Presidents' Children: Maria Hester Monroe Gouveneur
James Monroe and his wife, the former Elizabeth Kortright, had three children:
1. Eliza Monroe (1786–1835) In 1808, she married George Hay, a lawyer who practiced law in Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia from 1787 to 1803. He was a U.S. Attorney for the District of Virginia from 1803 to 1816 and served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1816 to 1822, before returning to private practice in Washington, D.C. from 1822 to 1825. On July 5, 1825, Hay received a recess appointment from John Quincy Adams to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia vacated by St. George Tucker. He was formally nominated on December 13, 1825, and was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 31, 1826. He served until his death. Eliza substituted for her ailing mother as official White House hostess for her father's presidential events.
2. James Spence Monroe was Monroe's only son. He died in infancy, being born in 1799 and passing away in 1801. He was likely named for Monroe's younger brother Spence.
3. Maria Hester Monroe who was born in 1804 and died in 1850. I have focused this entry on her because the biographies of Monroe that I have read mention her most, and it was with Maria that James Monroe went to live after his wife's death. He died in her home.
Maria Hester finished school in Philadelphia before moving into the White House in 1819. She married her cousin Samuel L. Gouverneur on March 9, 1820, in what was the first wedding of a president's child in the White House. She was 17 at the time and he was one of the President's junior secretaries. He was the nephew of first lady Elizabeth Monroe. The wedding took place in what was then called “the Elliptical Saloon” (known today as the “Blue Room”). The Rev. William Hawley, pastor of St. John’s Episcopal Church officiated at the ceremony. Following the ceremony, a banquet was held for forty-two close friends and relatives in the State Dining Room.
The wedding of Maria Hester Monroe managed to cause resentment among Washington society, and especially within the diplomatic community. Elizabeth Kortright Monroe was perceived as snobbish, even though her aloofness may have been the product of her poor health. She left a number of prominent Washington politicians and socialites off of the guest list, causing many of them to get their noses out of joint.
Maria Hester was described in one contemporary writing by the unflattering description of being "an innocent, plain, big-boned, seventeen-year-old". Her name was pronounced “Mariah,” an old Welsh pronunciation. The wedding was organized by older sister, Eliza Monroe Hay, who took charge of the event. This caused some tension within the family. Samuel Gouverneur resented the fact that his young bride was not allowed to make her own decisions about who was invited to the wedding. Louisa Adams, the wife of then Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, wrote in her diary that Eliza Monroe was “so proud and so mean I scarcely ever met such a compound.”
Maria and Samuel followed the wedding with a series of private celebrations. They encouraged their respective hosts to invite whomever they wished, in order to be as inclusive as possible. After the couple returned from a week's honeymoon, Commodore and Mrs. Stephen Decatur gave them a reception at the Decatur House on May 20, 1820. Another ball had to be cancelled because Decatur died two days later in a duel.
The couple later moved to New York where Gouverneur became was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1825. He was Postmaster of New York City from 1828 to 1836. While in New York he invested in racehorses, and the Bowery Theatre along with James Alexander Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton.
When James Monroe left office, he was faced with financial pressures. He sold off his Virgina home, then known as Highland Plantation. (It is now called Ash Lawn-Highland and is now owned by his alma mater, the College of William and Mary, which has opened it to the public as an historic site.) Throughout his life, James Monroe was not financially solvent, and his wife's poor health made matters worse. Maria Hester and her husband helped the former president after he left office, financially and in other ways. Gouveneur, a capable lawyer, helped Monroe to press his claims to Congress in order that he could repay his mounting debts.
When Elizabeth Monroe died in 1830, James Monroe came to live at Maria Hester's home. He died there on the 4th of July in 1831. Gouverneur served as executor of Monroe's estate, which had to be sold off to pay the debts. Monroe was buried in the Gouverneur family vault at the New York City Marble Cemetery, until 1858 when descendants had the remains moved to the James Monroe Tomb in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.
Monroe's personal papers were left to Gouverneur. Maria Hester was also was asked to support her sister Eliza Monroe Hay, who was by then a widow. Gouverneur started work on publishing the papers or a book on Monroe, but it was never finished.Eliza died in 1840. The Gouverneurs moved to Washington, DC. where Gouverneur worked in the consular bureau of the US Department of State from 1844 to 1849.
Maria Hester was the mother of three children:
1. James Monroe Gouverneur (1822–1885), a deaf-mute who died at the Spring Grove Asylum in Baltimore, Maryland
2. Elizabeth Kortright Gouverneur (1824–1868) who married Henry Lee Heiskell; and
3. Samuel Laurence Gouverneur, Jr. (1826–1880), who married Mariah Campbell (1821–1914), and became the first U.S. consul in Fuzhou, China.
On June 20, 1850, Maria Monroe Gouverneur died at the Oak Hill estate. The following year her husband remarried and retired to the Lee estate called "Needwood", near Frederick, Maryland. He died in 1865.
1. Eliza Monroe (1786–1835) In 1808, she married George Hay, a lawyer who practiced law in Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia from 1787 to 1803. He was a U.S. Attorney for the District of Virginia from 1803 to 1816 and served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1816 to 1822, before returning to private practice in Washington, D.C. from 1822 to 1825. On July 5, 1825, Hay received a recess appointment from John Quincy Adams to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia vacated by St. George Tucker. He was formally nominated on December 13, 1825, and was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 31, 1826. He served until his death. Eliza substituted for her ailing mother as official White House hostess for her father's presidential events.
2. James Spence Monroe was Monroe's only son. He died in infancy, being born in 1799 and passing away in 1801. He was likely named for Monroe's younger brother Spence.
3. Maria Hester Monroe who was born in 1804 and died in 1850. I have focused this entry on her because the biographies of Monroe that I have read mention her most, and it was with Maria that James Monroe went to live after his wife's death. He died in her home.
Maria Hester finished school in Philadelphia before moving into the White House in 1819. She married her cousin Samuel L. Gouverneur on March 9, 1820, in what was the first wedding of a president's child in the White House. She was 17 at the time and he was one of the President's junior secretaries. He was the nephew of first lady Elizabeth Monroe. The wedding took place in what was then called “the Elliptical Saloon” (known today as the “Blue Room”). The Rev. William Hawley, pastor of St. John’s Episcopal Church officiated at the ceremony. Following the ceremony, a banquet was held for forty-two close friends and relatives in the State Dining Room.
The wedding of Maria Hester Monroe managed to cause resentment among Washington society, and especially within the diplomatic community. Elizabeth Kortright Monroe was perceived as snobbish, even though her aloofness may have been the product of her poor health. She left a number of prominent Washington politicians and socialites off of the guest list, causing many of them to get their noses out of joint.
Maria Hester was described in one contemporary writing by the unflattering description of being "an innocent, plain, big-boned, seventeen-year-old". Her name was pronounced “Mariah,” an old Welsh pronunciation. The wedding was organized by older sister, Eliza Monroe Hay, who took charge of the event. This caused some tension within the family. Samuel Gouverneur resented the fact that his young bride was not allowed to make her own decisions about who was invited to the wedding. Louisa Adams, the wife of then Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, wrote in her diary that Eliza Monroe was “so proud and so mean I scarcely ever met such a compound.”
Maria and Samuel followed the wedding with a series of private celebrations. They encouraged their respective hosts to invite whomever they wished, in order to be as inclusive as possible. After the couple returned from a week's honeymoon, Commodore and Mrs. Stephen Decatur gave them a reception at the Decatur House on May 20, 1820. Another ball had to be cancelled because Decatur died two days later in a duel.
The couple later moved to New York where Gouverneur became was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1825. He was Postmaster of New York City from 1828 to 1836. While in New York he invested in racehorses, and the Bowery Theatre along with James Alexander Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton.
When James Monroe left office, he was faced with financial pressures. He sold off his Virgina home, then known as Highland Plantation. (It is now called Ash Lawn-Highland and is now owned by his alma mater, the College of William and Mary, which has opened it to the public as an historic site.) Throughout his life, James Monroe was not financially solvent, and his wife's poor health made matters worse. Maria Hester and her husband helped the former president after he left office, financially and in other ways. Gouveneur, a capable lawyer, helped Monroe to press his claims to Congress in order that he could repay his mounting debts.
When Elizabeth Monroe died in 1830, James Monroe came to live at Maria Hester's home. He died there on the 4th of July in 1831. Gouverneur served as executor of Monroe's estate, which had to be sold off to pay the debts. Monroe was buried in the Gouverneur family vault at the New York City Marble Cemetery, until 1858 when descendants had the remains moved to the James Monroe Tomb in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.
Monroe's personal papers were left to Gouverneur. Maria Hester was also was asked to support her sister Eliza Monroe Hay, who was by then a widow. Gouverneur started work on publishing the papers or a book on Monroe, but it was never finished.Eliza died in 1840. The Gouverneurs moved to Washington, DC. where Gouverneur worked in the consular bureau of the US Department of State from 1844 to 1849.
Maria Hester was the mother of three children:
1. James Monroe Gouverneur (1822–1885), a deaf-mute who died at the Spring Grove Asylum in Baltimore, Maryland
2. Elizabeth Kortright Gouverneur (1824–1868) who married Henry Lee Heiskell; and
3. Samuel Laurence Gouverneur, Jr. (1826–1880), who married Mariah Campbell (1821–1914), and became the first U.S. consul in Fuzhou, China.
On June 20, 1850, Maria Monroe Gouverneur died at the Oak Hill estate. The following year her husband remarried and retired to the Lee estate called "Needwood", near Frederick, Maryland. He died in 1865.