White House gossip

by Edna M. Colman

The third President to wed in office, Woodrow Wilson formed what the most severe critics termed a thoroughly suitable match. Both he and his charming fiancêe, Mrs. Edith Bolling Galt, had been married before, both had passed through similar griefs, and life for each had been crowded with enriching experiences. They had so many tastes in common, were natives of the same state, admirably matched by birth, circumstances, and experience to form an ideal life partnership.

From the time their betrothal was announced until the date of the wedding was officially named, two months later, all Washington kept a ceaseless vigil on the comings and goings of these two, and watched with approving but suspicious eyes all of their rides, drives, and walks, their games of golf, their theatre attendance and appearance at public functions, lest at some opportune moment a marriage would occur without previous announcement. When, finally, the date was set and made public, speculation ran rife as to the ceremony and its interesting details.

But President Wilson and Mrs. Galt followed solely their own personal predilections for a simple ceremony, and in making all of their arrangements acted as plain citizens. They were married in the presence of their respective families in the home of the bride just off Dupont Circle, December 18, 1915. Nothing of pomp or ostentation occurred. All of the trappings of state, the brilliant uniforms of the naval and military aides, the jewelled decorations and glittering lace of the foreign diplomats were missing. Not even the dignitaries of the Supreme Court and the President’s Cabinet were included in the small group witnessing the ceremony that was to place the social crown of leadership upon the brow of another bride.

Promptly at eight-thirty the President ascended the flower-decked stairway and escorted Mrs. Galt to the improvised altar. The Rev. Herbert Scott Smith, rector of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, of which the bride was a member, and the Rev. James H. Taylor, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, where the President and his family attended, awaited them. The choicest and loveliest of blossoms added beauty to the setting of the ceremony. The white satin prie dieu, which had figured in several of the White House weddings, on which the bridal couple knelt to receive the final blessing, was decorated at either end with clusters of delicate orchids, the bride’s favourite flower.

The marriage service occupied about twenty minutes, and, shortly after ten o’clock, the President and Mrs. Wilson entered a waiting White House limousine and were rapidly driven to Alexandria to take the train to Hot Springs, Va.

The wedding supper, being virtually a family party, was a merry one. The bride cut her wedding cake with the same cake knife used by her mother at her own wedding. The cake was not supplied with the usual fortune-telling knick-knacks but was instead a rich fruit cake, made in several tiers, elaborately iced and decorated with frosted flowers. The top held a cluster of pink orchids. No boxes were distributed, but several of the guests were provided with pieces to “dream on.”

Mrs. Wilson was the widow of Norman Galt of Washington, D. C., a member of a well-known firm of jewellers in the national capital. She had resided in Washington twenty years before her marriage to President Wilson, during which time she had been known for her interest in charitable and church affairs. She is the daughter of the late Judge William H. Bolling of Virginia, and Mrs. Bolling, and claims descent from John Rolfe, famous as the husband of Pocahontas.

Because of international complications, the plans for an extended wedding trip were abandoned at the last moment, and only a brief trip arranged within easy reach of the Capital.

The sympathetic interest in the White House romance expressed itself in gifts of all kinds and descriptions, coming from all sources and from all classes of people. Finally, the numbers of presents reached such proportions that the effort which had been made to catalogue, classify, and acknowledge them had to be abandoned by Mrs. Wilson’s secretary and be delegated to the White House office staff.

Because of the desire of the President to keep all of the details of his marriage as simple and informal as possible, the names of most of the donors of the gifts were withheld from the public. A few, however, were known.