A Traveled First Lady

Louisa Catherine Adams, Margaret A. Hogan, C. James Taylor

• Publisher: Belknap Press
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9780674369283
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Early American History
• Index: History

Congress adjourned on 18 May 1852 for Louisa Catherine Adams's funeral, according her an honor never before offered a first lady. But her life and influence merited this extraordinary tribute. She had been first the daughter-in-law and then the wife of a president. She had assisted her husband as a diplomat at three of the major capitals of Europe. She had served as a leading hostess and significant figure in Washington for three decades. And yet, a century and a half later, she is barely remembered. A Traveled First Lady: Writings of Louisa Catherine Adams seeks to correct that oversight by sharing Adams's remarkable experiences in her own words.These excerpts from diaries and memoirs recount her early years in London and Paris (to this day she is the only foreign-born first lady), her courtship and marriage to John Quincy Adams, her time in the lavish courts of Berlin and St. Petersburg as a diplomat's wife, and her years aiding John Quincy's political career in Washington. Emotional, critical, witty, and, in the Adams tradition, always frank, her writings draw sharp portraits of people from every station, both servants and members of the imperial court, and deliver clear, well-informed opinions about the major issues of her day.Telling the story of her own life, juxtaposed with rich descriptions of European courts, Washington political maneuvers, and the continuing Adams family drama, Louisa Catherine Adams demonstrates why she was once considered one of the preeminent women of the nineteenth century.

CHAPTER ONE

“All Was Joy and Peace and Love”

Youth

Louisa Catherine Adams began her first piece of autobiographical writing in the summer of 1825, only a few months after moving into the White House. Addressed to her three surviving children—George Washington, John 2d, and Charles Francis—she entitled this memoir “Record of a Life.” She hoped her sons “may be amused with it,” promising to confine herself “to those events which are worth recording only.” In “Record,” she covers the period of her youth and young adulthood but cuts the narrative off at a point shortly following her marriage, just as she was first establishing herself as a diplomat’s wife in Berlin. She would not resume full-scale autobiographical writing again until 1840, when she began drafting her “Adventures of a Nobody.” Unlike her other diaries, which are divided into dated entries, “Record” is a straightforward narrative. But because it was written over twenty-five years after the fact, Louisa’s recollections are not always entirely accurate, nor do they necessarily follow a precise chronological order.

At the time she was writing “Record,” Louisa was unhappily serving as first lady of the United States. John Quincy’s presidency got off to a rocky start when he failed to win the election of 1824 outright. Instead, it was thrown into the House of Representatives, which selected John Quincy, despite the fact that his main challenger, Andrew Jackson, had received a plurality of both the popular and electoral votes. Jackson’s camp accused John Quincy of enacting a “corrupt bargain” with Henry Clay to get the necessary votes in the House, and Jackson’s followers in Congress were determined to thwart John Quincy’s legislative agenda at every turn. Louisa was an accomplished hostess, but even her talents could not counter Washington’s poisonous political atmosphere.

Not surprisingly, Louisa begins her memoir with a brief history of her parents. Louisa’s father, Joshua Johnson, was a Maryland merchant who went to London on business in 1771 and there met the Englishwoman Catherine Nuth. They began a relationship and had their first child together in 1773. Unbeknownst to Louisa, the couple did not legally marry until 1785. Louisa writes with great warmth about her parents, whom she loved dearly, downplaying their shortcomings. Her recollections of her childhood suggest that, despite the impact on the family of the American Revolution, which forced them to move temporarily from London to France, this period of her life was by far her happiest.

As some day or other my Children may be amused with it I will endeavour to give a slight sketch of my life until this time confining myself to those events which are worth recording only. They may perhaps think on this principle, that I need not write at all but a review of past incidents may have a good effect upon myself. I shall only write when in the humour or to speak learnedly when the Cacoëthes Scribendi [insatiable desire to write] has siezed me and my flights will probably be excursive as I have no pretensions to be a writer and no desire to appear any thing more than a mere commonplace personage with a good memory and just observation enough to discover the difference between a man of sense and a Fool, and to know that the latter often do the least mischief of the two.

My Father was the descendant of an English Gentlemen who emigrated to this Country in consequence of a marriage with a Miss Baker of Liverpool then an Heiress and a Ward in Chauncery— As she was not of age to avoid the pursuit of the Law they came out to the State of Maryland and established themselves in Colvert among the Colvert family— They were wealthy and respectable and left one Son who inheritted the property and who married a young Lady from the Eastward or connected with the Sedgwicks she bearing the same name— My Father was one of eleven children and early in life was placed in the Counting House of a very respectable Merchant from Scotland a Mr. Graham the Father of Major Graham of one the most distinguished families of Scotland— He had not the advantage of a Classical education My Grandfather retaining many of the English prejudices in favour of the eldest Son on whom was lavished all the expence to make him an object of consequence in the Country— At the age of two or three and twenty my Father entered into partnership with two Scotch Gentlemen by name Wallace & Muir and in consequence removed to London as second partner in the Firm— There he became acquainted with my Mother of whose family I knew very little as some misunderstanding had subsisted for some years indeed ever since the death of my Grandmother which had cut off all communication between my father and Grandfather whose character was I am sorry to say very indifferent— My Grandmother was a Miss Young extremely beautiful and I always [heard] her represented as possessing qualities and virtues of the highest order. My father loved and respected her to the hour of his death and always spoke of her to us, as an example of exalted goodness.

My Sister Hellen was born in the December of 1773 and I was born in February 75. In 78 or 9 in consequence of the American Revolution my Father took his Family to France finding it no longer safe to live in England being in heart and Soul friendly to the Independence of the Country and my earliest recollections are French; for the little knowledge I had of my own Language was soon obliterated by the acquirement of a new one— All the scenes of my infancy come with such faint recollections they float upon my fancy like visions which never could have had any reality yet like visions of delight in which all was joy and peace and love. I perfectly remember the elegance of the mansion in which we resided the school to which I was sent the strong impression made upon my imagination by the Roman Catholick Church the heartfelt humility with which I knelt before the Image of the tortured Jesus and the horror I felt at the thought, of mixing with hereticks. The veneration with which I entered the Convents the great affection I bore to one particular Nun who used to bring toys for sale to School all these shadows of early life have flitted before my minds eye but without the possibility of fixing names or even remembering a countenance which then was so familiar— One of the events which I recur to most distinctly was the marriage of my fathers Coachman to which we were permitted to go. The Bride was a dark complexioned rosy looking woman dressed in a large flowered Calico with a most enormous bouquet— They went to Church in my fathers Carriage and had the use of it for the day. My father gave them a handsome Supper and Ball and I still seem to see the Bride and Bridgroom opening the Ball with all the gaiety of french sprightliness— One of the events most strongly imprinted in my memory is a great inundation in Montz [Nantes] which obliged the people to sail in Boats through the Streets. oh! with what glee we children beheld it shrieking with pleasure when the servants would get into the boats from the basement windows without an idea that that which was productive of such fun to us was the cause of misery to thousands— Is not one of the great blessings of infancy its thoughtlessness its aptitude for every thing like enjoyment and its total unconsciousness of danger? Yet what is idiotism in an adolscent is it any thing more than mere Childishness or rather a mind immatured? Can we must we believe that mind grows with our growth and decays with our wasted forms— Is not mind or what we call spirit an etherial spark an emanation of the Deity and can any thing so pure an essence so divine suffer decay or be liable to desease— How profound the mystery how wise the Creator— Are we not called upon, forced to have faith in this mighty wonder and dare we say vile worms as we are that ought with the Omnipotent is impossible? From whence is the word impossible with whom does it originate? in those only whose power is limitted who are taught by God himself “thus far shalt thou go and no farther.” Will all the wisdom that philosophers teach will all the learning to which the mind of man can attain teach what is death? what sleep? what the soul? all all is dark and God Almighty God alone in his own time can shed the light which can clear our understandings— But where will this theme lead me— I am bewildered and afraid and must still cling to that blessed being who in mercy stands between me and my God to pardon thoughts which I cannot controul.

The last year which we passed in France was full of pleasure and being more at home I was more familiarized with the acquaintance of my Mother which was very large. Among them I distinctly remember many of her friends with whom I have renewed acquaintance in other Countries. My Father was intimate with the celebrated [John] Paul Jones but I have utterly forgotten him if I ever saw him.

Louisa had eight siblings, seven sisters and one brother, of whom all but one lived to adulthood. Her older sister Ann (1773–1810) was commonly called Nancy. She married Walter Hellen in 1798. After Louisa came Carolina Virginia Marylanda (1777–1862)—named in a fit of patriotism shortly following the beginning of the American Revolution. She married first Andrew Buchanan in 1807 and, following his death, Nathaniel Frye Jr. in 1817. A daughter, Mary Ann, followed who lived only a few months, then the one boy of the family, Thomas Baker (1779–1843), who never married. Sister Harriet (1781–1850) married George Boyd in 1805, and Catherine Maria Frances (1786–1869), called Kitty, married John Quincy’s nephew William Steuben Smith in 1813 while they and Louisa all were living in St. Petersburg. The two youngest siblings were Eliza Jennet Dorcas (d. 1818), who married John Pope in 1810, and Adelaide (1789–1877), who became Walter Hellen’s second wife in 1813, after Nancy’s death. Growing up, Louisa was closest to Nancy and Carolina, since they were all so near in age, and they shared schooling, social activities, and other adventures but also a fair amount of sibling rivalry. Because Louisa is writing these memoirs in 1825, she frequently refers to her sisters by their married, rather than their given, names.

In the Month of Feby 1783 I was attacked severely by a Pleurisy which left me in so weak a state of health as to cause great apprehensions in my Dear Parents for my life as they feared that Consumption would ensue— In April 83 we left Nantz on our way to England. The family had much encreased as my Sister Boyd and My Brother were added to the Stock and our number was four when we left Mrs. Hellen myself Mrs. Fry and my Sister Mariane who died soon after my Mother settled in Nantz in consequence of the great fatigue which my Mother had undergone on the journey— Of our journey I do not remember any thing until we arrived in Paris. There we had elegant Apartments in one of the best hotels and a day or two after our arrival the Children at the request of Mr & Mrs. [John] Jay were all sent to pay their respects. Mr. Jay was then in Paris I believe as Minister [peace commissioner]. Mrs. Jay was a very Lady like looking woman and she had two daughters children like ourselves but dressed in the plain english fashion white Frocks and Pink Sashes which appeared to me much prettier than the fine silk dress and hoop which I was used to wear. Their establishment was handsome and their kindness unbounded and I have always looked back with pleasure to this visit which is the only thing that occurred during my stay in Paris which has stamped itself upon my mind— The sufferings we all endured on our voyage from Calais to Dover the Bustle of our embarkation the Packet itself were all objects of wonderment and fixed themselves as objects of admiration and dread never to be forgotten—

Of our arrival in England and London nothing materiel remains— We were sent to School to a Mrs. Carter a Maiden Lady and one of the greatest Ladies in England more especially as She was in every respect one of the largest and fattest that England ever produced. We were recommeded to be placed under her care and tuition by Mr & Mrs Hewlett the latter of whom had been a very particular friend of my Parents having been the Wife and Widow of an American Gentleman of whom my father was very fond. Mrs. Hewlett was a very excentric Woman of strong mind and still stronger passions of course susceptible of equally strong attachments. In the confusion and general derangement incident to the removal of a large family from one Country to another it is natural to seek assistance from some person already established and they by this means frequently acquire a degree of influence which they could never have obtained under any other circumstances— My two Sisters and myself were immediately sent to Shacklewell where in consequence of our extraordinary dress and utter ignorance of English we became objects of ridicule to the whole School which consisted of forty Young Ladies from the ages of seven to twenty— To this cause I am convinced I owe the haughtiness and pride of character which it has been impossible for me to subdue; to the sufferings I then underwent living in a state of constant torment, and being perpetually punished or mortified for those very things which had always before been subjects of admiration— A child is to a certain degree a reasoning animal; it can observe and strongly mark the differences and changes in its situation; but it cannot seek the why or the wherefore from whence these difficulties spring. This was my case and I became serious melancholy and almost gloomy—which caused me to be called Miss Proud by my schoolfellows, and placed me in a more painful situation than ever—

Among many of these unpleasant scenes those occasioned by my religious feelings were the most powerful— The first time I was forced to go to Church at Hackney I perfectly recollect my horror when my Governess obliged me to kneel down among what I had been taught in France to call the hereticks; which was so great that in the very act of Kneeling I fell as it were dead upon the floor and continued so ill although only eight years old that my father was obliged to take me home and to vary the scene I was sent to stay sometime with Mrs. Hewlett— After two Months I returned to School with strict orders from my parents that I should not be harried or urged too much upon the subject of going to Church; and that if it should again affect me in the same way, I was to be accustomed gradually to the prayers of the school, until my fears wore off.— In consequence of my again fainting at Church and being obliged to be taken out the judicious plan adopted by my beloved and ever amiable father was put into execution and I quietly conformed to the usages and forgot insensibly all the prejudes which I had so early and so strongly imbibed— As I am writing for amusement and as we all love to dwell on that age of innocence and thougtlessness when all is fresh with hope, and even our sorrows are like rainbow clouds dispersed ere they are seen; you will probably find my prolixity very tedious; but it is easy to skip what we do not wish to read and view it only as a blank.

Every Vacation we returned home to my fathers house; the very thoughts of which was so delightful that we no sooner arrived at school than a List of the Months and days was made, and our greatest pleasure consisted in tearing one off every morning with a view to shorten the lagging of time; and this occupation seemed to bring us nearer home— O home! sweet home! thou ever wert to me the joy of life, and the domestic felicity for many years almost uninterupted of my beloved Parents placed a picture constantly before my eyes truly enviable—and in no one instance during my life have I ever met such an example. My Mother had been beautiful; she was at this time very lovely, her person was very small, and exquisitely delicate, and very finely proportioned. She was lively; her understanding highly cultivated, and her wit brilliant, sometimes almost too keen. My Father was the handsomest man I ever beheld. His eye or the power of his eye was indescribable: its usual expression was sweetness and benevolence; but when roused to anger, or to suspicion; it had a dazzling fixed severity that was absolutely aweful; and which seemed by its vivid scrutiny to dive into the very depths of the human heart— His temper was admirable; his tastes simple; his word sacred; and his heart pure and affectionate as that of the most unsophisticated Child of Nature. The greatest fault he had was believing every one as good, as correct, as worthy as himself— His establishment was large, not sumptuous or extravagant, but such as the first Merchants in London at that day usually had: he kept a neat Carriage and one pair of Horses, and every thing was conducted in the family with the neatest order and regularity— His entertainments when he made any, which was not often, were handsome; but his usual way of receiving company was unceremoniously social, and almost limitted to his own Countrymen who resorted to England, for business or pleasure; these found a home and a Friend in him at all times— In Religion or creed he was a Unitarian; but as those opinions were at that time much decried; he took particular pains to educate his Children in the Episcopal form as in regard to women he always said there was little danger in believing; there was destruction in doubt.

When I was about nine years old I was siezed with what was then called a one and twenty day fever which is very much like the Typhus, if it is not the same— Well do I remember my sufferings! the almost exessive tenderness of my indulgent parents! who watched me night and day with unwearied patience, and cheerfulness: and fondly supported my weary head, and soothed my aching brain. All the acquaintance of my father appeared to vie with each other in showing kindness to me: and every hour brought forth presents in toys and fruit, to charm my drooping spirit. My Mother while the tears ran down her cheeks sat by my bed anxiously noting every change: seemingly busied in dressing my doll, and making its clothes to amuse me— In sickness I was always patient, quiet, and manageable; and in this long and severe illness I was so in all points but one— My Sister Harriet was not three years old and a most lovely child on whom I had always lavished my affection: but this time, while devoured by this deadly fever, the sight of her would almost throw me into convulsions, and if my Mother looked at or spoke to her it reduced me to deaths door. To the poor child this was anguish; as my room furnished a most attractive spectacle, being filled with playthings of every description that could fascinate a childs attention; and it caused great affliction and wonder to my parents; my disposition was so affectionate; I had always clung with such ardent fondness to my brother and my Sisters, that this antipathy could not be accounted for: I had always been liberal even to extravagance; it therefore could not be avarice! but no matter what it was it occasioned great affliction—

I was particulary fond of the Gentleman who attended me—he used to come three times a day to see me; his manner was so mild, so quiet, so soothing, that I always saw him with joy— It was on this occasion that Dr. Letsom was called in; my case was deemed hopeless. He sat by my bedside—he was a tall thin man; his countenance was agreeable and his conversation lively. He asked me many questions which I was too weak to answer; but I remember perfectly that he drew a pigeon with a pen and Ink, and gave it to me; which pleased me very much, and...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Foreword by Laura Bush
• Introduction
• Note to the Reader
• 1. “All Was Joy and Peace and Love”: Youth
• 2. “An Object of General Attention”: Prussia
• 3. “Had I Steped into Noah’s Ark”: United States
• 4. “The Savage Had Been Expected”: Russia
• 5. “The Memory of One, Who Was”: St. Petersburg to Paris
• 6. “The Wife of a Man of Superior Talents”: Washington, D.C., 1819–1820
• 7. “I Am a Very Good Diplomate”: Washington, D.C., 1821–1824
• 8. “This Apparent Fate”: Retirement
• Epilogue: Henry Adams on Louisa
• Illustrations
• Chronology
• Acknowledgments
• Index