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The first of these weddings took place, not in June, but on March 9, 1820, when Maria Hester Monroe, the second daughter and youngest child of President James Monroe, married Samuel Lawrence Gouverneur, who also happened to be her first cousin. Gouverneur was born in 1799 in New York City. His father was Nicholas Gouverneur, a merchant with the firm of Gouverneur & Kemble. His mother was the former Hester Kortright, whose sister was First Lady Elizabeth Kortright Monroe. Gouverneur served as private secretary to his uncle, President James Monroe, for both of Monroe's two consecutive terms as President from March 4, 1817 until March 4, 1825. Gouverneur started work on publishing the papers or a book on Monroe, but it was never finished.
Maria Hester Monroe was born in 1802. In an April 12, 1802 letter from Monroe to James Madison, the proud father tells his friend that his wife recently added a daughter to their family. The precise date of Maria's birth is unknown, but it most likely took place between January 1 and early April, 1802. The following year, while still an infant, Maria accompanied her parents to London, when James Monroe became Ambassador from the United States to the Court of St. James. Upon the family's return to the United States, Maria finished school in Philadelphia.
The wedding was officiated by the Rev. William Dickinson Hawley. It was a small wedding, with only 42 guests and no cabinet members invited. Because the first lady was in poor health at the time, the arrangements fell upon the shoulders of the bride's older sister Eliza. General Thomas Jesup served as groomsman for Gouverneur. The ceremony was conducted in what was referred to as the "New York Style". There were seven bridesmaids and seven groomsmen. The wedding is described thusly by Monroe's biographer W. P. Cresson:
On March 9, 1820, the members of Maria's immediate family and a few intimate friends, gathered in the East Room of the White House. Formerly used by Mrs. [Abigail] Adams as a place to dry her washing, the largest and now most famous room of the executive mansion had been furnished by Monroe, and was opened on that day to the public for the first time. The Reverend Doctor William Hawley, a gentleman of the old school and rector of Old St. John's Church in Washington, performed the ceremony, while the gallant General Thomas S. Jesup, one of the heroes of the War of 1812, acted as groomsman to Mr. Gouverneur. Maria Hester was a lovely bride, gowned in a light blue stiff silk dress, with intricate embroidery of real wheat stalks. After the ceremony, a grand reception was held at which the new Mrs. Gouverneur presided, taking over her mother's customary position. Mrs. Seaton, one of the favored few to secure an investigation, has left an account: "The New York Style was adopted at Maria Monroe's wedding. Only the attendants, the relations, and a few old friends of the bride and groom witnessed the ceremony, and the bridesmaids were told that their company and services would be dispensed with until the following Tuesday when the bride would receive visitors."
The couple went on a brief one-week honeymoon, and upon their return, Commodore and Mrs. Stephen Decatur gave them a reception at the Decatur House on May 20, 1820. Another ball was planned, but was cancelled due to Decatur's death two days later in a duel. After the wedding, the couple moved to New York, where they bought and lived at 63 and 65 Prince Street at Lafayette Street in Manhattan. Together, Samuel and Maria were the parents of three children.
Many in Washington criticized the Monroes for keeping the wedding private. Many blamed the First Lady, who was viewed by many as snobbish and not as outgoing as her predecessor Dolly Madison. Mrs. Madison had captivated Washington society, setting a standard by which future First Ladies would come to be measured. Elizabeth and her eldest daughter Eliza sought to make access to the White House more socially exclusive. But she nonetheless made a positive impression upon General Andrew Jackson, and President Monroe always mentioned her to Jackson in their correspondence. Elizabeth also drew favorable reviews when the first couple hosted the Marquis de Lafayette during his tour through America. Elizabeth's aloofness was most likely the result of her poor health, rather than any intended snobbishness.
One person who respected the couple's decision to hold a small wedding was Louisa Adams, then the wife of the Secretary of State. She stated that she felt that the Monroes had a perfect right to keep the wedding as a "family affair". She said that, as Monroe could not expect to please everyone when it came to his private affairs, "he should simply please himself."
There was also some friction between Maria's husband and her sister, the Monroe's oldest daughter Elizabeth ("Eliza") Kortright Monroe Hay. Eliza had alienated most of Washington society for her refusal to call on wives of the diplomatic corps, as was the custom, and caused another social furor in closing her sister's wedding to all but family and friends. However she too had a private compassionate side that was on display during the fever epidemic that swept Washington during her father's Presidency. She spent many nights selflessly caring for victims of the illness.
The Gouverneurs moved to New York City after their honeymoon. When the first lady died in 1830, former President Monroe moved in with them and spent his final years in their home. President John Quincy Adams appointed Maria's husband as postmaster of New York City. Maria died on June 20, 1850, at the age of 48, at Oak Hill, in Loudon County, Virginia.