White House Weddings: Woodrow Wilson and Edith Galt
In 1915, the Christmas season at the White House added something new to the festivities: a Presidential wedding. President Woodrow Wilson was a widower at the time. His wife Ellen, to whom he had been married since June of 1885, died on August 6, 1914, just 17 months into Wilson's first term in office. She had suffered from Bright's Disease, a kidney ailment. It is reported that on her deathbed she told her physician that she hoped that her husband would remarry, something he did sixteen months later.
In March 1915, Wilson met a widow named Edith Bolling Galt. He was introduced to her at the White House by Helen Bones, the president's cousin who had served as the official White House hostess since the death of Ellen Wilson. Wilson is said to have taken an instant liking to Mrs. Galt, who is described as being very charming. He too was quite the charmer, and is said to have proposed to her by stating "in this place time is not measured by weeks, or months, or years, but by deep human experiences."
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson was born on October 15, 1872 in Wytheville, Virginia. Her father was Judge William Holcombe Bolling and her mother was Sally White Bolling. Edith Wilson traced her ancestors to colonial Virginia and either by blood or through marriage she was related to Thomas Jefferson, Martha Washington, Letitia Tyler and the Harrison family. She was also part native American and claimed to be a direct descendent of the famous Powhatan tribe princess, Pocahontas. Edith was the seventh of eleven children. She was 5'9" tall with black hair and blue eyes and was an Episcopalian. Edith was educated at Martha Washington College in Abingdon, Virginia and later at the Richmond Female Seminary, in Richmond, Virginia, also known as Powell's School.
At age 23 she married Norman Galt, a jewelry store owner, on April 30, 1896. They were married for almost 12 years before Galt died on January 28, 1908. The couple had one son who died shortly after his birth. She received a substantial inheritance when Mr. Galt died. She bought a car and learned to drive it, and took numerous trips to Europe.
Edith met Woodrow Wilson in February, 1915 while taking tea with his cousin Helen Bones and their mutual friend Altrude Gordon. Gordon was dating (and would later marry) the naval physician Cary Grayson who worked for the Wilsons. Within months, she and Wilson were exchanging letters that mixed politics and their passionate love for each other. Wilson proposed marriage to Edith just three months after meeting her.
The two of them had been a romantic item for what was in those days considered such a short courtship period. Some in Washington were quick to poke fun at the marriage. One joke of the day went, "when Edith Galt heard the President propose marriage, she nearly fell out of bed." A typographical error in the Washington Post unintentionally made fun of the sexual nature of their relationship. The story meant to describe a date that the president and his then girlfriend had at a local theater, stating "rather than paying attention to the play the President spent the evening entertaining Mrs. Galt." What was printed in the first run of the Washington Post was the phrase "rather than paying attention to the play the President spent the evening entering Mrs. Galt." The first run of the paper was recalled, but a few copies were not recovered and are now highly prized collectibles.
The two were married on December 18, 1915 in Washington, D.C. at Edith's home. The bride was 43 and the groom was 59. A newspaper story announcing the wedding describes it thusly:
ln a small, unpretentious house, 1308 Twentieth street, to this city, Mrs. Edith Bolling Galt, widow, will be married Saturday, December 18, to Woodrow Wilson, widower and president of the United Mates. Not since the marriage of President John Tyler to Miss Julia Gardiner has there been a wedding of a president marked by such extreme quiet and seclusiveness as is to be the case at this wedding which will join the Wilson and the Galt families. President Tyler went to New York to be married to Miss Gardiner and there at the Church of the Ascension, in the presence of only a handful of persons he took unto himself his second wife. At the coming wedding of another president of the United States there will be present no persons except those of the immediate families of the two contracting parties. Only one cabinet officer, Mr. McAdoo, will witness the ceremony, and he not by right of his official position, hot because be Is the son-in-law of the president, having married Mr. Wilson's youngest daughter. When Grover Cleveland was married In the White House to Miss Folsom, the wedding party was a small one, but invited to it were members of the president's cabinet and several other high officers of government. President Wilson and Mrs. Galt have decreed that their union shall be wholly a family affair, relatives only to be present.
Mrs. Galt will be attended by her sister, Miss Bertha Bolling of this city. Even with the guests limited to the members of the families of the president and his bride-to-be, the capacity of tho parlors in the modest Galt home will be taxed, for both the principals have many close relatives. To witness tho ceremony and to give congratulations to the newly married ones these persons, among other kinfolk will be present: Miss Margaret Wilson, the president's eldest daughter; Mrs. Francis Bowes Sayre of Wllllamstown, Mass., the president’s second daughter; Mrs. William G. McAdoo, the president's third daughter; Mrs. Anne Howe of Philadelphia, the president's sister; Joseph R. Wilson of Baltimore, the president’s brother; Miss Helen Woodrow Bones, the president’s cousin, and several other close relatives of the president’s family.
Mrs. Galt, who, before her first marriage was Miss Edith Bolling of Virginia, has several brothers and sisters, all of whom will attend the wedding. Mrs. Galt's mother, Mrs. William H. Bolling, is living and makes her home with her daughter. Mrs. Galt’s sisters who will be in attendance are Miss Bertha Bolling of Washington and Mrs. H. H. Maury of Anniston, Ala. Her brothers, all of whom will attend, are John Randolph Bolling, Richard W. Bolling, Julian B. Bolling, all of Washington; R. E. Bolling of Panama and Dr. W. A. Bolling of Louisville, Ky.
Up to the very last moment it is probable that the exact hour of the wedding ceremony will be kept a secret. The desire is to prevent the gathering of a huge crowd about the Galt residence. As soon as the ceremony is over and the members of the family have congratulated the bride and groom, the newly married ones will leave for the South on a honeymoon trip which probably will last until the first week in January. The president and his bride must be back In Washington before January 7 in order to act as host and hostess at a great reception to be given in the White House to the Pan American representatives in the capital, and, moreover, because congress by that time will have reconvened after the Christmas holidays and Mr. Wilson must be back at his desk.
The White House conservatories and several of the private conservatories of the city of Washington will have their stocks of flowers nearly depleted in order to make beautiful with blossoms the scene of this wedding of a president. The Galt residence virtually will become a conservatory itself on the night of the ceremony. There will be music furnished by a small orchestra assigned from the membership of the Marine band, but the actual wedding march is likely to be played upon a piano by Miss Bertha Bolling, one of Mrs. Galt's sisters. An altar, which virtually will be a bank of flowers, is to be erected at the west end of the parlors of the residence. The bride-to-be will meet the president at the foot of the stairway in a hall without the wedding room, and will walk with him from there to the altar front. Mrs. Galt will carry a bouquet of orchids, which Mr. Wilson found out long ago to be her favorite flowers. She will be attired In a traveling gown. The ring will be a plain gold circlet Inscribed with the the initials of bride and groom.
Mrs. Edith Bolling Galt has been known for a good many years as one of the most perfectly gowned women In Washington. She Is a handsome woman and always dresses in exquisite taste. Her gowns always have been chosen with rare care and almost perfect judgment For some time Mrs. Galt has been busy in selecting her trousseau, being aided in this most important work by her mother, Mrs. Bolling, a woman of excellent discernment. Mrs. Galt’s trousseau already has arrived In Washington. Its selection was a matter of months and some controversies arose as to what might be called its origin. There were stories to the effect that French supply houses resented supplying anything through German-American middle men. Most of the stories were baseless, and it can be said that almost wholly Mrs. Galt’s wedding outfit is of American origin. Dark green and orchid are the predominating hues in the gowns of the bride-to-be, for, as has been said, orchids are Mrs. Galt’s favorite flowers. There are traveling gowns, street gowns, and evening gowns, the latter of which will be seen throughout the coming winter when the White House Is to be reopened for a series of old time entertainments.
Eleven months after his wedding to Edith Galt, President Wilson faced a re-election campaign. Some members of his campaign staff were afraid that the remarriage, coming barely a year after the first Mrs. Wilson's death, would harm his campaign, but this didn't appear to be a factor. The nation was more concerned about possible U.S. entry into the world war. At the inauguration Edith Wilson rode to and from the Capitol beside her husband in an open carriage.
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson gained notoriety as a first lady from having served as a very stern gatekeeper in deciding who would have access to President Woodrow Wilson after the president suffered a very bad stroke. The extent of the stroke was covered up by Mrs. Wilson in concert with her husband's physician. Even Vice-president Thomas Marshall was denied access to the president.
After Wilson's Presidency ended, Edith Wilson devoted the rest of her life to managing her husband's schedule until his death in 1924, and thereafter his legacy. She held the literary rights to all of her husband's papers and denied access to those whose motives she did not trust and granted access to those who proved their loyalty to her. In 1938 she wrote her autobiography. She maintained full script control of the 1944 Zanuck film biography Wilson, including the depiction of herself as played by actress Geraldine Fitzgerald. Before World War II, she made several trips to Europe for events honoring Wilson's vision of a League of Nations. She was considered a potential vice presidential candidate in 1928, and that year she attended the national presidential convention and spoke at the podium. She also eagerly attended public events where she was honored as a symbol of her husband. She sat next to Eleanor Roosevelt, for example, as President Franklin Roosevelt delivered his 1941 declaration of war to Congress. Edith Wilson maintained close contact with her successors, especially Grace Coolidge, Eleanor Roosevelt and Mamie Eisenhower. In the 1960 election, she pledged support for John F. Kennedy. Her last public appearance was at his January 20, 1961 inaugural. She died at her home in Washington, D.C. in December of 1961 at the age of 89. She and her second husband (President Wilson) are buried at Washington National Cathedral, in Washington, D.C.
In March 1915, Wilson met a widow named Edith Bolling Galt. He was introduced to her at the White House by Helen Bones, the president's cousin who had served as the official White House hostess since the death of Ellen Wilson. Wilson is said to have taken an instant liking to Mrs. Galt, who is described as being very charming. He too was quite the charmer, and is said to have proposed to her by stating "in this place time is not measured by weeks, or months, or years, but by deep human experiences."
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson was born on October 15, 1872 in Wytheville, Virginia. Her father was Judge William Holcombe Bolling and her mother was Sally White Bolling. Edith Wilson traced her ancestors to colonial Virginia and either by blood or through marriage she was related to Thomas Jefferson, Martha Washington, Letitia Tyler and the Harrison family. She was also part native American and claimed to be a direct descendent of the famous Powhatan tribe princess, Pocahontas. Edith was the seventh of eleven children. She was 5'9" tall with black hair and blue eyes and was an Episcopalian. Edith was educated at Martha Washington College in Abingdon, Virginia and later at the Richmond Female Seminary, in Richmond, Virginia, also known as Powell's School.
At age 23 she married Norman Galt, a jewelry store owner, on April 30, 1896. They were married for almost 12 years before Galt died on January 28, 1908. The couple had one son who died shortly after his birth. She received a substantial inheritance when Mr. Galt died. She bought a car and learned to drive it, and took numerous trips to Europe.
Edith met Woodrow Wilson in February, 1915 while taking tea with his cousin Helen Bones and their mutual friend Altrude Gordon. Gordon was dating (and would later marry) the naval physician Cary Grayson who worked for the Wilsons. Within months, she and Wilson were exchanging letters that mixed politics and their passionate love for each other. Wilson proposed marriage to Edith just three months after meeting her.
The two of them had been a romantic item for what was in those days considered such a short courtship period. Some in Washington were quick to poke fun at the marriage. One joke of the day went, "when Edith Galt heard the President propose marriage, she nearly fell out of bed." A typographical error in the Washington Post unintentionally made fun of the sexual nature of their relationship. The story meant to describe a date that the president and his then girlfriend had at a local theater, stating "rather than paying attention to the play the President spent the evening entertaining Mrs. Galt." What was printed in the first run of the Washington Post was the phrase "rather than paying attention to the play the President spent the evening entering Mrs. Galt." The first run of the paper was recalled, but a few copies were not recovered and are now highly prized collectibles.
The two were married on December 18, 1915 in Washington, D.C. at Edith's home. The bride was 43 and the groom was 59. A newspaper story announcing the wedding describes it thusly:
ln a small, unpretentious house, 1308 Twentieth street, to this city, Mrs. Edith Bolling Galt, widow, will be married Saturday, December 18, to Woodrow Wilson, widower and president of the United Mates. Not since the marriage of President John Tyler to Miss Julia Gardiner has there been a wedding of a president marked by such extreme quiet and seclusiveness as is to be the case at this wedding which will join the Wilson and the Galt families. President Tyler went to New York to be married to Miss Gardiner and there at the Church of the Ascension, in the presence of only a handful of persons he took unto himself his second wife. At the coming wedding of another president of the United States there will be present no persons except those of the immediate families of the two contracting parties. Only one cabinet officer, Mr. McAdoo, will witness the ceremony, and he not by right of his official position, hot because be Is the son-in-law of the president, having married Mr. Wilson's youngest daughter. When Grover Cleveland was married In the White House to Miss Folsom, the wedding party was a small one, but invited to it were members of the president's cabinet and several other high officers of government. President Wilson and Mrs. Galt have decreed that their union shall be wholly a family affair, relatives only to be present.
Mrs. Galt will be attended by her sister, Miss Bertha Bolling of this city. Even with the guests limited to the members of the families of the president and his bride-to-be, the capacity of tho parlors in the modest Galt home will be taxed, for both the principals have many close relatives. To witness tho ceremony and to give congratulations to the newly married ones these persons, among other kinfolk will be present: Miss Margaret Wilson, the president's eldest daughter; Mrs. Francis Bowes Sayre of Wllllamstown, Mass., the president’s second daughter; Mrs. William G. McAdoo, the president's third daughter; Mrs. Anne Howe of Philadelphia, the president's sister; Joseph R. Wilson of Baltimore, the president’s brother; Miss Helen Woodrow Bones, the president’s cousin, and several other close relatives of the president’s family.
Mrs. Galt, who, before her first marriage was Miss Edith Bolling of Virginia, has several brothers and sisters, all of whom will attend the wedding. Mrs. Galt's mother, Mrs. William H. Bolling, is living and makes her home with her daughter. Mrs. Galt’s sisters who will be in attendance are Miss Bertha Bolling of Washington and Mrs. H. H. Maury of Anniston, Ala. Her brothers, all of whom will attend, are John Randolph Bolling, Richard W. Bolling, Julian B. Bolling, all of Washington; R. E. Bolling of Panama and Dr. W. A. Bolling of Louisville, Ky.
Up to the very last moment it is probable that the exact hour of the wedding ceremony will be kept a secret. The desire is to prevent the gathering of a huge crowd about the Galt residence. As soon as the ceremony is over and the members of the family have congratulated the bride and groom, the newly married ones will leave for the South on a honeymoon trip which probably will last until the first week in January. The president and his bride must be back In Washington before January 7 in order to act as host and hostess at a great reception to be given in the White House to the Pan American representatives in the capital, and, moreover, because congress by that time will have reconvened after the Christmas holidays and Mr. Wilson must be back at his desk.
The White House conservatories and several of the private conservatories of the city of Washington will have their stocks of flowers nearly depleted in order to make beautiful with blossoms the scene of this wedding of a president. The Galt residence virtually will become a conservatory itself on the night of the ceremony. There will be music furnished by a small orchestra assigned from the membership of the Marine band, but the actual wedding march is likely to be played upon a piano by Miss Bertha Bolling, one of Mrs. Galt's sisters. An altar, which virtually will be a bank of flowers, is to be erected at the west end of the parlors of the residence. The bride-to-be will meet the president at the foot of the stairway in a hall without the wedding room, and will walk with him from there to the altar front. Mrs. Galt will carry a bouquet of orchids, which Mr. Wilson found out long ago to be her favorite flowers. She will be attired In a traveling gown. The ring will be a plain gold circlet Inscribed with the the initials of bride and groom.
Mrs. Edith Bolling Galt has been known for a good many years as one of the most perfectly gowned women In Washington. She Is a handsome woman and always dresses in exquisite taste. Her gowns always have been chosen with rare care and almost perfect judgment For some time Mrs. Galt has been busy in selecting her trousseau, being aided in this most important work by her mother, Mrs. Bolling, a woman of excellent discernment. Mrs. Galt’s trousseau already has arrived In Washington. Its selection was a matter of months and some controversies arose as to what might be called its origin. There were stories to the effect that French supply houses resented supplying anything through German-American middle men. Most of the stories were baseless, and it can be said that almost wholly Mrs. Galt’s wedding outfit is of American origin. Dark green and orchid are the predominating hues in the gowns of the bride-to-be, for, as has been said, orchids are Mrs. Galt’s favorite flowers. There are traveling gowns, street gowns, and evening gowns, the latter of which will be seen throughout the coming winter when the White House Is to be reopened for a series of old time entertainments.
Eleven months after his wedding to Edith Galt, President Wilson faced a re-election campaign. Some members of his campaign staff were afraid that the remarriage, coming barely a year after the first Mrs. Wilson's death, would harm his campaign, but this didn't appear to be a factor. The nation was more concerned about possible U.S. entry into the world war. At the inauguration Edith Wilson rode to and from the Capitol beside her husband in an open carriage.
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson gained notoriety as a first lady from having served as a very stern gatekeeper in deciding who would have access to President Woodrow Wilson after the president suffered a very bad stroke. The extent of the stroke was covered up by Mrs. Wilson in concert with her husband's physician. Even Vice-president Thomas Marshall was denied access to the president.
After Wilson's Presidency ended, Edith Wilson devoted the rest of her life to managing her husband's schedule until his death in 1924, and thereafter his legacy. She held the literary rights to all of her husband's papers and denied access to those whose motives she did not trust and granted access to those who proved their loyalty to her. In 1938 she wrote her autobiography. She maintained full script control of the 1944 Zanuck film biography Wilson, including the depiction of herself as played by actress Geraldine Fitzgerald. Before World War II, she made several trips to Europe for events honoring Wilson's vision of a League of Nations. She was considered a potential vice presidential candidate in 1928, and that year she attended the national presidential convention and spoke at the podium. She also eagerly attended public events where she was honored as a symbol of her husband. She sat next to Eleanor Roosevelt, for example, as President Franklin Roosevelt delivered his 1941 declaration of war to Congress. Edith Wilson maintained close contact with her successors, especially Grace Coolidge, Eleanor Roosevelt and Mamie Eisenhower. In the 1960 election, she pledged support for John F. Kennedy. Her last public appearance was at his January 20, 1961 inaugural. She died at her home in Washington, D.C. in December of 1961 at the age of 89. She and her second husband (President Wilson) are buried at Washington National Cathedral, in Washington, D.C.