The court circles of the republic, or, The beauties and celebrities of the nation : illustrating life and society under eighteen presidents, describing the social features of the successive administrations from Washington to Grant ...

Front matter

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

Preface

Lord Napier remarked to a distlngulslied lady In "Washington, that a book descriptive of Society in the National Capital ought to be written ; and that a faithful record would give a better idea of the spirit and character of the period than any history. Except of the earliest "Eepublican Court," no attempt has been made to portray the social character of any administration. In this effort to supply a lamented defect, the necessary descriptions and sketches have been condensed as much as possible, and no memoirs have been included of men whose biographies have been elsewhere given to the public. The aim has been to exhibit statesmen, leading ladies, etc., In their drawing-room aspect, with only notices sufficient to illustrate their appearance and influence at special times. Thus mention is made repeatedly of the same persons under different administrations.

Imperfect as a brief survey must necessarily be, it will be found that a fair idea of an administration can be gained by a view of its fashionable life and every-day social habits. A great difference will be perceived In the terms of the Presidents, traceable in some degree to the Influence of the Execu-

IV PREFACE.

tive, but far more to those who surrounded him, and most of all to the ladies who ruled in the fashionable coteries, and gave the laws in assemblages, dress, and entertainments. The attention bestowed on these last may seem disproportionate to those who do not estimate their effect ; those who remember the large share they occupy in the delineation of any period, will not charge the author with a frivolous taste in dwelling on them.

So vast a variety of sources of information have been consulted for this work, that a list of them would be tedious ; and it will no doubt be more agreeable to the reader to be spared the enumeration. Letters and journals of the time have been especially used. In some cases access has been had to valuable family papers, throwing light on the subject illustrated.

The use of the term " Court-Circles," can hardly be censured, as it conveys exactly the meaning intended — the circles surrounding the President, and most conspicuous in the capital — and no other expression could be found to answer so well.

Contents

I. WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTKATION.

pase:.

Establishment of the First Presidential Court — Imposing Spectacle of the Inauguration — Brilliant Festivities in Honor of it — Arrival of Mrs. Washington and Mrs. Robert Morris — First Levee — The President's Equipage — Prominent Ladies and Statesmen — Dress ,of the President at his Official Receptions — Style of Ordinary Ones — Mrs. Izard — Mrs. Knox — Alexander Hamilton— Robert Morris — Gouverneur Morris — Mrs. Burr — Attorneys and Divines in New York — Edmund Randolph — John Jay — Jefferson, Secretary of State — Charles Carroll of Maryland — The Misses White — Party at Mr. White's — ^The Best Dressed Gentleman — New Year's Calls — The President drawn by Six Horses to Federal Hall — Death of Franklin — Removal of the Capital from New York to Philadelphia — House assigned to the President — Brilliant Society — Mrs. Bingham and other Leaders of the Ton — Conspicuous Men of the Period — Foreign Visitors of exalted Rank — The Farewell Levee — Deportment in the Drawing-room a reflex of Temper in the Cabinet and Congress, 15

II. John Adams' Administkation

Mrs. Adams' Description of Her Philadelphia Residence — A Presidential Drawing-room — Mr. Adams at a Dinner at Mr. Bingham's — A Singular Incident — The Inauguration — Departure of General and Mrs. Washington — Character of Mrs. Adams — Presiding in the Executive Mansion — Gayeties of the City — Routs and Tea and Cards — Gambling customary at Parties — An honored Visitor in Mrs. Adams' Circle — Removal of the Capital to Washington— Descriptions of the " Wilderness City " — Mrs. Adams" Lively Picture — Inconveniences and Privations — Marcia Burns a noted Belle — Married to J. P. Van Ness — Samuel Dexter — Mrs. Adams in after Life.

In the contest for the Presidency, Mr. Adams prevailed by a very small majority. Hence, Federalism was still ascendant in the national councils, though considerably depressed in those of some of the States. The tone given by Washington was maintained by his successor.

Mrs. John Adams, in a letter to her daughter Mrs. Smith, in November, 1790, describes her new residence in Philadelphia: "Bush Hill, as it is called, though there remains neither bush nor shrub upon it, and very few trees, except the pine grove behind it — is a very beautiful place. But the gi-and and the sublime I left at Eichmond Hill : — the Schuylkill is no more like the Pludson than I to Hercules. By accident the vessel with our furniture had arrived the

MRS. ADAMS' RESIDENCE. 43

day before, and Briesler was taking in the first load into a house all green painted j the workmen there with their brushes in hand. This was cold comfort in a house, where I suppose no fire had been kindled for several years, except in a back kitchen.

" The next morning was pleasant, and I ventured to come and take possession j but what confusion ! Boxes, barrels, chairs, tables, trunks, &c. The first object was to get fires ; the next to get up beds ; but the cold damp rooms, the new paint, &c., proved almost too much for' me. On Sunday Thomas was laid up with the rheumatism ; on Monday, I was obliged to give Louisa an emetic ; on Tuesday Mrs. Briesler was taken with her old pain ; and on Thursday Polly was seized with a violent pleuritic fever. And every day, the stormy ones excepted, from eleven till three the house is filled with ladies and gentlemen. Mrs. Bingham has been twice to see me. I think she is more amiable and beautiful than ever. Nancy Hamilton is the same unaffected affable girl we formerly knew. Mrs. Lear was in to see me yesterday, and assures me I am much better off than Mrs. Washington will be when she arrives ; for their house is not likely to be completed this year. And when all is done, it will not be Broadway. If New York wanted any revenge for the removal, the citizens might be glutted if they would come here, where every article has become almost double in price and where it is not possible for Congress and the appendages to be half as well accommodated for a long time."

At the age of forty this daughter of a village clergyman and wife of a village lawyer had left her mod-

44 JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTEATIOIsr.

est home at Braintree to mingle in the shows of a magnificent court, where her husband was ambassador, and where she maintained the social fame of her country. Her native abilities and habitual elevation of feeling and demeanor, supplied the want of that aristocratic cultivation illustrated in everything around her, and commanded a higher consideration for herself than the rank of the minister. She was four years in Paris and London, and had but recently returned, when the election of Mr. Adams as Vice-President summoned him to New York. Mrs. Adams was then in the maturity of her life and her mental powers. She joined her daughter, Mrs. Smith, in New York.

Again she wrote :

" On Friday evening last I went with Charles to the drawing-room. The room became full before I left it, and the circle very brilliant. How could it be otherwise, a constellation of beauties ? Mrs. Bingham has certainly given laws to the ladies here, in fashion and elegance. Mrs. Powell, I join the general voice in pronouncing a very interesting woman. She is aunt to Mrs. Bingham."

" I have received many invitations to tea and cards in the European style, but have hitherto declined them on account of my health," &c.

In June, 1795, Mr. Adams wrote to his wife:

" Yesterday I dined at Mr. Bingham's with a large company. While at table a servant came to me, with a message from Mr. Law, who desired to speak with me in the ante-chamber. I went out to him, and found that he wanted to enquire of me concerning a young lady of amiable manners and elegant educa-

THE IKAUGURATION. 45

tion, whom Mr. Law and Mr. Greenleaf had found in Maryland in great distress and a little disarranged, and brought with them to Philadelphia."

" On Tuesday, when I waited as usual on Mrs. Washington, after attending the levee, she congratulated me very complaisantly and affectionately on my election to the Presidency, and went farther and said more than I expected. She said it gave them great pleasure to find that the votes had turned in my favor."

At the inauguration of President Adams, he wrote :

" Chief Justice Ellsworth administered the oath, and with great energy. Judges Gushing, Wilson, and Iredell were present. Many ladies. ... I believe scarcely a dry eye but Washington's."

Chestnut Street, in the vicinity of Congress Hall was filled with an immense concourse on the day of Washington's final retirement and the inauguration of President Adams. It was the Fourth of March 1797. Mr. Adams, then sixty-one years of age, was dressed in a full suit of pearl-colored broadcloth, and wore his hair powdered. At eleven Jefferson took his oath as Vice-President before the Senate j at twelve Washington entered the crowded Chamber of Representatives, followed by Adams; both received with enthusiastic cheers. The new President being inaugurated, gave his address before the administration of the oath. " At the close of the ceremony " said President Duer, " as the venerable hero moved towards the door, there was a rush from the gallery that threatened the lives of those who were most

46 JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTEATION.

eager to catch a last look. Some of us effected our escape by slipping down the pillars." As soon as Mr. Adams had returned to his residence, Washington made him a visit, cordially congratulated him, and expressed a wish that his administration might be happy, successful, and honorable. In the evening an entertainment was given by the principal citizens at the amphitheater. The leading public characters, including the foreign ministers, were present.

Mrs. Adams had written to her husband, Feb. 8th, 1797. On that day the votes for President were counted, and Mr. Adams, as Vice-President, was required to announce himsell as President elect :

" You have this day to declare yourself head of a nation. ' And now, 0 Lord, my God, Thou hast made Thy servant ruler over the people. Give to him an understanding heart, that he may know how to go out and come in before this great people ; that he may discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge this thy so great a people!' were the words of a royal sovereign ; and not less applicable to him who is invested with the Chief Magistracy of a nation, though he wear not a crown, nor the robes of royalty."

" My feelings are not those of pride or ostentation upon the occasion. They are solemnized by a sense of the obligations, the important trusts and numerous duties connected with it."

The retirement of General Washington from the Presidency at the end of eight years, was the signal for the great struggle between the two political parties which had been rapidly maturing their organiza-

CHARACTER OF MRS. ADAMS. 47

tion during his administration. Mr. Adams' election was by a bare majority of the electoral college, and against the inclinations of one section even of that party which supported him. The open defection of that section at the next election, turned the scale against him, and elevated Mr. Jefferson.

Mr. Adams wrote, 9th March, 1797:

" The President and Mrs. Washington go off this morning for Mount Vernon. Yesterday afternoon he came to make me his farewell visit, and requested me, in his own name and Mrs. Washington's, to present ' their respects ' to Mrs. Adams. I believe that I envied him more than he did me and with reason. The house is to be cleared and cleaned, and I am to go into it on Monday next if possible. I shall make a small establishment for myself, for the present, and wait your advice for ulterior arrangements." I Mrs. Adams appeared, as in other situations, the accomplished woman, the pure-hearted patriot, and the worthy partner of her husband's cares and honors. In her elevated position, her grace and elegance, with her charms of conversation, were rendered more attractive by her frank sincerity. Her close observation, discrimination of character, and clear judgment, gave her an influence that failed not to be acknowledged. Her buoyant cheerfulness and affectionate sympathy sustained the spirit of her husband, and it was her part in social life to calm agitations, heal the rankling wounds of pride, and pluck away the root of bitterness.

I When Adams became President, Philadelphia was

still the national capital; but in 1800, the seat of 4

48 JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTEATIOK.

government was transferred to Washington, in the District of Columbia. The struggle of parties which had begun in the first President's term, became more violent in that of Mr. Adams ; but the exemplary deportment of his wife went far to disarm even the demon of party spirit. She enjoyed universal esteem as well for the endowments of her mind as the correctness of her deportment ; and the only form which personal malevolence or party malignity could assume to turn her virtues into weapons of annoyance, was that of occasional insinuations that she exercised over her husband an influence which extended even to measures of public concernment. Those who could not deny her tenderness and womanly grace, maintained that her chief distinction was a masculine understanding.

The social circles of the metropolis were nearly the same during the administration of Adams, as in the preceding one. The increasing virulence of party strife had some effect in disturbing the harmony of society.

Mrs. Adams wrote of the gayeties of Philadelphia : " I should spend a very dissipated winter if I were to accept one-half of the invitations I receive, particularly to the routs or tea and cards." There was a prevalent passion for gambling; and at one time it was not uncommon to hear that a lady or a gentleman had lost three or four hundred dqllars at a sitting. Mrs. Adams pronounced the dancing "very good," but says of the etiquette : " It was not to be found." " Friendliness," she adds, " is kept up among the principal families, who appear to live in great

PEIMITIVE STATE OF WASHINGTOK. 49

harmony ; and we meet in all places nearly the same company."

Josiah Quincy was one of the honored visitors of Mrs. Adams' circle. She wrote of him, on his arrival : "This young man is a rare instance of hereditary eloquence and ingenuity in the fourth generation. He comes into life with every advantage of family, fortune and education."

The site of Washington had been twelve years before designated as the future and permanent capital of the country ; yet it remained in a very primitive state. Wolcott wrote to his wife : " There is one good tavern, about forty rods from the capitol, and several other houses are built or erecting ; but I do not see how the members of Congress can possibly secure lodgings, unless they will consent to live like scholars in a college, or monks in a monastery, crowded ten or twenty in one house, and utterly secluded from society. There are few houses in any one place, and most of them small, miserable huts, which present an awful contrast to the public buildings. The people are poor, and as far as I can judge, they live like fishes, by eating each other. You may 'look in almost any direction, over an extent of ground nearly as large as the city of New York, without seeing a fence or any object except brick-kilns and temporary huts for laborers. There appears to be a confident expectation that this place will soon exceed any city in the world."

Gouverneur Morris wrote to a lady, a few months later : — " We want nothing here but houses, cellars, kitchens, well-informed men, amiable women and

50 JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTEATIOK.

Other little trifles of the kind to make our city perfect ; for we can walk here as if in the fields and woods, and, considering the hard frost, the air of the city is very pure. I enjoy more of it than any one else; for my room is filled with smoke whenever the door is shut."

Mrs. Adams gave a still livelier picture, writing to her daughter. "In the city there are buildings enough, if they were compact and finished, to accommodate Congress and those attached to it; but as they are and scattered as they are, I see no great comfort for them. The river, which runs up to Alexandria, is in full view from my window, and I see the vessels as they pass and repass. The house is on a grand and superb scale, requiring about thirty servants to attend and keep the apartments in proper order and perform the ordinary business of the house and stables ; an establishment very well proportioned to the President's salary. The lighting the apartments from the kitchen to parlors and chambers is a tax indeed, and the fires we are obliged to keep to secure us from daily agues is another very cheering comfort. Bells are wholly wanting; not one being hung through the whole house, and promises are all you can obtain. Yesterday I returned fifteen visits."

A letter dated Washington, November, 1800, says:

" Woods are all you see from Baltimore, until you reach the city, which is so only in name. No wood-cutters or carters to be had at any rate. We are now indebted to a Pennsylvania wagon to bring us, through the first clerk in the Treasury office, one cord and a, half of wood, which is all we have for this house, where twelve fires are constantly required ; and we are told the roads will soon be so bad it cannot be drawn. Briesler procured two hundred bushels of coal, or

THE WILDERNESS CITY. 53

we must have suffered. This is the situation of ahnost every person. The public officers have sent to Philadelphia for wood-cutters and wagons.". . . " The vessel which has my clothes and other matters has not arrived. The ladies are impatient for a drawing-room : I have no looking-glasses but dwarfs for this house ; nor a twentieth part lamps enough to light it ; my tea china is more than half missing.". " You can scarcely believe that here, in this wilderness city, I should find my time so occupied as it is. My visitors, — some of them — come three or four miles. The return of one of them is the work of one day : most of the ladies reside in Georgetown, or in scattered parts of the city at two and three mUes' distance. Mrs. Otis, my nearest neighbor, is at lodgings almost half a mile from mo ; Mrs. Senator Otis two miles." ..." We have not the least fence, yard or other convenience without, and the great unfinished audience-room 1 make a drying-room of, to hang the clothes in. . . . Six chambers are made comfortable; two are occupied by the President and Mr. Shaw ; two lower rooms, — one for a common parlor, and one for a levee-room. Up stairs there is the oval room, which is designed for the drawing-room, and has the crimson furniture in it."

Mrs. Adams made no claim to learning ; though her reading had been extensive in the lighter departments of literature, and she was well acquainted with the poets in her own language. The soul shining through her words gave them their great attraction ; " the spirit, ever equal to the occasion, whether a great or a small one ; a spirit inquisitive and earnest in the little details of life, as when she was in France and England ; playful, when she describes daily duties ; but rising to the call when the roar of cannon is in her ears, or when she reproves her husband for not knowing her better than to think her a coward and to fear telling her bad news ; or when she warns her son that she ' would rather he had found his grave in the ocean, or that any untimely death should crop him in his infant years, than see him an immoral, profligate, or graceless child.'"

54 JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION.

One of the most admired belles in Washington at the commencement of the century was Miss Marcia Burns, the daughter of David Burns, whose estate, inherited from Scottish ancestors, had covered the site of the capital. Marcia lived with her widowed mother; and the extraordinary attractions of her person, manners and character drew a throng of admirers around the lovely heiress. She married John P. Van Ness, in 1802. She was prominent in "Washington society fifteen years, and her house was the resort of a brilliant and distinguished circle. After the untimely death of her daughter, Mrs. Arthur Middleton, Mrs. Van Ness retired from the world, devoting her time to works of charity.*

Mr. Samuel Dexter was a member of the cabinet under the Presidency of John Adams. Mrs. Adams condoling with his wife after his death, calls him " a great man, fallen in the zenith of his glory ; and in the estimation of his ancient friend, the ablest statesman of his age which his native State could boast. Such an assemblage of powerful talents rarely meet in one individual united to such an upright and independent mind, which soared above all low concerns, and was elevated beyond all selfish considerations and party views."

Mrs. Adams wrote Mr. Jefferson a kind letter of condolence from Quincy, in May, 1804. It was to her care his young daughter had been committed when she went abroad, and Mrs. Adams " recalled the tender scene of separation from me, when, with

* For memoirs of this lady and others of her family, see " The Queens of American Society."

MRS. ADAMS' ChARACTEE. 55

the strongest sensibility, she clung around my neck and wet my bosom with her tears, saying, ' Oh, now I have learned to love you, why will they take me from you?'" This letter led to an overture for a renewal of former friendship, and to some mutual explanations. But Mrs. Adams was not easily mollified, and the correspondence was closed with her feelings apparently unappeased by the concessions of one who had been a political adversary. Of Mrs. Adams it was said : " Her lofty lineaments carried a trace of the Puritan severity. They were those of the helmed Minerva, and not of the casstus-girdled Venus. Her correspondence uniformly exhibits a didactic personage, a little inclined to assume a sermonizing attitude, as befitted the well-trained and self-reliant daughter of a New England country clergyman, and a little inclined, after the custom of her people, to return thanks that she had no lot or part in anything that was not of Massachusetts. Perhaps the masculineness of her understanding extended somewhat to the firmness of her temper. But, towering above, and obscuring these minor angularities, she possessed a strength of intellectual and moral character, which commands our unqualified admiration. When her New England frigidity gave way and kindled into enthusiasm, it was not like "light straw on fire," but "red-hot steel." "Had Mr. Adams been the victor and Mr. Jefferson the vanquished, half the advances made by the latter would have sufficed. The overthrow of a President had not then been made a common occurrence ; circumstances rendered the downfall of Mr. Adams per-

5G JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION.

sonally irritating and humiliating, and Mrs. Adams felt morbidly for her husband."

Mrs. Adams lost none of the imposing features of her character in the decline of life. A visitor at Quincy described Mr. Adams as of sound mind and heart, though trembling as with palsy. He joked and laughed heartily, and talked freely about everything and everybody ; seeming a vast encyclopedia of written and unwritten knowledge, which gushed out on every topic, and was mingled with lively anecdotes and sallies of humor. His carelessness of language suggested anything but pedantry : in short, the brave old man was as delightful as he was commanding in conversation. While the guest was enjoying the interview, an aged and stately woman came in, and he was introduced to Mrs. Adams. Her cap of delicate lace surrounded features, still exhibiting intellect and energy though possessing no beauty. She was dressed in pure white, and there was that immaculate neatness in her appearance which gives to age almost the sweetness of youth. With less warmth of manner and sociability than Mr. Adams, she was gracious, and her occasional remarks betrayed intellectual vigor and strong sense. Her serenity and benign cheerfulness continued to the last ; the shadows of a life full of changes never deepened into gloom ; and she was still a messenger of blessing to all within her influence. In 1813, she lost her only daughter, Mrs. William S. Smith. Mrs. Adams died, seventy-four years of age, in October, 1818.

III. Jefferson's Administration

The two great Parties — The Widow Skelton — The Musical Courtship— The Bridal Festivities — The Snow-storm — Jefferson's Equipage — Fashions in Dress — The Inauguration — Absence of Court Ceremony— Vain Protest of Ladies against the abolition of Levees — Social Etiquette — Complaint of the British Minister of uncivil Treatment — Tom Moore's Indignation and Abuse of Americans — Burr's Treason — The President's Courtesy — The old Man at the Ferry — The Kentuckian won over — Josiah Quincy's Experiences — Why the Barbers were Federalists — Personal Appearance of Jefferson and Madison — Hospitality at Monticello — " Country Gentleman " Style of Living — Domestic Life of the Ex-President — ^Illustrative Anecdotes — Death of Jefferson — Interesting Case of Virginia Murray — Character of John Kandolph — His Declamation and piquant Wit — The Irishman who sought his Acquaintance — Amusing Anecdotes.

As events rolled on, one circumstance and another conspired to mark more distinctly the lines between the parties of the day, and at the period of the election of the third President of the United States, they were very clearly defined throughout the Union, under the names of Federalists and Democrats. In the first class were included Washington, Hamilton, Jay, Pickering, Ames, Marshall, and others like them; the last enrolled in its list Jefferson, Burr, George Clinton, Madison, and many more throughout the States.

58 Jefferson's administeation.

" Jeflferson's influence " said an English writer, " was greater than that of any other President except Washington ; and the reason is, that his convictions went along with the national mind." Jefferson married, January 1, 1772, Mrs. Martha Skelton. She was the widow of Bathurst Skelton and the daughter of John "Wayles of " The Forest " in Charles City County. Wayles was an Englishman and had been three times married ; his last wife was Mrs. Martha Epes, widow of Llewellin Epes, of Bermuda Hundred. Martha Wayles was born in 1749, and married Skelton in 1766. Her husband lived but two years. The widow, scarcely advanced beyond her girlhood, was distinguished for beauty, accomplishments, and solid merit. She was slight, but exquisitely formed, a little above the medium hight. Her complexion was brilliant; her large expressive eyes were a soft, rich hazel ; her luxuriant hair was golden auburn. She walked, rode, danced, with inimitable grace and spirit ; she sang, and played the spinet and harpsichord, (the musical instruments of the ladies of that day in Virginia) with admirable skill. She was also well read and intelligent; she conversed agreeably, had excellent, sense and a lively play of fancy, and possessed a disposition frank, ardent, and impulsive. She had proved herself a true daughter of the Old Dominion in housewifery, and was a clever business woman. With these traits, added to rank and wealth, it is not wonderful that she was a favorite in society, and that her hand was sought by wooers far and near.

Tradition has preserved an anecdote, that on one occasion two of Mrs. Skelton's admirers changed to,

THE WEDDING JOUKNEY. 59

meet at the door of her house, and were shown into a room where they heard her harpsichord and voice, accompanied by Mr. Jefferson's violin and voice, in a touching song. They listened for a stanza or two, and then, convinced of the hopelessness of their errand, took their hats and retired. Another and less probable version of the story is, that the three wooers met on the door-stone, and agreed to "take turns," and that the interview should be decisive ; that Jefferson led of^ and that during his trial, the others heard the music that settled the point !

The bridal festivities at the "Forest" were worthy of Virginian hospitality. Eev. Mr. Davis, the officiating clergyman, and Eev. Mr. Coutts, shared the fees, and douceurs to fiddlers and servants occupy a page of the pocket account-book. The bride and bridegroom, when they set out for Monticello, had a light snow-storm ; and, as they advanced up the country, had to leave the carriage, which stuck in the snow, and proceed on horseback. They stopped a short time at Blenheim, eight miles from Monticello, the seat of Col. Carter, where an overseer lived. At sunset they pursued their way through a mountain track, the snow from eighteen inches to two'feet deep. They arrived at Monticello late at night, the fires all out and the servants retired to their own houses. It was a dreary welcome for the bride.