake. Long sprays of ground pine trailed over the lace curtains, and over every door and window were hung boughs of balsam fir, believed to provide healing fragrance for lung disease. Accompanying Caroline were her personal maid Josephine Kneipp and her neice Mary Lord Dimmick. On July 8, Mrs. Chase held a reception for the president at the Loon Lake Hotel.80 Soon after her arrival, Caroline’s health improved: her

78

William Seale, The Presidents’ House; A History, vol. 1 (Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association, 1986), p. 581. 79 Harry J. Sievers, Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier President: the White House and After vol.3 (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill co., Inc., 1968), p. 241. 80 York State Tradition, (Fall 1963), p. 9.

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appetite and strength increased, her fever decreased and the cough diminished. She felt well enough to enjoy daily carriage rides and occasional rows on the lake. Heartened with his wife’s initial improvement, Ben returned to Washington where Congress was in session. During July, Harrison was confronted with serious labor unrest. Violent strikes resulting in deaths occurred at Homestead, Pennsylvania at the Carnegie Steel Mills and at the silver mines in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Then there were strikes by miners in Tennessee. A switchman’s strike in New York resulted in a train wreck and murder. Harrison called federal troops to gain control and order. Labor unions were dissolved and strikers lost their jobs. In this year of elections, working class voters as well as party leaders left the Republican Party.81 Unfortunately, Caroline’s condition gradually deteriorated. Dr. Gardner, her homeopathic family physician, traveled from Washington to minister to her. Also called for consultations were Dr. Doughty, a homeopathic specialist from New York, and Dr. Trudeau, an allopathic physician from Lake Saranac. Surgery was performed to drain fluid from the pleural cavity of the right lung on September 14, a procedure repeated two days later. Cocaine numbed the chest area before the needle was inserted between the ribs to withdraw fluid from the pleural cavity with an attached suction piston. Although the painful procedure afforded temporary relief, it greatly reduced Caroline’s strength.82 As soon as Congress recessed in August, Ben was constantly at his wife’s bedside, helping with nursing care.83 He censored all medical bulletins; consequently, the public knew nothing of her critical illness. On September 15, the medical diagnosis was finally announced as tuberculosis, with little hope of recovery. Miss Kneipp, a trained nurse, Miss Davis, and one family member were constantly with her. Most of the family members gathered at the cottage and remained there except for hasty meals at the hotel. At the White House, Russell’s wife May and their daughter Marthena waited with Caroline’s elderly father Dr. Scott, who was not informed of his daughter’s condition. On September 23, at her urgent request, Caroline was brought back by train to the White House. The most difficult part of the journey was the three-mile wagon ride over a rough road from the cottage to the Loon Lake station. By four strong men, Caroline was tenderly placed on a stretcher covered with rugs, blankets and pillows which was positioned on a cot in a wagon.84 The president arranged a 81

Sievers, op. cit., pp. 238, 239. Frank Leslie’s Weekly, September 25, 1892. 83 Sievers, op. cit., p. 242. 84 York State Tradition, Fall 1963,p. 23 82

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special hospital bed for the 500-mile railroad trip, organized by George W. Boyd of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which left at 12:15 P.M. An army ambulance met the train at Washington on September 21 at 9:00 A.M. A reporter recorded seeing the president on his arrival: “His eyes red from weeping, with dark rings under them, told the tale of his deep distress and sleepless nights at the bedside of his wife.”85 By nightfall the story was sent to newspapers across the country. A month-long vigil began at the White House. Dr. Gardner made statements several times a day to the press about Caroline’s condition. On October 17, he reported that Mrs. Harrison was very weak, exhausted from wracking coughing spells, high respiration rate of fifty to sixty per minute, with alarming rise in temperature to 104 degrees, and consuming left lung. Dr. Gardner’s continuing presence seemed to provide comfort to Ben, who kept a constant vigil, sitting beside his wife, watching her face anxiously. After a painful but uncomplaining struggle, Caroline died on October 25, 1892.86 At the White House the blinds of the windows were drawn down, the fountains on the grounds were stopped and the flag was not raised. Two policemen guarded the entrances. A constant stream of noiseless carriages drove into the eastern entrance to leave cards of condolence. In Washington, W. R. Speare provided the undertaker’s services. Russell Harrison, Robert McKee, and Elijah Halford selected a red cedar casket. C.E. Kregelo & Whitsett supervised the funeral arrangements and burial in Indianapolis. Funeral services were held in the East Room of the White House on October 27. Long branched palms stood at either end of the bier. Many floral tributes surrounded the casket. One of Mrs. Harrison’s favorite flowers, white chrysanthemums, formed a large cross, which was sent by the Republican State Committee of California. It was placed at the head of the casket and at the foot rested a crown of flowers from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution of New York City. The White House Conservatory prepared a wreath of white orchids, and Queen Victoria sent a wreath of white chrysanthemums. The president was accompanied by his immediate family and representatives of all members of the government. Dr. Hamlin, pastor of the Church of the Covenant, the Presbyterian Church in Washington attended by the Harrisons, conducted a simple service requested by the president. St. John’s

85 86

Sievers, op. cit., p. 242. Indianapolis Sentinel, October 25, 1892.

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church choir sang “Abide with Me” and Caroline’s favorite hymn, “Lead Kindly Light.”87 As the funeral train brought Caroline’s body to Indianapolis, clusters of people stood quietly along the route with uncovered heads. Rev. Dr. Haines and Rev. N. A. Hyde conducted services at the First Presbyterian Church where Caroline had been a member. On either side of the pulpit were pyramids of white chrysanthemums surrounded by palms. The president’s pew, which was not used during the services, was draped with heavy folds of black and white fabric strewn with flowers. The survivors of Ben’s regiment, the Seventieth Indiana, attended the funeral in a body. Following the services, the streets to the cemetery were lined with respectful onlookers while a funeral cortege of more than one hundred horse drawn carriages moved slowly for five miles to the burial site in Crown Hill Cemetery. The president was observed to be deeply grieved.88 Before departing Indianapolis, he wrote the following letter of thanks to the city. I cannot leave without saying that the tender and gracious sympathy which you have shown today for me and for my children, and much the more touching evidence that you have given of your love for the dear wife and mother, have deeply moved our hearts. We yearn to tarry with you and to rest near the hallowed spots where your loving hands have lain our dead; but the dear grandchildren watch in wondering silence for our return and need our care, and some public business will no longer wait upon my sorrow. May a gracious God keep and bless you all! Most gratefully yours, 89 Benjamin Harrison

The death of Mrs. Harrison interrupted the social functions of Washington, as Vice President and Mrs. Morton and members of the cabinet observed mourning for one month. Ministers from foreign countries conveyed personal sympathies to the secretary of state to be extended to the president. Hundreds of messages of condolence, telegrams, and tokens of sympathy were sent to the White House before and after the funeral from all parts of the United States and from other countries. Mr. and Mrs. James Blaine sent a warm letter of condolence immediately. Queen Victoria was one of the first to extend her sympathy.

87 88

Harpers Weekly, November 1, 1892. Frank Leslie’s Weekly, November 10, 1892.

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Caroline Lavina Scott Harrison Balmoral, Oct. 25 Gen. Harrison, President of the United States, Washington:

I have heard with deepest regret of your sad loss and sincerely sympathathize with you in your grief. 90 Victoria, R.I.

Mrs. Putzki thanked the president for Caroline’s friendship and personal help in providing her husband’s instructional opportunites in painting at the White House and encouragement for their future in Washington. D.C.

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Mr. President, We wish to offer you our heart-felt sympathy in the great loss you have sustained and wish to express sincere gratitude for all Mrs. Harrison has done for us. We feel that what we have we owe to her patronage and her efforts in our behalf. It is difficult for us to realize that we have lost so good a friend. Mr. Putzki and I will ever hold her in kindly and thankful remembrance. Yours very repectfully, 91 Kate Putzki

To Mary McKee, Jane Stanford, wife of Senator Leland Stanford, wrote of her respect of and close friendship with Caroline. Her exemplary life as a wife and mother, and high position which she occupied had an influence upon those with whom she came in contact. . . .She was unique and rare in her unostentatious, lovely womanhood. . . . I held and do hold sacred the tender friendship your mother gave to me. . . . Once particularly in a large crowd, my heart was sick and ill at ease--but my duty called me there—that sweet pressure of her hand which she gave me as she passed by, lifted me up and sustained me. I had great reason to treasure your mother’s love for I felt that she understood, and read my heart. 92 Jane Stanford

Many political groups sent their condolences to the president, as recorded in the following as an example:

89

Sievers, op. cit., p. 243. Indianapolis Sentinel, October 25, 1892. 91 Benjamin Harrison Papers, Presidential Papers Microfiolms, Series 2. Reel 87. 92 Jane Stanford to Mary McKee, Harrison MSS 90

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Anne Chieko Moore The Hon. Benjamin Harrison, Washington, D.C. The executive committee of the republican and state central committee in session at Chicago express their condolences at the loss which has overshaddowed your life. They express to the upmost extent the deep feeling which pervades the hearts of our people and assure you that the shadow that falls across the threshhold of your house meets the profound sympathy of the people of the state of Illinois. James H. Clark, chairman 93 T. N. Jamison, secretary

The Frank Leslie’s Weekly published a fitting eulogy to Caroline on November 3rd: Mrs. Harrison was a woman of rarest qualities of mind and heart. Her character was strong and positive. . . . Its strength lay in Christian principle and simplicity of unquestioning faith. She will be remembered for her life of honest usefulness, her fidelity to conscience in every situation to which she was placed, and her abnegation of self in a broad and continued service for others. Mrs. Harrison brought dignity, 94 tact, genuine kindness and independence to the White House.

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James Whitcomb Riley wrote this tribute to his dear friend, in part: And lo! We weep with you, One grief the whole world through, We see her still, even as here she stood All that was pure and good And sweet in womanhood 95 God’s will her will.

Within two weeks after Caroline’s death, Ben was defeated in his second presidential election by Grover Cleveland. Both candidates did not campaign because of Caroline’s illness. The electoral college resulted in 277 to Cleveland, 145 to Harrison, and 22 to Weaver. The votes represented a protest against the 93

Indianapolis Sentinel, October 25, 1892. Frank Leslie’s Weekly, November 3, 1892. 95 Harriet McIntire Foster, Mrs. Benjamin Harrison: First President General of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (1908), p. 27. 94

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McKinley tariff, labor problems, and the Force Bill providing federal supervision for elections in the South to assure voting rights for blacks.96 Ben accepted the people’s verdict calmly. Four months later, the grieved and weary ex-president was overwhelmed by an enthusiastic welcome home to Indianapolis.

96

Sievers, op. cit. p. 248.

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Chapter 6

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LEGACY Caroline was in tune with Ben’s love for and faith in America. She supported his efforts to increase patriotism by having the pledge of allegience written and requesting the flying of the flag on public and executive buildings. It was she who began the tradition of standing when the national anthem was played. The patriotic organization, the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, benefited significantly from her service as its first president general. Her husband admired her administrative ability and artistic skills and encouraged her. She was an activist in her own quiet way and accomplished much. She transformed the dilapidated White House into a modern attractive president’s residence that had electricity installed for the first time. During the process, she brought to the nation’s attention the need for additional space to serve the complexities of the chief executive’s office and for adequate rooms to provide privacy for the presidential family. She was the first first lady to propose new architectural designs for the White House. Creating her artistic patriotic design for the handsome Harrison White House china and making the decisions for the production of the set was an immense undertaking that was completed with well-received results. The china is still appreciated and occasionally used at the White House by contemporary presidents. She initiated the preservation and collection of presidential china, after extensive gathering, restoration and research. The expanded permanent collection of china which she began is displayed in the White House today. For the first time, at Caroline’s request, inventory lists of valuable White House historic artifacts were made, along with restoration needs. She identified with and enjoyed accomplishing well her domestic responsibilities for the comfort of her husband and other family members. At the

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same time, she lent her name and efforts to encourage American women to be empowered to succeed in other roles.1

1

Calhoun, op. cit., p. 275.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Anthony, Carl Sferrazza. First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents’ Wives and Their Power. 1789-1961. New York: William Morrow, 1990. Calhoun, Charles W. “Caroline (Lavinia) Scott Harrison.” American First Ladies. Lewis L. Gould, ed. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996. Carpenter, Frank. Carp’s Washington. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960. Centennial Memorial 1823-1923: First Presbyterian Church ,Indianapolis, Indiana. Greenfield, IN: William Mitchell Printing Co., 1925. Dunn, Jacob Piatt, Greater Indianapolis, vol. 1. Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1910. Furman, Bess. White House Profile: A Social History of the White House, its Occupants and its Festivities. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc., 1951. Hanaford, Phebe A. Daughters of America; or, Women of the Century. Augusta, ME: True and Co., 1889. The Holy Bible. Sunday School Teacher’s edition. Oxford: University Press, n.d. Hoover, Irwin Hood (Ike). Forty-two Years in the White House. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1934. Kane, Joseph Nathan. Presidential Fact Book. New York: Random House, Inc., 1998. Kirk, Elise K. Musical Highlights from the White House. Malabar, FL: Krieger Co., 1992. Kirk, Elise K., Music at the White House: A History of the American Spirit. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1986. Klapthor, Margaret Brown. Official White House China, 1797 to the Present. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1975. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1987. Washington Landmark: A View of the DAR- The Headquarters, History and Activities. Washington, D.C.: National Society, Daughters of the American Rtevolution, 1976.

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Bibliography

Menendez, Albert J. Christmas at the White House. Philadelphia: the Westminster Press, 1983. Monkman, Betty C. The White House: It’s Historic Furnishings & First Families. New York: Abbeville Press, 2000. The New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ According to the Commonly Received Version. New York: American and Foreign Bible Society, 1840. Schneider, Dorothy and Schneider, Carl J. First Ladies: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: Facts on File, 2001. Seale, William. The Presidents’ House: A History, vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association, 1986. Seale, William. The White House: the History of an American Idea. Washington, D.C.: The American Institute of Architects Press, 1992. Sievers, Harry Joseph. Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier President: the White House and After, vol. 3. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc., 1968. Sievers, Harry Joseph. Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier Statesman: from the Civil War to the White House 1865-1888, vol. 2. New York:University Publishers Inc., 1959. Sievers, Harry Joseph. Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier Warrior: through the Civil War Years 1833-1865, vol. 1. Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1952. Smith, Ophia D. Old Oxford Houses and the People Who Lived in Them. Oxford, OH: Oxford Historical Press, 1941. Smithsonian Book of First Ladies: Their Lives, Times and Issues. Edith Mayo, general ed. NY: Henry Holt and Co., 1996. Socolofsky, Homer E. and Spetter, Allan B. The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison. Whitcomb, John and Whitcomb, Clare Real Life at the White House: Two Hundred Years of Daily Life at America’s Most Famous Residence. New York: Routledge, 2000.

ARCHIVAL MATERIALS, miscellaneous Caroline Harrison to Mary McKee, June 23, 1891. Harrison MSS. Caroline Harrison to Paul Putzki, May 22, 1889. Private collection of Patricia Bishop Gutting. Caroline Harrison to Paul Putzki, October 3, 1889. Private collection of Patricia Bishop Gutting. Caroline Scott’s diploma from Oxford Female Institute. Harrison collection. Harrison, Caroline. White House Diary 1889. Harrison collection. Jane Stanford to Mary McKee. Harrison MSS

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Bibliography

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John Witherspoon Scott to Mary Neal Scott, June 29, 1841. Harrison MSS. Kate Putzki to Benjamin Harrison, November 2, 1892. Benjamin Harrison Papers, Presidential Papers Microfilms, Washington. D.C. Library of Congress, Series 2, Reel 87. Mary McKee to J. Robert McKee, December 21, 1889. Harrison MSS Scott, Caroline. Floral and Poetical Album, Pleasant Hill, Ohio, 1847. Harrison collection.

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Frank Leslie’s Weekly, November 10, 1892. Frank Leslie’s Weekly, November 3, 1892, Harper’s Weekly, November 1, 1892. Indianapolis News, July 4, 1888. Indianapolis Sentinel, October 25, 1892. National Historical Magazine, Vol. LXXVI, No. !, January, 1942. Philadelphia Times, November 15, 1880. Washington Post, March 5, 1889. Woman’s Tribune, January 29, 1892. York State Tradition, Fall 1963. York State Tradition, Fall 1963.

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INDEX A

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activities, vii, 9, 17, 39 adaptation, 44 advocacy, 3 age, 7, 24 anxiety, 9

B black, 7, 11, 14, 21, 27, 31, 37, 42, 54 business, 23, 28, 29, 30, 38, 54

C California, 23, 50, 53 Canada, 2 candidates, 56 capital, 8 Carter, 11 character, 47, 56 childhood, 2 children, 1, 2, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 24, 28, 32, 33, 50, 54 China, 37, 44, 45, 61 civil service reform, 22 classes, 9, 19, 22, 43, 44, 48 Columbia, 25 commitment, 3, 4

community, 2, 13, 40 Congress, vii, 21, 35, 47, 50, 52, 63 credibility, 46

D development, 35 disease, 51 drugs [medicines], 13

E education, vii, 2, 27 Egypt, 43 election, 20, 25, 26, 56 England, 29, 37, 43 enthusiasm, 48

F family, vii, viii, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 17, 22, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 39, 43, 51, 52, 53, 59 family members, vii, 25, 30, 39, 52, 59 female, 46 firearms, 12 Florida, 33, 34, 49 food, 31, 40 foreign policy, 27

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Index

France, 44 freedom, 44 friends, 4, 7, 8, 9, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 33, 38, 39, 49, 50 funds, vii, 45

K Kansas, 50, 61

L G generations, vii, 30 gift, 3, 8, 22, 29, 32, 33, 38, 48, 49 Green, Carole, 12, 13, 36, 48 groups, 20, 55 growth, 8

labor, 50, 52, 57 language, 4, 43 lawyers, 24 leadership, vii, 9, 13, 19 legal, 4, 7, 9

M

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H health, 21, 25, 43, 49, 51 high school, 18 history, viii, 3, 38, 40 house, vii, 14, 19, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 48, 49, 51, 53, 59, 61, 62 hunting, 19, 39

male, 4 market, 18, 30, 43 marketing, 30 media, 42 mining, 23

N newspapers, 22, 50, 53

I O ideas, 44 Illinois, 41, 56, 61 income, 9, 10 Indian, 23 institutions, 2, 4, 46 integrity, 51 interest, 2, 22, 45 issues, 22, 27, 46, 50

organization, 46, 59

P

J jobs, 2, 52 justice, 27

parents, 1, 4, 8, 9, 22, 23 Pennsylvania, 1, 2, 8, 14, 18, 22, 26, 32, 39, 46, 52, 53 pensions, 22, 27 policy, 44 politics, 20, 21, 24 poor, 25 population, 1, 8 poverty, 9 power, vii, 35, 61 Presidency, 50, 62 prices, 49

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Index primary, 9 priorities, 13 production, 59

T

Q questioning, 30

tariff, 27, 32, 50, 57 trade, 50 training, 12, 17 tuberculosis, 52 Turkey, 34

U

R reception, 19, 22, 28, 40, 41, 49, 51 reciprocity, 50 reelection, 14, 23 relatives, 2, 14, 24, 42 Republican Party, 20, 52 Republicans, 21, 27 research, 35, 59 responsibility, vii

United States (US), vii, 4, 9, 13, 14, 22, 24, 27, 29, 46, 54, 55

V voters, 52

W

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S sacrifice, 3, 13 safety, 26 self, 25, 47, 56 Senate, 21, 23, 35, 49 separation, 8, 26 services, iv, 9, 30, 53, 54 staff, 31, 33 standards, 4 supervision, 57 Supreme Court, 10

war, 12, 13, 14, 17, 20 water, 18, 28, 32, 37 White House, vii, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 59, 61, 62 women, vii, 2, 3, 9, 13, 19, 22, 24, 25, 28, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 60 work, 9, 10, 18, 19, 20, 23, 31, 35, 36, 41, 43, 44, 48, 49, 50, 51

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