William Howard Taft's Summer White House
In the days before air conditioning, Washington became uncomfortably hot in the summer months and many Presidents looked for cooler spots to get away from the heat in DC (perhaps both environmentally and politically speaking.) For those days this month that don't mark anniversaries, I'd like to look at some of these places, beginning with William Howard Taft's Summer White House at Beverly, Massachusetts.
For the previous sixteen years before he was President, Taft and his family had vacationed in Canada, on the shores of Murray Bay, halfway between Quebec city and Saguenay in the province of Quebec. Taft astutely realized that as president, it would not be smart to spend his vacation in another country, so he decided to look for a summer vacation spot in the USA. He selected Beverly in part because it was considered safe Republican territory, as well as for its pleasant location. Beverly was located near Nahant, Massachusetts, which at that time was the home of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr. The nearby towns of Manchester and Magnolia were home to many prominent politicians including William Boardman, and Senator Albert Beveridge. Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice and her husband Congressman Nicholas Longworth of Ohio also summered in a section of Beverly known as "Pride's Crossing". For Taft, who enjoyed golfing, there were lots of friends for him to golf with in the neighborhood. The Tafts had some close friends named John Hays Hammond and his wife Natalie who lived in the area as well.
It was first lady Nellie Taft who selected a green, shingled, fourteen-room cottage called Stetson Hall. It had previously belonged to the late John B. Stetson of Boston. It was located on Woodbury Point, between Beverly Cove and Hospital Point. The Tafts' landlord was Robert Dawson Evans, who had been president of U.S. Rubber.
When the Tafts moved in to Stetson Hall for the summer of 1909, the newspapers published stories about the new occupants and several hundred souvenir hunters invaded the grounds of the property, taking relics of the house as souvenirs and leaving the grounds covered with litter. Understandably, this did not please the Evans family. Shortly before the Tafts arrival on July 4th, 1909, Mr. Evans was thrown from his horse and was seriously injured. He died on July 6th 1909. As it was, 1909 was a trying year for the Tafts. In May of 1909 Nellie Taft suffered a stoke. and her husband was deeply concerned for his wife's health.
The Beverly Board of Trade made some rooms available to the President for any business he had to do. A local newspaper, the North Shore Reminder, have this humorous description of the offices made available to Taft:
"To be sure, in order to get to his rooms he, will have to climb the marble stairs, for there is no elevator, and will have to run the gauntlet of pop corn men, candy vendors and suspender peddlers, who infest the sidewalk. Once ensconced however, he will be all right. He can tip back in his swivel chair and enjoy the soothing strains of music, as furnished by the itinerant hurdy gurdy man. The president has already been warned not to pay any attention to any agonizing screams he may hear, for these will merely emanate from one of the dentists' offices on the same floor. It has been facetiously suggested that if the councils of state lead to uncertainty of action, recourse may be had to the wonderful powers of reading of the future possessed by Mme. Zaza, occultist and palmist, whose fortune telling studio is in a nearby shop."
Taft later moved his summer office to a more quiet location. According to reports he never made use of the space offered to him by the Beverly Board of Trade.
The Taft children joined their parents at the summer retreat. At the time Taft's eldest son, 19 year old Robert was attending Yale and his daughter Helen, age 17, was a student at Bryn Mawr. On September 14th 1909 Taft sat in the reviewing stand at a parade honoring the local soldiers of the Civil War.
The Presidential yacht, Mayflower, was anchored in the harbor each summer. The yacht was 273 feet long with a smaller yacht, the U.S.S. Sylph available for shorter trips. A Special Presidential Train" was also available for his trips to and from Washington during the summer months. On most Sundays, the Tafts attended the 1st Unitarian Parish Church.
Taft had a passion for golf. He was a member of the Myopia Hunt Club, and Essex County Club, and his golf partners included Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Judge Robert Grant, and Henry Clay Frick.
On August 9th, 1910 an assassination attempt was made on the life of Mayor Gaynor of Hoboken, New Jersey. This prompted the Secret Service to tighten the security around the Tafts and their summer white house on Woodbury Point. It was increased Secret Service presence that prompted the President's Landlady, Mrs. Evans, to tell the Tafts that 1910 would be their last summer at Stetson Hall.
The Tafts found a new summer home for the summers of 1911 and 1912. It was called "Parramatta" and was located less than a mile inland from Stetson Hall. It was an 18 room cottage that was leased to the Tafts for the 1911 and 1912 summer season. The lease included an option to in the event that Taft was re-elected to a second term in 1912. Taft left Beverly for the last time on October 26th 1912.
For the previous sixteen years before he was President, Taft and his family had vacationed in Canada, on the shores of Murray Bay, halfway between Quebec city and Saguenay in the province of Quebec. Taft astutely realized that as president, it would not be smart to spend his vacation in another country, so he decided to look for a summer vacation spot in the USA. He selected Beverly in part because it was considered safe Republican territory, as well as for its pleasant location. Beverly was located near Nahant, Massachusetts, which at that time was the home of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr. The nearby towns of Manchester and Magnolia were home to many prominent politicians including William Boardman, and Senator Albert Beveridge. Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice and her husband Congressman Nicholas Longworth of Ohio also summered in a section of Beverly known as "Pride's Crossing". For Taft, who enjoyed golfing, there were lots of friends for him to golf with in the neighborhood. The Tafts had some close friends named John Hays Hammond and his wife Natalie who lived in the area as well.
It was first lady Nellie Taft who selected a green, shingled, fourteen-room cottage called Stetson Hall. It had previously belonged to the late John B. Stetson of Boston. It was located on Woodbury Point, between Beverly Cove and Hospital Point. The Tafts' landlord was Robert Dawson Evans, who had been president of U.S. Rubber.
When the Tafts moved in to Stetson Hall for the summer of 1909, the newspapers published stories about the new occupants and several hundred souvenir hunters invaded the grounds of the property, taking relics of the house as souvenirs and leaving the grounds covered with litter. Understandably, this did not please the Evans family. Shortly before the Tafts arrival on July 4th, 1909, Mr. Evans was thrown from his horse and was seriously injured. He died on July 6th 1909. As it was, 1909 was a trying year for the Tafts. In May of 1909 Nellie Taft suffered a stoke. and her husband was deeply concerned for his wife's health.
The Beverly Board of Trade made some rooms available to the President for any business he had to do. A local newspaper, the North Shore Reminder, have this humorous description of the offices made available to Taft:
"To be sure, in order to get to his rooms he, will have to climb the marble stairs, for there is no elevator, and will have to run the gauntlet of pop corn men, candy vendors and suspender peddlers, who infest the sidewalk. Once ensconced however, he will be all right. He can tip back in his swivel chair and enjoy the soothing strains of music, as furnished by the itinerant hurdy gurdy man. The president has already been warned not to pay any attention to any agonizing screams he may hear, for these will merely emanate from one of the dentists' offices on the same floor. It has been facetiously suggested that if the councils of state lead to uncertainty of action, recourse may be had to the wonderful powers of reading of the future possessed by Mme. Zaza, occultist and palmist, whose fortune telling studio is in a nearby shop."
Taft later moved his summer office to a more quiet location. According to reports he never made use of the space offered to him by the Beverly Board of Trade.
The Taft children joined their parents at the summer retreat. At the time Taft's eldest son, 19 year old Robert was attending Yale and his daughter Helen, age 17, was a student at Bryn Mawr. On September 14th 1909 Taft sat in the reviewing stand at a parade honoring the local soldiers of the Civil War.
The Presidential yacht, Mayflower, was anchored in the harbor each summer. The yacht was 273 feet long with a smaller yacht, the U.S.S. Sylph available for shorter trips. A Special Presidential Train" was also available for his trips to and from Washington during the summer months. On most Sundays, the Tafts attended the 1st Unitarian Parish Church.
Taft had a passion for golf. He was a member of the Myopia Hunt Club, and Essex County Club, and his golf partners included Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Judge Robert Grant, and Henry Clay Frick.
On August 9th, 1910 an assassination attempt was made on the life of Mayor Gaynor of Hoboken, New Jersey. This prompted the Secret Service to tighten the security around the Tafts and their summer white house on Woodbury Point. It was increased Secret Service presence that prompted the President's Landlady, Mrs. Evans, to tell the Tafts that 1910 would be their last summer at Stetson Hall.
The Tafts found a new summer home for the summers of 1911 and 1912. It was called "Parramatta" and was located less than a mile inland from Stetson Hall. It was an 18 room cottage that was leased to the Tafts for the 1911 and 1912 summer season. The lease included an option to in the event that Taft was re-elected to a second term in 1912. Taft left Beverly for the last time on October 26th 1912.