■BfcL X* . 97 7 *7l6* The Other White House; B2C?io An rati on of the un. reliability of history con« cerning Abraham LJnco LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY MEMORIAL the Class of 1901 founded by HARLAN HOYT HORNER and HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER THE OTHER WHITE HOUSE AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE UNRELIABILITY OF HISTORY CONCERNING ABRAHAM LINCOLN LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY MEMORIAL the Class of 1901 founded by HARLAN HOYT HORNER and HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER 32 &££,/&- Rcom THE STORY The Washington Star of February 11, 1923, con- tained an article of more than three columns, em- bellished with two photographs, and having the fol- lowing headlines: "BRIDE OF 1862 GIVEN IN MARRIAGE BY LIN- COLN TELLS OF ELOPEMENT AND WHITE HOUSE VISIT Indiana Woman, Former Virginian, Says She and Her Lover, Unable to Wed at Harper's Ferry, Went to Executive Mansion Because They 'Didn't Know Any Better.' President Sum- moned Clergyman for Ceremony — Gay Wed- ding Party Held — Bridegroom Kept Wife's Promise That He Should Serve in Union Army. Mrs. Chandler at Eighty Recalls Unique Event." This article commences: 'To have been married in the White House in President Lincoln's adminis- tration, to have been given away as a bride by the President himself, to have eaten the wedding sup- per at the great statesman's table, and to have spent the first night of married life in the executive man- sion — all this is a distinction. The unique experi- ence is one that is vividly remembered by Mrs. Eliza- beth Chandler, a bride of 1862, who now lives at 2819 East Lynn street, Anderson, Ind. Mrs. Chandler, who is eighty years of age, is be- lieved to be the only living woman who was married in the White House in Mr. Lincoln's time and the only woman not of a President's family ever to be married in the President's residence. However, she sees nothing unusual about it all, but recalls the time when she and her youthful suitor, James Henry Chandler, after several months of secret courtship, eloped from their homes near Mount Sidney, Va., and went to Harper's Ferry to be married. Upon hearing that on account of local conditions they could not be married at that place, they took the next stage to Washington. Making their way to the White House, they finally gained admission, told President Lincoln of their disappointment at Harper's Ferry, and were married by a Baptist min- ister, to whom Mr. Lincoln sent a gently peremptory S. 0. S." Then follows a detailed account of the wedding, a cabinet member the best man, the preacher kissed the bride and Lincoln did not, of a dance after a midnight supper at which hot punch was served, etc., etc. This story has appeared in other newspapers and unfortunately is now history, having recently been accepted and printed at some length in a 179-page book about Lincoln by a President of an historical society. THE FACTS This woman was not married in the Executive Mansion; she never was in Washington during the civil war, having been within the Confederate lines during the entire war; and she never saw Abraham Lincoln. The story has just enough truth in it to be amusing. In October, 1862, James H. Chandler was in the rebel army. The records of the War Department show "James H. Chandler, residence, Augusta Co., Va., enlisted at Mt. Meridian, June 15, 1862, as pri- vate in Co. F, 52 Virginia Inft. C. S. A., was cap- tured at Bristow Station, Va., Oct. 19, 1863, con- fined at Old Capitol Prison, Washington, and was released on taking Oath of Allegiance to the United States December 13, 1863, and sent north Dec. 17, 1863." Letter of Adjutant General, U. S. A., Sept. 30, 1925, to compiler. James H. Chandler then assumed the name of James Grimes, and receiving considerable bounty, he enlisted as James Grimes at Gloucester, N. J., Dec. 29, 1863, in Co. A. 1 N. J. Cav. U. S. A., served until July 24, 1865, and as per the newspaper ac- count did not return to his wife until about 1870. Record of New Jersey Soldiers, Civil War, Vol. 2, page 1184. WHEN THEY WERE MARRIED Alphabetical index of marriage licenses, Clerk's office, Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, personally searched for record of marriage of James H. Chandler and Elizabeth A. Sheets. Old records, Vol. 3, A to L, page 137. James H. Chandler, Elizabeth A. Sheits, Oct. 31, 1859. Vol. 4, M to Z, page 214. Elizabeth A. Sheits, James H. Chandler, Oct. 31, 1859. An official contemporaneous record showing issue of the marriage license, one year, four months and three days before Lincoln was first inaugurated, March 4, 1861. The trial of John Brown, the Liberator, at Charles Town, Virginia, in Oct. 1859, explains the local con- ditions at that point. WHERE THEY WERE MARRIED There were no returns to marriage licenses in Washington in 1859, so there is no official record in the court house as to place of marriage or as to who performed the ceremony. Information directly from Mrs. Chandler is that she always stated when seri- ous on the subject that she was "married in what was called the White House Hotel." The White House Hotel. Shades of Abraham Lin- coln, where was that ? THE OTHER WHITE HOUSE The White House also known as Rodier's Hotel, was situated at the N. W. corner of Wisconsin ave- nue and Grace street, in 1859 in the City of George- town, was a three story brick building with the usual saloon on the ground floor and was demolished twenty-five years ago. A small store also painted white is now on the corner. Wisconsin avenue, formerly High street, was a highway between the north and south, the ferry across the Potomac was at the foot of the hill, one block from this White House; the Harper's Ferry stages came along this street, which crossed the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, then an important waterway, by a bridge at the northeast corner of the hotel. The north wall of the hotel was at the south wall of the canal. Abstracted from D. C. directories : 1858. Anthony Rodier, clerk White House Hotel, bds. do. 1860. Hotels. White House, C. Anthony Rodier, 33 High St. 1867. Charles A. Rodier, restaurant, 33 High St. 1872-1874-1875. Advertisement. White House Restaurant and Bowling Saloon 33 High Street The Bar is Stocked with Choice Wines, Liquors and Cigars. fi£^~ Meals at all hours. Oysters and Game in season. Anthony Rodier, Proprietor. Alas, no more are choice wines and liquors to be obtained where Charles Anthony Rodier and not Abraham Lincoln prepared the hot punch for that wedding in 1859. L. D. CARMAN, M. D., 1806 Lamont St., Washington, D. C. Jan. 1926. //' *5* r^mw^::km^m---..--A UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 973.7L63B2C210 C001 THE OTHER WHITE HOUSE WASH DC 3 0112 031793927