“Mary Brown Hitt,
“Mary C. Rariden,
“Mrs. J. Eddy Somers,
“Miss Easton,
“Mrs. Eliza Letford Nordhoff.”
Of the number, Mrs. Hitt and Miss Rariden were the only classmates; the others were alumni. The best plans will go aglee, and in the conveyance of this lovely gift the note was abstracted or lost, and Mrs. Hayes was in a quiver of excitement over the anonymous offering. That evening upon receipt of another Bible (she had enough Bibles given her to stock a hotel), she spoke of the more precious one accompanying the college badge, and crossing the room pointed out its beauties. The husband of one of the donors happened to be present, and communicated their names. The end was felicitous. Mrs. Hayes appointed the next morning to receive the ladies. She met them with charming friendliness, conducted them through the green-house, sent for her husband and children, and in the words of one of her guests, “was all that a courteous hostess could be.”
Four weeks after taking up her residence in the Executive Mansion, she held her first Saturday afternoon reception, and on this occasion she was as well satisfied a lady as had ever stood in her place. A friend who observed her on that day said that “her eyes looked as black as night, and they had a lustre rarely seen. She made no effort to conceal her delight. Her whole face was positively radiant. The effect as she received, assisted by her friends, was precisely that of all the light thrown upon one figure of a tableau.” The toilette worn by Mrs. Hayes on this occasion was a black gros grain princesse dress, square at the neck, and perfectly fitting, and relieved of its plainness by exquisite point-laces. The next public occasion on which she appeared was at the dinner given to the Russian Grand Dukes Alexis and Constantine. The gathering was as brilliant as any ever assembled in the Executive Mansion. The drawing-rooms were elaborately decorated with flowers, and the State dining-room never presented a finer appearance. The table was a mass of flowers and cut-glass and Sevres china. In the centre was an oval mirror representing a lake with tropical banks of ferns and trailing vines. In the centre of the lake was an island of pink azalias studded with cloth of gold roses, while over the outer surface were vines massed to look like water-lilies. The banks of the lake were strewn with graceful hills formed with vases of tropical fruit, and here and there a pyramid or column of candied fruits and bon-bons rose between. At each end of the lake were tall frosted cakes decorated with white azalias and pink and tea roses and smilax. Delicate pink and white vases of frosted glass and silver stands stood at each plate, the pink vases holding clusters of white buds, and the white vases pink buds. Azalia trees, camelias and other flowering plants were arranged about the room, ornamenting by their proximity to them the chocolate and strawberry pyramids that stood at the north side of the room. Vines of smilax strung on gilt wire were draped about the table, chandeliers and pictures. The Grand Duke Alexis with Mrs. Hayes led the promenade through the East Room, the Marine Band playing the Russian march, followed by the Grand Duke Constantine and Mrs. Evarts. The President escorted Lady Thornton, and when seated at the table, the two Grand Dukes were on either side of Mrs. Hayes, and the President sat opposite, between Lady Thornton and Mrs. Shishkin, wife of the Russian Minister. The other members of the brilliant company were ranged about the table in regular order. The toilette worn by Mrs. Hayes at this entertainment was an exquisite cream-colored faille, richly trimmed with the material and elegant lace.
As regards the use of wine on this occasion, about which the press of the entire country had so much to say, the actual facts are these. The President and Mrs. Hayes objected to its use, but the Secretary of State, Mr. Evarts, was of the opinion that the Grand Dukes and other foreigners, being accustomed to dine with wine, would not enjoy their dinner without it, and the master of ceremonies was ordered to provide it. He was at the same time informed that on all future occasions, when the President entertained citizens of the United States, wine would be omitted.
In the American Register, at Paris, appeared, shortly after the inauguration, the following complimentary allusion to the new lady of the White House: “The administration of Mrs. Hayes receives quite as much attention as does that of the President. Her beauty, simplicity, womanliness and frankness have taken the blasé society of Washington by storm. Her dresses of rich material are very simply made, high at the neck, long at the wrist, with fine laces at both, but no jewelry; her hair is neither puffed nor frizzed, but coiffured plainly at the back and held in place with a shell comb. She is a lady by birth and education, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first Sunday she and her husband were in Washington they stole quietly to the Foundry Methodist Episcopal Church, while the Rev. Dr. Newman, ‘Inspector of Consuls,’ Chaplain to the Senate, Pastor of the Great Metropolitan Court Church, ‘was all primed and powdered’ for their appearance. But they came not. Everybody who knows the style and quality of the Metropolitan Methodist Episcopal Church was exceedingly pleased at the incident.”
When Mrs. Hayes went to the White House it was said that she had decided not to interfere with appointments, or to consider any application for her influence in any matter with which her husband had to do. Applications for office were turned over to the secretaries, and through the years of her stay in the White House she succeeded in avoiding this source of annoyance. Occasionally she deviated from this rule, as in the case of the postmistress of a town in Pennsylvania, who was turned out of office because of her strong temperance proclivities. The member of Congress who represented the district in which this woman held office succeeded in getting a man appointed in her place who would not work with temperance organizations to defeat party candidates. The order for her removal had been made out at the Post-Office Department, when a lady friend of Mrs. Hayes, who had passed through the town, and learned the facts, telegraphed to her for a stay of proceedings till the case could be explained. The request was granted, and the next news the member of Congress received from home was that the postmistress had been reinstated by order of the President.