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WILLIAM JUDSON HAMPTON 
 
OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 and 
 
 THEIR MOTHERS 
 
 BY 
 
 William Judson Hampton, D. D. 
 
 Author of 
 
 "The Shrine Invisible," "Dodging the Commandments," etc. 
 
 Grand Chaplain of the Grand Chapter, Royal Arch Masons 
 
 of New Jersey 
 
 INTRODUCTION BY THE 
 
 HONORABLE WALTER E. EDGE 
 
 Governor of the State of New Jersey 
 
 THE ASTE PRESS 
 
 67-69 SPRING STREET 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 1918 
 
Copyright, 1918, 
 By William Judson Hampton. 
 
 APR -8 1918 
 A49451Q 
 
To my dear Mother, 
 Susanna Baldwin Hampton. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction — by Governor Edge 5 
 
 "Gems" 7 
 
 Mothers of the Presidents 9 
 
 Mary Ball — Washington, George Washington.. 17 
 Jane Randolph — Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson ... 25 
 
 Nellie Conway — Madison, James Madison 27 
 
 Abigail Smith — Adams, John Ouincy Adams. ... 28 
 Elizabeth Hutchinson — Jackson, Andrew Jackson 32 
 Elizabeth Speer — Buchanan, James Buchanan. . . 35 
 
 Nancy Hanks — Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln 39 
 
 Mary McDonough — Johnson, Andrew Johnson.. 44 
 
 Hannah Simpson — Grant, Ulysses S. Grant 48 
 
 Sophia Birchard — Hayes, Rutherford B. Hayes.. 53 
 
 Eliza Ballou — Garfield, James A. Garfield 57 
 
 Anne Neale — Cleveland, Grover Cleveland 62 
 
 Elizabeth Irwin — Harrison, Benjamin Harrison.. 65 
 Nancy Allison — McKinley, William McKinley.. 71 
 Martha Bullock — Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt 80 
 Louise M. Torrey— Taft, William Howard Taft.. 84 
 Janet Woodrow — Wilson, Woodrow Wilson .... 88 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 By his Excellency, 
 Governor Walter E. Edge. 
 
 This interesting volume will find its way straight 
 to the hearts of those fortunate enough to have ex- 
 perienced the deathless devotion and unerring guid- 
 ance of a mother's love. It will rekindle tender 
 sentiments that perhaps have merely smouldered un- 
 der the heavy weight of life's dull cares and every- 
 day, matter-of-fact affairs. It should serve as an in- 
 spiration toward a reconciliation with the whole- 
 some rules of living first uttered at the cradle and 
 later understood in the play-room. Finally, it must 
 throw a penetrating light on the reasons for the 
 greatness of the Great, uncovering those wholesome 
 influences that make possible the carving of truly 
 eminent characters, through shaping early impres- 
 sions. 
 
 Not from motives of gratitude alone, but as a mat- 
 ter of historical accuracy, most of our American 
 statesmen freely admit that many of their personal 
 characteristics which the world terms worth while 
 constituted the love-given legacy of an idolizing 
 mother. What compassion and gentleness she 
 
taught! What patience and fortitude and other 
 foundation stones of a creditable career! How she 
 early marshalled the forces of common sense and 
 righteousness against all manner of moral weak- 
 nesses! How she endured and forgave! How she 
 
 loved ! 
 
 * * * 
 
 It seems to me that a work treating thus inti- 
 mately with the mother influence upon great Ameri- 
 cans is particularly appropriate at this time — now 
 when hundreds of thousands of mothers throughout 
 the land are making such heroic sacrifices and ex- 
 hibiting such marked patriotism. "The hand that 
 rocks the cradle" has ruled our Nation before, and 
 rules it to-day. Then, as now, it was not autocratic 
 rule. Then, as now, it was the inspiration of true 
 Democracy and the course chiefly responsible for 
 everything that we are and everything that we hope 
 to be. Mothers — thank God for them, and may 
 their sweetness and tenderness forever sway tempo- 
 ral power. 
 
 Walter E. Edge 
 
GEMS— WORDS THAT WILL LIVE FOR- 
 EVER. 
 
 "Her children rise up and call her blessed." — 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 * * * 
 
 " 'The hand that rocks the cradle' has ruled our 
 nation before, and rules it to-day. Then, as now, it 
 was not autocratic rule. Then, as now, it was the 
 inspiration of true Democracy, and the course chief- 
 ly responsible for everything that we are, and every- 
 thing that we hope to be. Mothers — thank God for 
 them, and may their sweetness and tenderness for- 
 ever sway temporal power." — Governor Walter E. 
 Edge. 
 
 "There is not a virtue that can abide in the female 
 heart, but it was the ornament of hers. (His 
 
 mother) The God of my father and 
 
 mother shall be my God." — President John Quincy 
 Adams. 
 
 "Under Providence, I attribute any little distinc- 
 tion which I may have acquired in the world to the 
 blessing which He conferred upon me in granting me 
 such a mother." — President James Buchanan. 
 
 ''All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel 
 mother. Blessings on her memory." — President 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 
"How much American soldiers are indebted to 
 good American mothers! When they go to the 
 front, what prayers go with them; what tender testi- 
 monials of affection are in their knapsacks!" — Presi- 
 dent Ulysses S. Grant. 
 
 "My mother is a great woman. All I am I owe 
 to her." — President William McKinley. 
 
 "My Mother was a sweet, gracious, beautiful 
 Southern woman, a delightful companion, and be- 
 loved by everybody." — President Theodore Roose- 
 velt. 
 
 * * * 
 
 "It is very hard for me to speak of what my mother 
 was without colouring the whole estimate with the 
 deep love that fills my heart whenever I think of her. 
 
 She was one of the most remarkable 
 
 persons I ever knew." — President Woodrow Wil- 
 son. 
 
MOTHERS OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 Practically nothing seems to be known, about the 
 mothers of some of our earliest Presidents. We ap- 
 pend below the name of the mother of each Presi- 
 dent in order. 
 
 PRESIDENTS MOTHERS 
 
 George Washington ... Mary Ball 
 
 John Adams Susanna Boylston 
 
 Thomas Jefferson Jane Randolph 
 
 James Madison Nellie Conway 
 
 James Monroe Elizabeth Jones 
 
 John Quincy Adams .... Abigail Smith 
 
 Andrew Jackson Elizabeth Hutchinson 
 
 Martin Van Buren Mary Hoes 
 
 Wm. Hefiry Harrison .. .Elizabeth Bassett 
 
 Johrt / TyN* Mary Armistead 
 
 James K. Polk Jane Knox 
 
 Zachery Taylor Sarah Strother 
 
 Millard Fillmore Phebe Millard 
 
 Franklin Pierce Anna Kendrick 
 
 James Buchanan Elizabeth Speer 
 
 Abraham Lincoln Nancy Hanks 
 
 Andrew Johnson Mary McDonough 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant Hannah Simpson 
 
 Rutherford B. Hayes . . . .Sophia Birchard 
 
 James A. Garfield Eliza Ballou 
 
 Chester A. Arthur Malvina Stone 
 
 Grover Cleveland Anne Neale 
 
 Benjamin Harrison Elizabeth Findley Irwin 
 
 William McKinley Nancy Allison 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt .... Martha Bullock 
 William Howard Taft . . . Louise M. Torrey 
 Woodrow Wilson Janet Woodrow 
 
Our Presidents and Their Mothers 
 
A MOTHER who had raised seven noble sons, 
 and not a black sheep among the number, was 
 asked how she did it. She replied, "I raised them 
 on prayer and hickory." Some might think that 
 rather an incongruous mixture but possibly most 
 folks on reflection would conclude that it was ab- 
 solutely Scriptural. Solid piety and wholesome 
 authority cannot be divorced. This does not mean 
 that parental authority shall always manifest itself 
 in the use of the rod. Charles M. Stuart, President 
 of Garrett Biblical Institute, says he was raised on a 
 farm, and his father frequently "raised" him with a 
 hame strap. On the other hand President Ulysses 
 S. Grant declares that he has no recollection of ever 
 being punished at home, either by scolding or whip- 
 ping, by either father or mother. Yet that home 
 presided over by Hannah Simpson Grant, his mother, 
 was not devoid of parental authority, only these 
 parents had discovered an excellent substitute for 
 "hickory." It is worthy of note, that the mothers 
 of our Presidents have all been godly women. Whe- 
 ther the rod was used much or little, in training their 
 sons, there was no substitute for prayer. 
 
 Some good angel must have been parent to the 
 thought, of suggesting to the church the observance 
 of Mothers' Day. The day may later become known 
 as Parents' Day, but mothers will always have their 
 innings. How the observance of such a day has help- 
 ed to enshrine the memory of mother in many a 
 heart! How it has helped iron out many a wrinkle 
 
14 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 on mother's brow, by prompting to thoughtfulness, 
 and stimulating the affections, of the children. Such 
 added joy that has been produced, has been worth 
 more to mothers than 10,000 belated flowers placed 
 upon a costly casket containing her silent form. 
 
 No boy makes a mistake in being good to his 
 mother. God's blessing is assured to such, and even 
 the cold selfish world that has not much to waste 
 on sentimentalism, will say of such a boy, "Blessed." 
 When the Democrats of Minnesota nominated 
 John A. Johnson for Governor, a few years ago, there 
 seemed little likelihood of his being elected, for the 
 State was proverbially Republican. But his oppo- 
 nent made the mistake of taunting him in public of 
 being the son of a drunkard. Then Johnson's 
 friends had to tell the story of his life. At 13, he 
 made his mother stop taking in washing that he 
 might support her. He had a struggle on his young 
 shoulders, but he succeeded. When the people heard 
 these things, Republicans and Democrats alike ex- 
 claimed, "He is the man we want for Governor." 
 He was easily elected, and died when but 48, saying 
 to his devoted wife, "I have tried to fight a good 
 fight." Had this man lived, he might have graced 
 the Presidential chair, for he was strong in every 
 way, and he bade fair to become a nation's idol. 
 
 The history of our country could not be written 
 without bringing in the names of many brave, heroic, 
 and patriotic women, and this is no doubt true of 
 other countries, as well as this. Written on the pas- 
 senger list of the Mayflower, alongside the names 
 of the Pilgrim Fathers, were the names of a number 
 of women. Was that perilous trip easier for those 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 16 
 
 women than for the men ? The very names of those 
 19 wives and 7 daughters, on the passenger list of the 
 Mayflower, seem to stand out in sublime grandeur. 
 Not a man died for affixing his name to the Declara- 
 tion of Independence, altho' every man took his life 
 in his own hands, when he did that, and every man 
 realized the significance of his act, should the patriot 
 cause end in failure. But many a woman did die, 
 because she heroically put her name to the passenger 
 list of the Mayflower. Both meant battles with the 
 direst kind of hardship. A beautiful tradition has 
 come down to us from the day of the Mayflower. 
 'The first foot that pressed the snow-clad surface of 
 Plymouth Rock, Dec. 21, 1620, was that of the fair 
 maiden Mary Chilton; and the last survivor of the 
 Mayflower Pilgrim Company was Mary Allerton, 
 who lived to see the planting of 12 out of the 13 
 colonies, which formed the nucleus of the United 
 States." 
 
 Those who have studied the lives of our Presidents 
 have made the claim that these men owed more to 
 their mothers than to their fathers. Only eleven or 
 twelve were reared under comfortable circumstances, 
 the parents of all the others had more or less of a 
 struggle. It has been said, that great men have had 
 great mothers. Sir Henry Taylor once wrote, "The 
 world knows nothing of its greatest men." He would 
 have said a truer and a wiser thing, had he said, The 
 world knows nothing of its greatest women. The 
 greatness of the mothers of our Presidents, and the 
 part they played in preparing sons for the Presi- 
 dential chair has scarcely been hinted at by biograph- 
 er or historian. Mrs. Pryor well says, in "The 
 
16 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 Mother of Washington," 'The mothers of famous 
 men survive only in their sons. This is a rule al- 
 most as invariable as a law of nature. Whatever the 
 aspirations and energies of the mothers, memorable 
 achievement is not for her. No memoir has been 
 written in this country of the women who bore, 
 fostered, trained, our great men. What do we know 
 of the mothers of Daniel Webster, or John Adams, 
 or Patrick Henry, or Andrew Jackson, or the mo- 
 thers of our Revolutionary heroes?" In many in- 
 stances, if biographers or historians mention the 
 name of the mothers of our Presidents, that is about 
 all that is given, sometimes her family connections 
 are added. Seven of the mothers of our Presidents 
 were left widows. These mothers, left widows, to 
 whom was trusted the supreme task of rearing 
 sons who were destined to become the Presidents of* 
 the United States, were Mrs. Washington, Mrs. Jef- 
 ferson, Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Hayes, 
 Mrs. Garfield, and Mrs. Cleveland. 
 
 In some instances the mothers had to struggle 
 with abject poverty. Andrew Johnson's father died 
 when he was four years old. His parents belonged 
 to that class of people in the South, styled even by 
 the negroes, 'The Poor Whites." Nobody among 
 the "poor whites," in those days, considered an 
 education necessary. Andrew Johnson, the "Tailor" 
 President, never went to school a day in his life. No- 
 body knows how Johnson's mother managed to eke 
 out a livelihood from the time that Johnson was 
 four years old, until he was ten, but the mother 
 must have found some way. These widowed mo- 
 thers were all good women, and of fine character. 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 17 
 
 Every mother, about whom we are to read in these 
 pages, was a woman of fine Christian character. This 
 was her outstanding virtue. 
 
 MARY BALL WASHINGTON. 
 
 George Washington, 
 First President of the United States, lySg-'gy. 
 
 A pen picture of Mary Ball, the mother of Wash- 
 ington, has been discovered in a letter which a Union 
 soldier found in a bundle of old letters in an aban- 
 doned house in Yorktown, at the close of the Civil 
 War. Mary Ball was at that time 16 years old. The 
 letter is dated at Williamsburg, 1722, and is publish- 
 ed by Mrs. Pryor in her book, 'The Mother of 
 Washington." 
 
 ''Dear Sukey — Madame Ball, of Lancaster, and her 
 sweet Molly have gone Horn. Mama thinks Molly 
 the Comliest Maiden she has known. She is about 
 16 years old, is taller than Me, is very Sensible, 
 Modest, and Loving. Her Hair is like unto Flax, her 
 eyes are the color of Yours, and her Chekes are like 
 May blossoms. I wish you could see her." 
 
 Here we have flaxen hair. May blossoms, and a 
 delightful suggestion of Virginia peach blossoms, 
 and hedge roses! Sensible, modest, loving. What 
 a delightful picture of a joyous girl, just blossoming 
 into young womanhood. We are informed by her 
 own descendants and the wisest historians, that no 
 true picture of Mary Ball exists. In the home of 
 her early married life, one that was genuine was burn- 
 
18 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 ed. Yet certain pen pictures, which describe her, and 
 which have been preserved by the historian, remain. 
 Fiske writes, "If tradition is to be trusted, few sons 
 ever had a more lovely and devoted mother, and no 
 mother a more dutiful and affectionate son." A play- 
 mate of George's early days, says, "Whoever has seen 
 that inspiring air and manner, so characteristic in 
 the Father of his Country, will remember the matron 
 as she appeared when the presiding genius of her 
 well ordered household, commanding and being 
 obeyed." 
 
 When Augustine Washington died in 1743, he was 
 49 years of age. He left behind two sons by his first 
 wife, and four sons, and a daughter by Mary Ball, 
 his second wife. George was 10 years old at the 
 time of his father's death. Most biographers have 
 laid tremendous emphasis on the ancestry of Wash- 
 ington, and the part that played in the making of 
 this man; they have also spoken respectfully of his 
 mother, but the part the mother played in his early 
 education, was by far the major part. She had even 
 more to do, with making him wise and good, and 
 great, than the help he derived thro' the channel of 
 books and schools. To this mother, Fiske declares, 
 we owe the precepts and examples that governed her 
 son's life. She taught him the excellent moral and 
 religious maxims found in Sir Matthew Hale's Con- 
 templations. This volume, with his mother's inscrip- 
 tion on the fly-leaf, was among the treasures of his 
 library. He, himself, ascribed to his mother's care, 
 the origin of his fortune and fame. 
 
 Mary Ball was not yet 36 years old at the time of 
 her husband's death. She was now the owner of a 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 19 
 
 great estate, and could easily have selected for her- 
 self, a gay life socially. But as Goethe says, "She is 
 the most excellent woman, who when her husband 
 dies, becomes as a father to her children," and this 
 was the part she elected to play. She survived her 
 husband, his widow, 46 years. Mr. Custis, who 
 often visited her in his childhood, pays her this 
 beautiful tribute: "Bred in those domestic and inde- 
 pendent habits which graced the Virginia matrons, 
 in the old days of Virginia, this lady, by the death 
 of her husband, became involved in the cares of a 
 young family at a period when those cares seem 
 more especially to claim the aid, and control of the 
 stronger sex. It was left for this eminent woman, 
 by a method the most rare, by an education and 
 discipline the most peculiar and imposing, to form 
 in the youth-time of her son, those great and essen- 
 tial qualities, which gave lustre to the glories of his 
 after life. If the school savored the more of the 
 Spartan than the Persian character, it was a fitter 
 school to form a hero. Destined to be the ornament 
 of the age in which he flourished, and a standard of 
 excellence for ages to come." 
 
 "The home of Mrs. Washington, of which she was 
 Mistress, was a pattern of order. There the levity 
 and indulgences common to youth, were tempered 
 by a deference and well-regulated restraint, which, 
 while it neither suppressed nor condemned any ra- 
 tional enjoyment, used in the springtime of life, pre- 
 scribed those enjoyments, within the bounds of mo- 
 deration and propriety. Thus the chief was taught 
 the duty of obedience, which prepared him to com- 
 mand. Still the mother held in reserve an authority 
 
20 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 which never departed from her even when her son 
 had become the most illustrious of men. It seem- 
 ed to say, I am your mother, the being who gave 
 you life, the guide who directed your steps, when 
 they needed a guardian; my maternal affection drew 
 forth your love; my authority constrained your spirit, 
 whatever may be your success, or your renown, next 
 to your God, your reverence is due me! Nor did the 
 chief dissent from the truths, but to the last mom- 
 ents of his venerable parent, yielded to her will the 
 most dutiful and implicit obedience, and felt for her 
 person and character, the highest respect, and the 
 most enthusiastic attachment. 
 
 Such were the domestic influences, under which 
 the mind of Washington was formed: and that he not 
 only profited by, but fully appreciated their excel- 
 lence, and the character of his mother, his behaviour 
 toward her at all times testified." (The Life of Wash- 
 ington, Mrs. Pryor.) 
 
 The thoughtfulness of Washington toward his 
 mother has become proverbial. Had he shown dis- 
 regard for his mother's wishes, had he trampled 
 upon her affections, his own career might have been 
 radically different from what it was, as well as the en- 
 tire history of our country. When Washington was 
 14, he determined to enlist in the Navy as midship- 
 man. A berth had been procured on a British man- 
 of-war. His trunk had been sent aboard. He came to 
 the house to bid his mother good-bye, and found her 
 in tears. Her distress over his going was so great 
 that he changed his mind and remained at home. 
 His mother was sorry for his disappointment, but un- 
 doubtedly that change altered his entire career in 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 21 
 
 after life. Who can tell what the outcome of the 
 American Revolution would have been, had there 
 been any other man at the front than George Wash- 
 ington? A son's regard for his mother's wishes, 
 seems like a mighty small hinge on which the destiny 
 of a nation shall swing, but in this instance we can 
 do nothing less than reckon with it. Had he turned 
 a deaf ear to the expostulations of his mother, the 
 Capitol yonder might have had another name, as 
 well as one of our States, several countries, and 
 rivers, and innumerable small towns, and almost 
 countless children. 
 
 Mary Ball was a Christian. The Bible was her 
 constant companion. It was her custom to have 
 family prayers every morning and evening, the serv- 
 ants of the household being present. Mr. Custis 
 says, "She was always pious, but in her latter days, 
 her devotions were performed in private. She was 
 in the habit of repairing every day to a secluded spot 
 formed by rocks and trees, near her dwelling, where 
 abstracted from the world, and worldly things, she 
 communed in humiliation and prayer with her 
 Creator." 
 
 When her son was about to leave her side, to en- 
 gage in perilous fighting on the frontier, she laid 
 her hand on his shoulder and devoutly said, "God is 
 our sure trust; to Him I commend you." Washing- 
 ton never forgot those words. When he accepted a 
 position on General Braddock's staff, he said to his 
 mother, "The God, to whom you commended me, 
 when I set out on a most perilous errand, defended 
 me from all harm, and will do so again." When the 
 news of Braddock's defeat reached Fredericksburg, 
 
22 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 the mother was forced to wait 12 days before she 
 could be assured of his safety When finally a letter 
 from him reached her, he told of his wonderful escape, 
 with four bullets shot thro' his coat, and two horses 
 shot under him. How can we separate this miracu- 
 lous escape from the sublime devotion and prayers of 
 this godly mother? 
 
 When Washington's father was dying, he kissed 
 his children in turn, and said, "Be good to your 
 mother." Washington, in after years, said he faith- 
 fully had kept the promise he had made his dying 
 father, when he knelt crying at his bedside, and 
 that the mother also believed that her son had kept 
 the promise, is evidenced also in her favorite re- 
 mark, "George had always been a good son." 
 
 Washington's last act on his way North to be in- 
 augurated President of the United States, was to 
 turn aside to visit his aged mother who was living 
 at Fredericksburg. "After embracing her, he told 
 her of his election to the office of President, and 
 added that before he entered upon his duties, he 
 had come to bid her an affectionate farewell. 'So 
 soon,' said he, 'as public business which must neces- 
 sarily be encountered in forming a new Govern- 
 ment, can be dispensed with, I shall hasten back.' 
 'You will see me no more,' she mournfully replied, 
 'My great age, and the disease, which is rapidly ap- 
 proaching my vitals, warns me, that I shall not be 
 long in this world. But you, George, fulfill the 
 highest destinies, which heaven has assigned you. 
 Go, my son, and may heaven's blessing be with you 
 always.' Overcome by the solemnity of her man- 
 ner, and the declaration, which he knew to be true, 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 23 
 
 he leaned his head on her aged shoulders and wept. 
 That great giant heart, which made him so terrible 
 on the battlefield, was yet full of tenderest affec- 
 tions, and chinging still to that dear parent, whose 
 love for him was unfailing as the ocean tide, he 
 wept like a child, when told that he should see her 
 face no more. Not when on the disastrous field, he 
 stops and gathers around him, by his majestic bear- 
 ing, the broken fragments of his army, nor when 
 he stands at the head of the Republic, which he 
 had saved, does he appear so great, so worthy the 
 affections of men, as here when he leans and weeps 
 on the shoulder of his mother." This proved to be 
 the last time Washington saw his mother. 
 
 At Fredericksburg stands a monument erected 
 to the memory of Mary Ball Washington. It is the 
 only monument erected to the memory of a woman 
 by the women of America. The monument was 
 dedicated by President Cleveland, May 10, 1894. 
 The oration, at the unveiling was delivered by 
 Senator Daniels. No more appropriate words could 
 be found with which to close this section than the 
 words of the Senator on this occasion. "She nursed 
 a hero at her breast. At her knee, she trained to 
 the love and fear of God, and to the kingly virtues, 
 honor, truth and valor, the lion of the tribe, that 
 gave to America, liberty and independence. This 
 her title to renown. It is enough. Eternal dignity, 
 and heavenly grace, dwell upon the brow of this 
 blessed mother; nor burnished gold, nor sculptor- 
 ed stone, nor rythmic praise, could add one jot or 
 tittle to her chaste glory. Tributes to the lofty 
 genius, which is the rare gift of nature, and to the 
 
24 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 brilliant deeds which are the rare fruits of fitting 
 opportunity, fulfill a noble function; but they often 
 excite extravagant emulations, that can never be 
 satisfied, and individualize models, which few by 
 possibility may copy. This tribute is not to them. 
 It is to one who possessed only the homely virtues 
 of her sex; but what is there in human life, that can 
 be more admirable, or bring it in closer proximity 
 to the divine? She was simply a private citizen. 
 No sovereign crown rested upon her brow. She 
 did not lead an army like a Joan of Arc, nor slay 
 a tyrant like Charlotte Corday. She was not vers- 
 ed in letters or in arts. She was not an angel of 
 mercy like Florence Nightingale, nor the consort 
 of Nero. She did not shine amidst the throngs 
 which bow to the charms of evil beauty, and hospi- 
 tality. But in any assembly of the beautiful, the 
 brilliant, the powerful, or the brave of her sex, no 
 form could awaken a holier sentiment of reverence 
 than she, and that sentiment is all the deeper be- 
 cause she was the unassuming wife and mother, 
 whose kingdom was her family, whose world was 
 
 her home She was the good angel of 
 
 the hearthstone, the special providence of tender 
 hearts, and helpless hands, content to bear her bur- 
 dens in the sequestered vale of life, her thoughts un- 
 perverted by false ambitions, and all unlooking for 
 the great reward that crowned her love and toil. 
 
 "But for the light that streamed from the deeds 
 of him she bore, we would doubtless have never 
 heard of the name of Mary Washington, and the 
 grass that grew upon this grave had not been dis- 
 turbed by curious footsteps or reverential hands. 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 25 
 
 But it does not follow, that she shines only in the 
 reflection of her offspring's fame. Her virtues were 
 not created. They, were only discovered by the 
 marvellous career of her illustrious son. This mem- 
 orial might indeed be due to her, because of who she 
 was, but it is far more due to her, because of what 
 she was. It is in her own right, and as the type of 
 her sex, her people and her race, that she deserves 
 this tribute stone." 
 
 JANE RANDOLPH JEFFERSON. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson. 
 Third President of the United States, i8oi-'9. 
 
 The mother of Thomas Jefferson was Jane Ran- 
 dolph. She was the oldest daughter of an aristo- 
 cratic and wealthy planter. Peter Jefferson was en- 
 gaged to marry Jane Randolph, but he was a poor 
 man, and he determined he would own a home of 
 his own, before he invited a woman to become his 
 wife, especially one who would leave a fine home 
 and a congenial atmosphere socially; so he rode out 
 into the wilderness, and bought a tract of land, one 
 thousand acres in extent, none of it under cultiva- 
 tion. In two years, however, quite a change had 
 been made, for scores of fine old trees had come 
 crashing down, and in a nice clearing he built a 
 log-house, and when finished he invited Jane Ran- 
 dolph to come and share his log-cabin home with 
 him. Stoddard says the aristocratic bride brought 
 no dowry with her, except herself, but that was 
 
26 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 enough. When Thomas was fourteen years of age, 
 his father died, and the care of rearing nine chil- 
 dren devolved upon this mother. The oldest was 
 a daughter seventeen years old, and the youngest 
 were twins twenty-two months old. This mother's 
 hands were more than full, with the management of 
 the estate, and her young large family. But her 
 remarkable guiding genius was equal to the oc- 
 casion. 
 
 Jane Randolph was a beautiful and accomplished 
 woman, cheerful, music-loving, with a fund of good 
 humor, and well educated for those days. But 
 father and mother belonged to one of the most vig- 
 orous and intellectual families of the colony, and one 
 would naturally expect, that the Author of the Dec- 
 laration of Independence, would exhibit fine intel- 
 lectual qualities. The dying request of Peter Jef- 
 ferson was that Thomas should have a college educa- 
 tion. After his father's death, Thomas was thrown 
 into the companionship of his mother, and an abid- 
 ing intimacy sprang up between them. This gifted 
 mother deepened his thoughtfulness, and ripened 
 and enriched his character. She was a member of 
 the Established Church, and faithfully instructed her 
 son in the manly qualities of Christian living, so that, 
 when he was twenty-four, he was a college graduate, 
 a member of the bar, and did not gamble, or drink; 
 use tobacco or swear; such was the influence of his 
 mother upon him. Posterity can never know how 
 much the people of this great country are indebted 
 to Jane Randolph, the widowed mother of Thomas 
 Jefferson, for the part she played, in training him, 
 who was to write the Magna Charta of America. 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 21 
 
 When this great state paper is praised, consider- 
 able of credit must be given to a widowed mother, 
 for her painstaking care, for her fidelity, in bringing 
 up this son, who was left entirely in her keeping 
 when a lad fourteen years old. 
 
 NELLIE CONWAY MADISON. 
 
 James Madison, 
 Fourth President of the United States, 1809-' 17. 
 
 The mother of James Madison was Nellie Con- 
 way. She was the mother of four sons and three 
 daughters; the oldest was named James after his 
 father. She was a woman of fine intellectual gifts, 
 and fully competent to direct the first steps of her 
 son's mental training. The deep devotion which 
 this son manifested toward his mother in after years, 
 speaks eloquently of the high regard he had for her. 
 In fact, there is not the slightest historical evidence, 
 of any President showing disrespect toward his 
 mother. The mother of Madison, like the mother 
 of Jefferson, was a member of the Established 
 Church. When Madison's father died, the old 
 homestead passed into the hands of the son, James. 
 He built a fine new mansion on the estate, but did 
 not disturb the old home, owing to the attachment 
 his mother had for the old place, where she had 
 always lived as the wife of James Madison, Sr. So 
 the new house was attached to the old one. After 
 retiring from the Presidency, Madison went to live 
 in the new mansion, but his mother still retained 
 
28 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 her home in the old part, which had become en- 
 deared to her thru the associations of a happy wedded 
 life, and where she had brought up her family of 
 children. "Here," says the historian, "she kept up 
 her old fashioned way of housekeeping, waited upon 
 by servants who grew old and faded away with her. 
 She divided her time between her Bible, and knit- 
 ting, all undisturbed by the modern hours, the 
 changed customs, or the elegant hospitalities of the 
 mansion itself. She was the central point in the life 
 of her distinguished son, and the chief object of his 
 most devoted care to the end of her days. These 
 were long, for she passed away at ninety-eight." 
 (Stoddard). Old Mrs. Madison was very fond of Dolly 
 Madison, who graced the White House as the first 
 lady of the land, the beautiful and attractive wife 
 of her son, and when growing infirm, thru old age, 
 she said, "Dolly is my mother now, and cares most 
 tenderly for all my wants." 
 
 ABIGAIL SMITH ADAMS. 
 
 John Quincy Adams, 
 Sixth President of the United States, i825-'29. 
 
 Abigail Smith, the mother of John Quincy 
 Adams, was the daughter of a Congregational minis- 
 ter. History places her, "among the most re- 
 markable women of the Revolutionary period." 
 She is described by Wm. H. Seward, as a woman of 
 great beauty, high intellectual endowments, and she 
 combined with the proper accomplishments of her 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 29 
 
 sex, a sweetness of disposition, and a generous sym- 
 pathy with the patriotic devotion of her husband. 
 When John Quincy was seven years old his mother 
 took him to one of the high hills, in the neighbor- 
 hood of her home, and he clambered on his mother's 
 knees, and listened to the sounds of the Battle of 
 Bunker Hill; and watched the burning of Charles- 
 town. The care of her son in his early childhood, 
 developed entirely upon her, owing to the absence 
 abroad of her husband, who was employed in the 
 interests of his country. When John Quincy was 
 appointed Minister to Holland, his father, writing 
 to the mother said: 'The President has it in contem- 
 plation to send your son to Holland." The father 
 made use of the words "your son," in order to con- 
 vey to the mother how large a part she had had in 
 training that son. When John Quincy was appoint- 
 ed Minister to Berlin, by his father, who was Presi- 
 dent of the United States, he was reluctant to ac- 
 cept the post, because the appointment came from 
 his father. His father, however, wrote that it was 
 the expressed wish of George Washington, that he 
 should accept the post. In response, he wrote to 
 his mother: "I know with what delight your truly 
 maternal heart has received every testimonial of 
 Washington's favorable voice. It is among the 
 most precious gratifications of my life, to reflect up- 
 on the pleasure which my conduct has given my 
 parents. How much, my dear mother, is required 
 of me to support and justify such a judgment, as 
 that which you have copied in your letter." One 
 of the most tender and beautiful tributes, ever ac- 
 corded a mother by a son, was that bestowed by 
 
30 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 John Quincy Adams, and which is published in his 
 "Diary," 1874-77. We quote: — 'There is not a 
 virtue that can abide in the female heart, but it was 
 the ornament of hers. She had been fifty-four years 
 the delight of my father's heart, the sweetness of all 
 his toils, the comforter of all his sorrows, the sharer 
 and brightness of all his joys. It was but the last 
 time when I saw my father, that he told me, with 
 an ejaculation of gratitude, to the Giver of every 
 good and perfect gift, that in all the visissitudes of 
 his fortunes, thru all the good report, and evil re- 
 port of the world, in all his struggles, and in all his 
 sorrows, the affectionate participation, and cheer- 
 ing encouragement of his wife, had been his never 
 failing support, without which he was sure, he would 
 
 never have lived thru them 
 
 "Never have I known another human being, the 
 perpetual object of whose life was so unremittingly 
 to do good. Yet so unostentatious, so unconscious, 
 even of her own excellence, that even the objects of 
 her kindness, often knew not whence it came. She 
 had seen the world, — its glories without being daz- 
 zled; its vices and follies, without being infected by 
 them. She had suffered often and severely from 
 fits of long and painful sickness, always with calm- 
 ness and resignation. She had a profound but not 
 an obtrusive sensibility. She was always cheerful, 
 never frivolous; she had neither gall, nor guile. 
 
 "Her attention to the domestic economy of her 
 family was unrivalled — rising with the dawn and 
 superintending the household concerns with indi- 
 fatigable and all foreseeing care. She had a warm 
 and lively relish for literature, for social con versa- 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 31 
 
 tion, for whatever was interesting in the occurrences 
 of the time, and even in political affairs. She had 
 been during the war of the Revolution, an ardent 
 patriot, and the earliest lesson of unbounded devo- 
 tion to the cause of this country, that her children 
 received, was from her. She had the most delicate 
 sense of propriety of conduct, but nothing unchari- 
 table, nothing bitter. Her price indeed was above 
 rubies." Such was the tribute a most distinguished 
 son paid to a most remarkable mother. She was 
 the ideal wife and mother. 
 
 Mr. Adams was brought up in a home that was 
 decidedly Christian. He never got away from the 
 influence of his mother. Many years before he won 
 the highest honors in the gift of the American peo- 
 ple, he declared: 'The God of my father and mother, 
 shall be my God." He ever remained true to this 
 declaration, when crowned with the highest honors 
 in the gift o,f the American people. Abbott says: — 
 "When his body was bent, and his hair silvered by the 
 lapse of fourscore years, yielding to the simple faith 
 of a child, he was accustomed to repeat every night 
 before he slept, the nursery prayer his mother taught 
 him in his infant years. There is a great moral 
 beauty in the aspect of this venerable, world-worn 
 man, folding his hands, and closing his eyes, as he 
 repeated in simplicity the nursery prayer: 
 
 Now I lay me down to sleep. 
 I pray the Lord my soul to keep, 
 If I should die before I wake, 
 I pray the Lord my soul to take, 
 And this I ask for Jesus sake." 
 
32 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 ELIZABETH HUTCHINSON JACKSON. 
 
 Andrew Jackson, 
 Seventh President of the United States, iS2g-'^y. 
 
 Andrew Jackson bore the name of his father. His 
 mother's name was Elizabeth Hutchinson. The 
 father died a few days before the son was born, and 
 the mother went directly from the grave of her hus- 
 band to the log cabin home of her sister, where a few 
 days afterward this son was born. What a scene! 
 Who would dream that a future President of the 
 United States could come out of such lowly sur- 
 roundings. Here was the pain-crushed, heart- 
 stricken widow, no home of her own: a clotheless 
 babe, coarse fare, poverty, and wild surroundings. 
 Mrs. Jackson was a Presbyterian, and a very devout 
 woman. She wanted her son Andrew to become 
 a clergyman, which seemed impossible to every one 
 but the mother. With this thought uppermost 
 in mind, she trained his young mind to duty; to reli- 
 gious faith and life. As her invalid sister's house- 
 keeper, Mrs. Jackson worked hard, washing and 
 mending and cooking, in order to help pay for the 
 support of herself and her children. 
 
 Jackson in his early life drifted a long way oft from 
 the coveted desire of his mother. One biographer 
 says, "He was the most roaring, rollicking, game- 
 cocking, horse-racing, card-playing, mischievous 
 fellow that lived in Salisbury," and another declares, 
 that he sowed a big crop of wild oats in his early 
 manhood. His education was of the most meagre 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 33 
 
 sort, consisting of but little more than the three 
 R's. He never learned to write English correctly. 
 
 Andrew Jackson's mother practically died a mar- 
 tyr to her country, as the result of hardships and 
 exposure sustained during the Revolutionary war. 
 Her two sons, Robert and Andrew, both mere lads, 
 Andrew not yet fifteen, were among the young pa- 
 triots who volunteered to ward off the Tories at 
 Waxhaw. Both were taken prisoners. A Tory offi- 
 cer commanded Andrew to blacken his boots. An- 
 drew replied, "Sir, I am a prisoner of war, and claim 
 to be treated as such." The officer glared at him 
 like a wild beast, and aimed a desperate blow at his 
 head. Andrew broke the force of the blow with his 
 hand, and received two wounds, a deep gash on the 
 head, and another on the hand. The scars from these 
 wounds he carried to his dying day. This officer 
 next turned to his brother Robert, and ordered him 
 to blacken his boots. Robert saw the wounds of 
 his brother, and the fresh blood pouring from them, 
 and had every reason to fear a like assault, in case he 
 should refuse. But he did refuse, and the officer 
 dealt him a terrific blow on the head which levelled 
 him to the floor, and disabled him. An aged rela- 
 tive, commenting on the scene said, "I'll reckon 
 Andy thought of it at New Orleans." The two 
 wounded Jackson boys suffered intensely, as a conse- 
 quence of the inhuman treatment from the Tories. 
 This treatment reminds us of the terribleness of the 
 Germans in the present world war. 
 
 Both boys were stricken with small-pox. Their de- 
 voted mother heard of their pitiable plight. Prison- 
 ers — wounded — small-pox! She strove with all the 
 
34 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 might of mother love for their deliverance, and final- 
 ly succeeded in effecting an exchange of prisoners. 
 When the mother gazed upon her two boys, saw 
 their pitiable condition — the wound on Robert's 
 head had not even been dressed — she was overcome 
 with astonishment and horror. In two days after 
 Robert reached home he was a corpse, and Andrew 
 a raving maniac. But a mother's nursing, and a 
 strong constitution pulled Andrew thru. After he 
 was well on the way to recovery, this patriotic mo- 
 ther heard of the sufferings of the prisoners of war, 
 at Charleston, and she volunteered her services. 
 There were no Red Cross nurses in those days, but 
 there were devoted women, who were pioneers of 
 the Red Cross work. Tradition says, that Mrs. 
 Jackson made the long journey of one hundred and 
 sixty miles on foot. Andrew Jackson, however, 
 doubts this. He thinks that some way was surely 
 provided to get his mother to her destination. But 
 her rough journey thru life was nearly over. She 
 was seized with ship-fever, and soon after died. The 
 only legacy this poor woman had to leave her or- 
 phan son, was a pathetic little bundle of clothes, 
 which was sent to him at Waxhaw, and a stainless 
 character, and the memory of a good mother, and 
 faithful Christian. Andrew mourned deeply over 
 the loss of his good patriotic mother. He owed her 
 his life. In after years he loved to dwell upon her 
 many virtues. He revered her memory, as he had 
 the right to do. In after life, he declared, that he 
 never got away from the influence of her godly life, 
 and when he embraced Christianity, it was no doubt 
 in answer to this mother's prayers, and the uncon- 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 35 
 
 scious influence of her life. He did, not become a 
 clergyman, but he became a gallant American Gen- 
 eral, a distinguished statesman, and President of the 
 United States. Would that this mother of toil and 
 sacrifice might have lived, to have rejoiced in the 
 honors that came to her distinguished son. Her 
 burial place is unknown. She was buried so ob- 
 scurely, her grave has never been discovered. An- 
 drew, a little over fourteen years old, was left an or- 
 phan, sick, sorrowful, homeless. Parton, in his "Life 
 of Jackson," styles him, "An orphan of the Revolu- 
 tion," but the great heart of the people of this Re- 
 public, adopted him as Son. 
 
 ELIZABETH SPEER BUCHANAN 
 
 James Buchanan, 
 Fifteenth President of the United States, i857-'6i. 
 
 James Buchanan was born in a log-cabin, built 
 by his father, on a piece of ground where he had 
 "staked his claim," in Franklin Co., Pa. The trees 
 out of which the cabin was built were felled by the 
 father's own hands. In this log-cabin, the future 
 President lived until he was eight years old. His 
 mother, Elizabeth Speer, was a woman of uncom- 
 mon intellect. Horton, in his "Life of James Buch- 
 anan," says that "Altho' she had not enjoyed the 
 advantages of a superior education, she was distin- 
 guished for her masculine sense, and remarkable lit- 
 erary taste. . . . She was also a woman of the 
 most exalted and enlightened piety, and to her in- 
 
36 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 fluence in forming his character, and implanting 
 those fundamental principles of conduct, which un- 
 derlie all true greatness, is her son, James Buchanan, 
 indebted for his present distinction." That he was 
 indebted to his mother for his rich intellectual gifts, 
 admits of no doubt. When in college no study was 
 too difficult. He never went to class unprepared. 
 He not simply had learned his lesson, but he had 
 mastered it. When he graduated from Dickinson 
 College, he was only eighteen years old, and graduat- 
 ed with the highest honors. 
 
 James Buchanan is another of our Presidents who 
 has paid a beautiful and loving tribute to the mem- 
 ory of his mother. She was the mother of eleven 
 children, a member of the Presbyterian church, a very 
 devout woman, and had a great influence over her 
 son James. She was passionately fond of the best 
 literature, and according to her son, James, had a 
 prodigious memory. As one reads the remarkable 
 tribute paid to her by her son, long after he had be- 
 come a national character, he is reminded of the 
 words of Sacred Writ, "Her children rise up and 
 call her blessed." The following is this tribute of 
 love, almost without parallel in literature, surely de- 
 serving a place alongside that of John Quincy 
 Adams, which he paid to his mother: 
 
 "My mother, considering her limited opportuni- 
 ties in early life, was a remarkable woman. The 
 daughter of a country farmer, engaged in household 
 employment from early life, until after my father's 
 death. She yet found time to read much, and to 
 reflect deeply on what she read. She had a great 
 fondness for poetry, and could repeat with ease, all 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 37 
 
 the passages in her favorite authors, which struck 
 her fancy. These were Milton, Young, Cowper and 
 Thompson. I do not think, at least until a late per- 
 iod of life, she had ever read a criticism on any of 
 these authors, and yet such was the correctness of 
 her natural taste, that she had selected for herself, 
 and could repeat every passage in them which has 
 been admired. 
 
 "She was a sincere and devoted Christian, from the 
 time of my earliest recollection, and had read much 
 on the subject of Theology; and what she read once 
 she remembered forever. For her sons, as they 
 successively grew up, she was a delightful and in- 
 structive companion. She would argue with them 
 and often gain the victory; ridicule then in any folly, 
 or eccentricity; excite their ambition by presenting 
 to them in glowing colors, men who had been use- 
 ful to their country, or their kind, as objects of imi- 
 tation, and enter into all their joys and sorrows. Her 
 early habits of laborious industry, she could not be 
 induced to forego, while she had anything to do. 
 My father did everything he could to prevent her 
 from laboring in her domestic concerns, but it was 
 all in vain. I had often, during my vacations, at 
 school, or college, sat in the room with her, and 
 while she was, (entirely of her own choice) busily 
 engaged in homely domestic employments, have 
 spent hours pleasantly and instructively, conversing 
 with her. 
 
 "She was a woman of great firmness of character, 
 and bore the afflictions of her later life with Chris- 
 tian philosophy. After my father's death, she lost 
 two sons, William and George Washington, two 
 
38 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 young men of great promise, and also a favorite 
 daughter. These afflictions withdrew her affections, 
 gradually more and more, away from the things of 
 this world, and she died on May 14, 1833, at Greens- 
 burg, in the calm and firm assurance that she was 
 going home to her father and her God. It was 
 chiefly to her influence that her sons were indebted 
 for a liberal education. Under Providence, I at- 
 tribute any little distinction which I may have ac- 
 quired in the world to the blessing which He con- 
 ferred upon me in granting me such a mother." 
 
 Here was a mother not completely absorbed in 
 clubs, and fashionable fandangoes, but who took the 
 time to be a companion to her children, as well as a 
 consistent example in Christian discipleship. She 
 counselled with them, and taught them the value of 
 clean living, and the privilege of having high and 
 lofty aspirations in life. Any child would owe a 
 world of debt to such a mother. 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 39 
 
 NANCY HANKS LINCOLN. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, 
 Sixteenth President of the United States, i86i-'65. 
 
 Every High School scholar is familiar with the 
 name of Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lin- 
 coln. She has been described as slender, and deli- 
 cate, rather pale and sad, of a shrinking nature, still 
 heroic. Miss Tarbell in her "Life of Lincoln," says, 
 "She was a sweet tempered and a beautiful woman, 
 whom tradition paints as the centre of all the coun- 
 try merry-making." The Hanks girls were also very 
 religious, and were prominent at camp meetings, 
 were fine singers, and occasionally indulged in a 
 shout acccrding to the Methodist customs of those 
 days. Carl Schurz is the only author we have come 
 across who describes Mrs. Lincoln in an altogether 
 different light. He paints her as coarse and ignorant, 
 and with melancholy disposition. Historically, we be- 
 lieve this to be incorrect, in view of the fact that his- 
 torians, generally speaking, have agreed otherwise. 
 
 In a mere hut, on a poor scrub farm near Hodgen- 
 ville, La Rue Co., Ky., Abraham Lincoln was born. 
 His cradle, and the only one he ever knew, was his 
 poor mother's arms. His only playmate, in his 
 earliest childhood, his sister Nancy, bearing this 
 name during the life of her mother, and after her 
 death, taking the name of Sarah, after her step- 
 mother. Lincoln's playground was the primeval 
 forest about him. He never owned a toy, for toys 
 were expensive, and there was little money in the 
 Lincoln home. When Lincoln was seven years old, 
 he and little sister Nancy, trudged behind their 
 
40 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 father and mother into the trackless wilds of South- 
 ern Indiana. Here, on Little Pigeon Creek, Thom- 
 as Lincoln established his new home. The land 
 chosen was covered with dense forest, and no shel- 
 ter awaited the family he brought with him, so he 
 hastily cut down a lot of young saplings, and con- 
 structed a shed into which he moved his family. It 
 shielded the family only on three sides, thru the freez- 
 ing storms of one long winter. It had no floor, no 
 windows, and the ground floor turned into mud 
 when the thaws set in. There was not even a skin 
 to hang over the open front to keep out the storms. 
 Pegs were driven in the wall, and young Lincoln 
 nimbly climbed up these to his bed of leaves in the 
 rude loft. Nancy Hanks could not withstand the 
 rigors of the frontier life. Hardship, exposure, and 
 anxiety had begun to tell on her. In the summer 
 of 1818 malarial fever broke out in the neighbor- 
 hood. Her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Dennis 
 Sparrow, were both striken with the disease. They 
 were brought to the Lincoln shanty to be cared for. 
 Nancy Hanks waited on them, and attended also 
 the cares of her own household, pouring out her life 
 and strength for others, as Elizabeth Hutchinson, 
 the martyred mother of Andrew Jackson had done. 
 The uncle and aunt both died. The extra burdens 
 had begun to tell on the already over-burdened 
 mother, and she, too, fell an easy victim to the fever. 
 The nearest physician was thirty-five miles away. 
 The swift fever soon burnt her life out. As the end 
 drew near, Abraham knelt sobbing beside his dying 
 mother. He was losing his best friend. She laid 
 her hand on his young head, and gave him her last 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 41 
 
 message, calling upon him to be good to his father 
 and sister, and calling upon all to be good to one 
 another and worship God. It has been generally 
 supposed that it was at this time he promised his 
 mother that he would never use intoxicating liquor, 
 for he made the promise when he was nine years old, 
 and that was his age when his mother died. That 
 promise he kept to the day of his death. When he 
 had grown to manhood, he was delivering an address 
 at a temperance meeting, and read a pledge he had 
 written. 
 
 "Whereas, The use of intoxicating liquors as a 
 beverage is productive of pauperism, degradation and 
 crime; and believing it our duty to discourage that 
 which produces more evil than good, we therefore 
 pledge ourselves to abstain from the use of intoxica- 
 ting liquors as a beverage." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was always a firm exponent of total 
 abstinence. The influence of Nancy Hanks, thru 
 the agency of a pledge exacted from her son, when 
 she was dying, continues to live thru the channel of 
 the Lincoln-Lee Temperance Legion. In a sermon 
 published in The Christian Advocate, from the text, 
 "There is a place by me," the writer says, that when 
 Lincoln's mother was dying she pressed her son to 
 her breast, and bade him a long and loving farewell, 
 saying: "Be something, Abe." Ever and anon dur- 
 ing the years that were to come, Lincoln heard 
 the voice of his angel mother saying: "Be some- 
 thing, Abe." Throughout the years of his struggle 
 and toil, and when honors at last came to him, the 
 words of that angel mother, from the angel world 
 would come to him, "Be something, Abe." He 
 
42 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 once said to an intimate friend, his eyes suffused 
 with tears, ''All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to 
 my angel mother, — blessings on her memory." 
 Strange that there have been those who have said, 
 that Mr. Lincoln in these words, referred to his 
 step-mother, when his step-mother was still living 
 when he gave expression to them. 
 
 This boy, but nine years old, when his mother 
 slipped away to heaven, loved his mother with all the 
 ardor of his soul. His father's knowledge of carpen- 
 try, enabled him to make the pine box which was to 
 contain the body of his mother. Young Abe stood 
 by, while this rude box was being nailed together. 
 He stood by when his father lowered that rude cas- 
 ket in the grave, which he had made in an adjoining 
 forest. There were no religious services, connected 
 with his mother's burial, and this almost broke young 
 Lincoln's heart. An itinerant Methodist preacher, 
 named Parson Elkins, had occasionally conducted 
 religious services in the neighborhood. Lincoln 
 secured his address, and the first letter he ever wrote 
 was addressed to this minister requesting him to 
 come and hold religious services over that lonely 
 grave. Receiving an affirmative answer, he sent in- 
 vitations to the settlers, and fully two hundred came 
 to the funeral from miles around. If Parson El- 
 kins had known that that letter was written by a 
 boy who was destined to become President of the 
 United States, how carefully he would have preserved 
 it. The funeral sermon of this humble Methodist 
 preacher, made a profound impression on Lincoln's 
 mind, and was never effaced. The day to him was 
 a holy day. 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 43 
 
 While Nancy Hanks could not be called an edu- 
 cated woman, even in those days, she was able to 
 read, and often read to young Abe, and his sister, 
 the father sitting by understanding and appreciating 
 an education, all the more because he had it not. 
 Much has been written about Mr. Lincoln's use of 
 the Bible. To his mother he was indebted for his 
 great love of the Holy Scriptures. His mother is 
 reported to have said, "I would rather my son would 
 be able to read the Bible, than to own a farm, if he 
 cannot have but one." Lincoln probably never 
 owned a farm, and may never have had sufficient 
 funds to purchase one, but he did know his Bible. 
 The influence of the Holy Scriptures on Mr. Lin- 
 coln's life, and his writings, is remarkable. A re- 
 cent writer says, he has taken the pains to go thru 
 Mr. Lincoln's published works, speeches, letters and 
 public papers, and had marked every reference to 
 God, Providence, every Scriptural allusion, or quota- 
 tion, and in so doing was astonished at the result. 
 Some pages were literally covered with pencilings. 
 Raymond, in his "Life and Public Services of Abra- 
 ham Lincoln," says, that when his mother died, "she 
 was happy in the knowledge, that chiefly under her 
 own tuition, her son had learned to read the Bible, 
 the book, which as a Christian woman, she prized 
 above all others. It is impossible to estimate the 
 influence which this faithful mother exerted in 
 moulding the character of her child." The earnest- 
 ness with which she impressed on his mind and heart 
 :the holy precepts of this Book, did most to develop 
 those characteristics, which in after years caused him 
 to be known as the "Honest" man. This great 
 
44 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 Commoner had honestly and righteously earned the 
 name, "Honest old Abe," which an admiring public 
 applied to him, but when thus applied an uncon- 
 scious compliment was paid to his Angel Mother, 
 Nancy Hanks. 
 
 mary Mcdonough — johnson. 
 
 Andrew Johnson, 
 Seventeenth President of the United States, i865-'69. 
 
 In at least five log-cabin homes, were born sons 
 who were destined to become Presidents of the 
 United States. Andrew Johnson may not have been 
 born in a log-cabin, for he was born at Raleigh, N. 
 C, but owing to the extreme poverty of his father, 
 the house, doubtless, was little more than a shamble. 
 When Andrew was four years old, his father died. 
 He was drowned while attempting to save the life 
 of a friend. His mother, Mary McDonough, was 
 left a widow, and to her, in her poverty, was left the 
 task of caring for one who was to become the Presi- 
 dent of the United States. Of the seven widows, men- 
 tioned in this book, none had a more difficult task, 
 than Mrs. Johnson, owing to the impoverished con- 
 dition of the family. After the death of Jacob John- 
 son the mother and Andrew dropped completely out 
 of sight, from the time the lad was four years until he 
 was ten. Nobody knows how Mrs. Johnson man- 
 aged to get along; however, she must have managed 
 to find some way. 
 
 We read to-day of the "Poor Whites," of the 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 4* 
 
 South, improvished and uneducated. To this class 
 of people belonged the Johnson family. Even color- 
 ed folks, then and now, thus speak contemptuously 
 of them. They did not know the value of an educa- 
 tion. They had no aspirations in that direction. 
 Consequently, few if any attended school. Andrew- 
 Johnson's experience was no exception to the ex- 
 perience of the other "Poor Whites." He had no 
 schooling. Think of one who never attended school 
 a day in his life, but who fitted himself to serve his 
 state in the Legislature, and as Governor, and the 
 nation as a United States Senator, and finally exalt- 
 ed to the Presidential chair. His lot in early life 
 was a hard one. When he was ten, he was appren- 
 ticed to a master-tailor, named Selby, and that ap- 
 prenticeship was to last seven long, weary years. 
 While working at his trade, the boy learned the al- 
 phabet, and also to read. He borrowed books, and 
 would read and study from two to three hours every 
 night. A few months before his apprenticeship ex- 
 pired, he ran away, and began working for himself. 
 We believe he was inspired to do this thro' the neces- 
 sity of caring for his mother, — this the sequel seems 
 to prove. He had not deserted his master-tailor 
 long before his course of action began to prey upon 
 his mind, and not having money to pay for transpor- 
 tation to the city where Selby lived, he walked the 
 entire twenty miles. His motive in returning was 
 to apologize for running away, and to pay for the 
 months of service still due Mr. Selby. He was still 
 less than eighteen years of age, he had served seven 
 years as an apprentice boy, and had a dependent 
 mother to care for. Tenderly, he will care for her, to 
 
46 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 the utmost of his ability, she who cared for him, in 
 her poverty, during his early childhood. He took 
 his mother to Greenville, Tenn., where he established 
 his home. Andrew Johnson was fortunate in mar- 
 rying a very intelligent woman, who at once became 
 interested in assisting him in his studies. To his 
 teacher-wife he owed much. No man who afterward 
 became President of the United States, had more 
 hardship, and so little to encourage him in his early 
 life, as Andrew Johnson. The 'Tailor" President 
 deserves much credit, and is truly deserving of high 
 praise, for what he made of himself. Coming from 
 the ranks of the poor and common people himself, 
 throughout his career, he espoused their cause, and 
 among them, was popular. His lack of a liberal 
 education was doubtless responsible for his obstin- 
 acy, and narrow-mindedness which he at times ex- 
 hibited in public life. 
 
 It is greatly to the credit of Andrew Johnson, that 
 he was never ashamed of his humble origin, and ob- 
 scure occupation of his earlier days. On one oc- 
 casion he said on the floor of the Senate of the 
 United States: 
 
 "I do not forget that I am a mechanic, neither do 
 I forget that Adam was a tailor, and sewed fig- 
 leaves, and that our Saviour was the son of a carpen- 
 ter." 
 
 While Andrew Johnson was serving as an appren- 
 tice in Selby's tailor shop, his boy companion and 
 friend McGofrm was learning the blacksmith's 
 trade. Years afterward, when Andrew Johnson was 
 serving the great State of Tennessee as Governor, his 
 blacksmith friend was serving the equally great State 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 47 
 
 of Kentucky, as Governor. After Johnson became 
 Governor of Tennessee, the story is told, that he 
 bought cloth, and with his own hands made a fine 
 suit of clothes, which he presented to his friend Gov. 
 McGoffin, of Ky. In return, Gov. McGoffin went 
 to a blacksmith's shop, donned a leather-apron, roll- 
 ed up his sleeves, stood at anvil and forge, and made 
 with his own hands, a shovel and pair of tongs, 
 which he sent to Gov. Johnson, with the wish that 
 they would help keep alive "the flame of their friend- 
 ship." It is not surprising that such a man as An- 
 drew Johnson, should be exceedingly popular with 
 the common people of our great nation. 
 
4* OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 HANNAH SIMPSON GRANT. 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant, 
 Eighteenth President of the United States, 1&69-JJ. 
 
 Hannah Simpson, the mother of Ulysses S. Grant, 
 was a devout Christian, and member of the Method- 
 ist Episcopal church. Many an itinerant Method- 
 ist preacher enjoyed the hospitality of her home. 
 Hannah Simpson was amiable, serene, even-temper- 
 ed, self-forgetful, kind and considerate to all. She 
 would speak ill of no one. She governed her chil- 
 dren without the rod. Grant declared that he had 
 no recollection of ever being punished at home 
 either by scolding or whipping, by either father or 
 mother. This was a most remarkable statement to 
 make, and one that can be made by but few. In 
 return for the tender affection manifested by this 
 mother toward her children, they were tractable, 
 well-behaved, never boisterous, nor rude in the fam- 
 ily circle. Ulysses was taught to be prompt in do- 
 ing, or at least in attempting to do whatever he 
 was told. He was honest to the farthing, and in- 
 capable of crookedness, and as a boy valued strict 
 truth-telling. The historian says, that the closest 
 comrades of his boyhood insist that he was never 
 guilty of a deliberate falsehood. In this little vol- 
 ume, we present a remarkable trio in this respect: 
 Washington, Grant, and McKinley, as we shall see 
 later on. 
 
 Hannah Simpson Grant never praised her sons or 
 daughters in the presence of others. When Ulys- 
 ses became a distinguished national character, she 
 scrupulously refrained from speaking boastingly of 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 49 
 
 her distinguished son, and when others sounded his 
 praises in her ears, she would blush like a school- 
 girl, and frequently leave the room. When he was 
 elected to the Presidency, Mrs. Grant said of him, 
 as Mary Washington said of her son, "He was al- 
 ways a good boy." She expressed no more sur- 
 prise at his election to this high office, than did 
 Washington's mother, when he became the Presi- 
 dent of this young nation in 1789. When old age 
 came, she had a calm, winning manner, and a face 
 still sweet, and still young. Ulysses inherited many 
 of his traits of character from his mother. From her 
 he derived his reticence, modesty, self-abnegation, 
 patience, and equanimity. We are told that the best 
 thing Jesse Grant ever did was to marry Hannah 
 Simpson. Jesse Grant pays this tribute to the 
 mother of the President: — "Her steadiness, firmness, 
 and strength of character, have been the stay of the 
 family thru life. She was always careful, and most 
 watchful over her children; but never austere, and 
 not opposed to their free participation in innocent 
 amusements." Col. F. D. Grant, the President's 
 son speaks thus of her: — she was "one of the most 
 modest and unselfish of women. Her intimate friends 
 greatly appreciated her rare worth and excel- 
 lent qualities, many of which the General inherited. 
 Devoted as she was to him, his honors and success 
 never betrayed her into an act or remark which 
 would indicate that her head was turned by them. 
 She was glad and thankful for his good fortune, 
 and with the loving faithfulness of a Christian mother, 
 she had long made his welfare the subject of earnest 
 prayer. She had faith in his future, tho' not great 
 
50 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 worldly expectations, and during the last years of 
 his life, her interest in his future had special re- 
 ference to that part on which they have both en- 
 tered." 
 
 From the influence of such a mother, of charming 
 Christian graces, we are not surprised at Grant's ab- 
 horrence of all obscene and profane language. "The 
 restraining influence of his mother's teachings oper- 
 ated so powerfully upon his mind, that he never 
 uttered an oath in his life." No doubt, the same 
 influence was responsible for his abhorrence of ob- 
 scenity. He would not tolerate for a moment the 
 telling of an unclean story. He has been lauded to 
 the skies, for his firm stand in this particular, but 
 we cannot eliminate the influence of Hannah Simp- 
 son Grant. Grant always held in reverence the 
 religion of his mother. He would rather enjoy the 
 charming presence of this mother than to be the 
 honored guest at a banquet given by his admiring 
 country-men. A few days after he had received his 
 commission as General-in-chief of the American 
 Army, while in Washington, he received an invita- 
 tion from President Lincoln to attend a military 
 dinner at the White House in his honor. He thank- 
 ed the President but courteously declined. The din- 
 ner came off, but as Mr. Lincoln said, "It was like 
 Hamlet with the Prince left out." General Grant 
 took a train for Cincinnati, Ohio, where his parents 
 were living, and while the dinner was in progress, 
 where he might have been the commanding figure, 
 admired by all, as the Nation's hero, this silent man 
 of American history, was locked in the quiet com- 
 radeship of his aged father and mother. 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 51 
 
 We have an unerring index, pointing to the affec- 
 tionate regard Grant cherished in his heart for this 
 great and good mother, in a letter which he wrote 
 to her shortly after he became a Cadet at West 
 Point. "I have occasionally been called upon to 
 be separated from you, but never did I feel the full 
 force and effect of this separation as I do now. I 
 seem alone in the world without my mother. There 
 have been so many ways in which you have advised 
 me, when in the quiet of home, I have been pur- 
 suing my studies, that I cannot tell you how much 
 I miss you. I was so often alone with you, and 
 you so frequently spoke to me in private, that 
 the solitude of my situation here at the Academy, 
 among my silent books, and in my lonely room, is 
 all the more striking. It reminds me the more forci- 
 bly of home, and most of all, dear mother, of you. 
 But in the midst of all this, your kindly instructions 
 and admonitions, are ever present with me. I trust 
 they may never be absent from me, as long as I live. 
 How often do I think of them, and how well they 
 strengthen me in every good word and work! My 
 dear mother, should I progress well with my studies 
 at West Point, and become a soldier of my country, 
 I am looking forward with hope, to have you spared 
 to share with me, in any advancement I may make. 
 / see now in looking over the records here, how much 
 American soldiers of the right stamp ar<- indebted to 
 good American Mothers! When they go to the fields, 
 what prayers go with them; what tender testimo- 
 nials of affection and counsel are in their knapsacks! 
 I am struck, in looking over the history of the noble 
 struggle of our fathers for national independence, 
 
52 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 at the evidence of the good influence exerted upon 
 them by the women of the Revolution." 
 
 The author is responsible for the italics in the 
 above letter. It bears out the thought in the mind of 
 the writer of the great debt our country owes to the 
 
 O J 
 
 mothers of our great men, and particularly, the mo- 
 thers of our Presidents. Thus wrote the young cadet 
 to his absent mother. And history has proved that 
 the hand of Hannah Simpson was largely instru- 
 mental, in presenting to this nation, a son who be- 
 came the greatest American soldier, this country 
 has ever produced, and one of our most worthy 
 Presidents. The Grant America knows could not 
 have been without the influence and guiding genius 
 of that wise and good mother Hannah Simpson. 
 
 Mothers of Presidents! Witness their influence. 
 We see it evidenced in the life of Washington, the 
 Father of his country; in Jefferson, who gave to the 
 American people their Magna Charta, and in the 
 career of Grant, who thro' victories won on the far 
 flung battle line, prevented the dismemberment of 
 the Union. Why has not some historian discover- 
 ed long ago the tremendous debt we owe to these 
 uncrowned Queens of our fair land! As we move 
 among them and fellowship with their distinguished 
 sons, we seem to be fairly moving in the company 
 of goddesses and gods. It is true, they were mortals, 
 — the mothers, the sons, — but what sun-crowned 
 mortals! 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 53 
 
 SOPHIA BIRCHARD HAYES. 
 
 Rutherford B. Hayes, 
 Nineteenth President of the United States, 1877- 
 
 1881. 
 
 Sophia Birchard was the mother of Rutherford 
 Birchard Hayes. His father died before he was 
 born, so that we have two of our Presidents, Andrew 
 Jackson, and Rutherford B. Hayes, brought up en- 
 tirely by their mothers, the father in each instance, 
 dying before the birth of their son, and again we 
 have the oft-repeated story of a widow bringing up 
 a son to become a President of the United States. 
 Surely fathers have no right to take on airs in this 
 respect, and yet when widows and mothers have 
 had so much to do in training sons for the Presiden- 
 cy, the biographer or historian, has generally dis- 
 missed her, by informing us about her parents, when 
 she was married, and the number of children that 
 came to the home to bless the union. In at least 
 one instance, we almost failed to determine even the 
 name of the mother; she was poor, of obscure birth, 
 and was dismissed with a stroke of the pen. Fathers 
 are skeptical about the necessity of so much guard- 
 ing, cautioning, and training. Not so mothers. Pos- 
 sibly this is responsible, in a measure, at least, for 
 such distinguished sons as Washington, Jefferson, 
 Jackson, Johnson, Hayes, Garfield and Cleveland, in 
 becoming such great national characters. They were 
 blessed with the constant guardianship of good and 
 wise mothers. Mother instinct is always useful in 
 rearing children. 
 
54 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 Rutherford Hayes and his wife Sophia Birchard 
 moved from Brattleboro, Vt., in 1817, to Delaware, 
 Ohio, when it required 47 days to make the journey. 
 Mr. Hayes was considered well-to-do for those days. 
 His wife was a woman of much refinement, and pos- 
 sessed fine Christian principles. The training her 
 children received from her hands, was very strict, 
 leaning toward the New England Puritanical school. 
 Young Hayes was nicknamed "Ruddy," and never 
 did a boy have a more appropriate name, for he was 
 always healthy and rosy-cheeked. At an early day 
 his mother became his teacher. She taught him 
 how to spell, and read, and besides other lessons, 
 that were to be useful to him in after life, by pre- 
 cept and example. He was taught the finer art 
 of learning how to command himself, so great a 
 necessity, should he in after years be called upon 
 to command others. A sister also graced the father- 
 less home, and this little sister and little brother 
 were almost inseparable. Mrs. Hayes never sur- 
 rendered to the schoolmaster the responsibility of 
 developing the mental and moral nature of her chil- 
 dren. Mothers never should do this. She was a 
 perfect Past Master in the art of establishing a 
 workable reconciliation between book and ball — 
 club, pen and gun, slate and fishing tackle, and 
 there is a perfect reconciliation between work and 
 play. The play instinct is nature's gift, and needs 
 proper development along legitimate channels, the 
 same as the mind. Mrs. Hayes, as Master-builder, 
 taught her son how to construct a character building 
 into which went, "Good work, True work, Square 
 work, just such work" as would be needed, when 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 65 
 
 the structure would be tested in the fierce storms 
 of life. Daily, under her guidance, without sound 
 of axe, hammer or tool of iron, this invisible struc- 
 ture went up. 
 
 When young Hayes was 16 years old, he was 
 ready for college. He was prepared for Yale, but 
 Yale was so far away from the Hayes home in Dela- 
 ware, Ohio, that the mother could not bear the 
 thought of sending the boy so far away from her, so 
 she began corresponding with the authorities of 
 Kenyon College, Ohio, which institution he entered 
 in due time. 
 
 The strict views of Mr. Hayes' mother made a 
 lasting impression upon the mind of her son. While 
 to Mrs. Hayes, the President's wife, is given the 
 honor of being the first President's wife to banish 
 liquors from the White House table, and the W. C. 
 T. U. have made much of it, as they have the right 
 to do, and have honored her, for her total absti- 
 nence rules, and enforcements, and have presented 
 to the White House a portrait of Mrs. Hayes, which 
 now adorns the walls of one of the rooms of the 
 White House, the suggestion to thus banish wines, 
 first came from the President himself. After the 
 President had retired from office, his own views were 
 published, which were as follows. "When I became 
 President, I was fully convinced that whatever 
 might be the case in other countries, and with peo- 
 ple in our climate, and with the excitable, nervous 
 temperament of our people, the habitual use of in- 
 toxicating drinks was not safe. I regarded the dan- 
 ger of the habit as especially great in political and 
 official life. It seemed to me that to exclude liquors 
 
56 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 from the White House, would be wise and useful 
 as an example, and would be approved by good 
 people generally. The suggestion was particularly 
 agreeable to Mrs. Hayes, she had been a total absti- 
 nence woman from childhood. We had never used 
 liquors in our own home, and it was determined to 
 continue our home customs in our official residence 
 in Washington." So we are forced to the conclusion 
 that the suggestion of banishing liquors from the 
 White House table first came from the President, 
 and in this there was lurking, some of the strict 
 Puritanical notions of the New England mother, 
 Sophia Birchard. It would be hard to get away 
 from the teachings of such a mother, and it is well. 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS OT 
 
 ELIZA BALLOU GARFIELD 
 
 James A. Garfield, 
 Twentieth President of the United States, 1881. 
 
 James A. Garfield was born in a log cabin. His 
 mother, Eliza Ballou, was left a widow, with four 
 children to support, the oldest 10 years old, and 
 James, the youngest, but 18 months. The father, 
 Abram Garfield, had been fighting a fire. The con- 
 flagration had spread to fences, woods, and fields. 
 Everything was threatened. The fire lasted many 
 hours, but finally he got the best of it. Abram Gar- 
 field was of powerful physique, he had become over- 
 heated, and was very tired. He sat down in the 
 shade of his cabin doorway to cool off. He had 
 been warned of the danger of sitting in a draft, in 
 his over-heated condition, but he believed that, with 
 his robust health, there could be no danger, so he 
 sat still. It was a fatal mistake, for in three days 
 he was dead. The older children were old enough 
 to understand what death meant, but not so little 
 "Jimmy." He would pull at the sheets of his 
 father's bier, and pitiously cry for his papa, and 
 wondered why he continued to sleep so long. The 
 neighbors said, his mother could never support the 
 family. The children would have to be bound out, 
 or given away. Suppose the mother had acted on 
 their suggestions. If she had, the world would 
 never have heard of James A. Garfield. 
 
 Eliza Ballou Garfield was face to face with a 
 grim situation. The farm had never been fully 
 fenced. The stock was not paid for. Fruit trees 
 
58 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 had not been planted long enough to produce fruit. 
 There was only a meagre stock of provision on hand. 
 Crops were to be gathered, and there was nobody 
 to do the work. This was the task that faced the 
 young widow. But she was an unnoticed heroine. 
 She never for a moment dreamed of either selling 
 the farm, or scattering the children. She believed 
 she would find a way out of her perplexing difficul- 
 ties. 
 
 She sold off part of the farm, and with the pro- 
 ceeds paid off the debt on the remaining 30 acres, 
 and she then had her 30 acres, and two cows free 
 from debt. Thomas, the oldest boy, and his mo- 
 ther, attempted to complete the unfinished rail- 
 fence. We can scarcely imagine it possible, that a 
 mother of a future President ever made the attempt 
 to split rails for a fence. We are not making such a 
 claim, but there is room for such conjecture. She 
 helped gather the crops, and added to her income, 
 by assisting the neighbors, spinning, weaving and 
 knitting. Little Jimmy was the pet of his mother, 
 and the pride of his brother Thomas, and his sisters. 
 Thomas would save his pennies, in order to purchase 
 his little brother a pair of shoes, so that he could 
 attend the Sabbath services. 
 
 At 10, James was helping out his mother's in- 
 come, by working for the neighbors on their farms. 
 He had a liking for the sea. His mother did not 
 want him to take up a sea-faring life, but he made 
 an attempt at it. Failing to secure a position on 
 any of the vessels on Lake Erie, he tried the Canal, 
 and here he was successful in securing a job. One 
 day he was thrown in the Canal. As he sank in 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 69 
 
 the water, with none to help, he thought he must 
 surely drown. He was almost miraculously saved, 
 and began to think that such a deliverance was well- 
 nigh providential. He also knew his mother was 
 not pleased with his work, so he soon started for 
 home, which he reached late at night. Here, he saw 
 a scene in the open window which he never forgot. 
 His mother was on her knees, with the open Bible 
 before her. He heard her praying, "Oh turn unto 
 me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength to 
 thy servant, and save the son of thy handmaid/' and 
 this prayer offered by this mother that night, was 
 the prayer the son knew, his mother offered for her 
 absent boy every night. He waited until she had 
 finished her prayer, then opened the door, and her 
 prayer was answered. The next moment, mother 
 and son, were locked into each other's embrace. Who 
 can understand how much it is worth to a boy, to 
 have a praying mother like that? Henceforth he 
 determined to devote himself toward securing an 
 education. His purpose met with his mother's un- 
 qualified approval. He fitted himself for college in 
 Hiram Eclectic Institute, paying his expenses, by 
 ringing the college bell, and with his room-mate, 
 cooking his own meals, and doing his own house- 
 keeping. 
 
 Garfield is another example of our Presidents, 
 who have left us an unswerving example of fidelity, 
 and devotion toward his mother. He exempli- 
 fied this, in his early life, when he returned to his 
 mother, in her log-cabin home, because he could not 
 bear to leave her alone, and rendered her a son's 
 loyal support. He exemplified this throughout an 
 
60 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 unusually active life, when it became crowded with 
 political duties and activities. After he had finished 
 reading his inaugural address, he turned to Chief 
 Justice Waite and said, "I am now prepared to take 
 the oath." The Clerk of the Supreme Court, who 
 attended the Chief Justice, produced a Sabbath 
 School edition of the Bible, doubtless at the request 
 of Air. Garfield. The President elect took this 
 book, and after the oath of office had been adminis- 
 tered by the Chief Justice, Gen. Garfield kissed the 
 page, bowed to the Chief Justice, and turned first of 
 all to the wrinkled little woman that stood close by 
 his side, whom he fondly called ''Mother." and affec- 
 tionately kissed her in the presence of twenty-five 
 thousand applauding citizens of this great country. 
 It was a proud day for Eliza Garfield. She was be- 
 ing rewarded for all her sacrifice and toil. She fair- 
 ly idolized her distinguished son. Her suffering dur- 
 ing the long protracted illness of the President, after 
 he had been shot by the assassin Guiteau, was path- 
 etic. The mind of the stricken President, on his sick 
 bed, often reverted to his lonely mother. Amidst 
 his own sufferings, he wanted to help and cheer her. 
 When his friends were banished from her bedside, 
 not even James G. Blaine, whom he loved like a 
 brother, was permitted to see him, he thought of 
 his mother, isolated and suffering. With his own 
 hands he wrote the following letter: 
 
 Washington, D. C, Aug. u, 1881. 
 Dear Mother: — 
 
 Don't be disturbed by conflicting reports about 
 my condition. It is true, that I am still weak, and 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 61 
 
 on my back, but I am gaining every day, and need 
 only time and patience to bring me thru. 
 
 Give my love to all my relations and friends, and 
 especially to sisters Hetty and Mary. 
 
 Your loving son, 
 
 James A. Garfield. 
 
 Mrs. Eliza Garfield, 
 Hiram, Ohio. 
 
 The letter began strong and steady. But the 
 handwriting records a fast ebbing strength, until 
 the last word, which was more the driving of a pen, 
 than a word. It was a pathetic revelation of a fast 
 ebbing strength. When dying, he was little Jim- 
 my Garfield again. Back in the home of his boy- 
 hood, with loved ones around him, and by the side 
 of the mother, who so fondly loved him. The Presi- 
 dent died the day before his aged mother was eighty 
 years old. When told that he was dead, ''there 
 was an agony that speech cannot express, or pen 
 portray, a mother in Israel weeping for her son, who 
 was not, and refused to be comforted. The boy who 
 had been her hope and pride, the idol of her heart, 
 was dead. With tearful eyes, she said: To-morrow 
 I will be eighty years old, but I will not see the 
 beginning of another year. James has gone, and I 
 shall not be long after him'." 
 
63 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 ANNE NEALE CLEVELAND. 
 
 Grover Cleveland, 
 
 Twenty-second and Twenty-fourth President of the 
 
 United States, i885-'89— iSgy'gy. 
 
 Grover Cleveland was brought up in a Presby- 
 terian parsonage. His mother, Anne Neale, was the 
 mother of nine children. His father was not exact- 
 ly poor, but was far from being rich. Doubtless, 
 the table was always amply provided for, the wife 
 and mother was thrifty, and a good housewife, and 
 knew how to practice the conservation of food. The 
 father's salary ranged from $600 to $1000 a year, 
 never more, but $600 in those days, meant far more, 
 in purchasing power, than the same amount to-day. 
 When Grover was sixteen years old, his father died, 
 leaving a widow, with a large family to support. 
 Grover at once had to begin to support himself. 
 Mrs. Cleveland's children in that Presbyterian par- 
 sonage, had learned the value of money, and had 
 studied the lesson of frugality. They spent no 
 money which they had earned, in luxuries, but prac- 
 ticed close economy, and whatever from their slen- 
 der income was not needed for their own support, 
 was faithfully sent to the widowed mother in her 
 country home. Wilson in his "Lives of the Presi- 
 dents," states that from the time Grover Cleveland 
 was admitted to the bar in 1859, he regularly con- 
 tributed toward the support of his widowed mother, 
 up to the time of her death which occurred in 1882. 
 Grover had heard of the splendid opportunities open 
 to young men in the great West, and confided to his 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 63 
 
 mother his desire to make the venture for himself. 
 His mother could give him wholesome advice, which 
 she did, but no money. 
 
 When Grover Cleveland was inaugurated Presi- 
 dent of the United States, he took the oath of office 
 on a little pocket Bible given to him by his mother 
 when he was a boy. "Many long years before," 
 says Stoddard, "when an ambitious boy went out 
 from his widowed mother's home, in the village of 
 Holland, going to find a way in the thronged hard- 
 working world, he carried with him a little book, 
 not too large to put into his pocket. It had been 
 his mother's, and it was stamped with her name. It 
 was the Book; and now it was held in the hand of 
 Chief Justice Waite of the United States Supreme 
 Court, who was to administer the oath of office to 
 that boy, now raised to the Chief Magistracy of a 
 great nation." Who can tell what memories were 
 evoked as the President pressed to his lips that little 
 book, which he had evidently many times fondly 
 handled, as the link binding him in his exalted posi- 
 tion, to the lonely boy, leaving home for the first 
 time, bearing away a mother's blessing, and her best 
 gift — the Holy Bible. That mother had passed 
 away years before when Mr. Cleveland was Mayor 
 of Buffalo, just prior to his receiving the nomina- 
 tion for Governor of the State of New York. She 
 died in the little home in Holland Patent, that had 
 been presented to her, by her husband's friends, re- 
 presenting his last three pastorates. Doubtless a 
 mental picture of that quiet little home, with its ever 
 faithful mother, came to his mind, as he kissed the 
 little book that had come to him from her hand, 
 
64 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 accompanied with a mother's blessing, and obscured 
 for the moment the distinguished men and women 
 who were by his side, and the vast throng of admir- 
 ing countrymen that were before him. And now 
 for the third time, a President-elect, links the occa- 
 sion of his inauguration with a devoted mother. 
 The first instance, was that of Washington, when on 
 his way to New York to be inaugurated, he turned 
 aside to bid a last and affectionate farewell to his 
 aged mother. The second, when President Gar- 
 field, after taking the oath of office, turned first to 
 his mother and kissed her, and the third, when 
 Grover Cleveland took the oath of office on a little 
 pocket Bible given to him by his mother when a 
 boy. 
 
 Grover Cleveland paid this tribute to his father. 
 "Looking back over my life, nothing seems to me 
 to have in it, more both of pathos and interest, than 
 the spectacle of my father, a hard-working country 
 clergyman, bringing up acceptably a family of nine 
 children, educating each member, so that in after 
 life, none suffered any deprivation in this respect, 
 and that too, upon a salary which at no time ex- 
 ceeded $1000 a year. It would be impossible to 
 exaggerate the strength of character thus revealed." 
 He recalled with pride the cheerfulness and resigna- 
 tion of the father and mother in the sacrifices they 
 were called upon to make in behalf of their children, 
 and of the devotion the members of the family had 
 for one another. 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 65 
 
 ELIZABETH FINDLEY IRWIN—HARRISON. 
 
 Benjamin Harrison, 
 Twenty-third President of the United States, 1889- 
 
 1893. 
 
 Elizabeth Irwin, the mother of Benjamin Harri- 
 son, was the mistress of an ideal Christian home, as 
 we shall soon see. When it became our delightful 
 task to consider the character, of this gi::ed and 
 sainted woman, in connection with her distinguish- 
 ed son, we thought of the President's widow, Mrs. 
 Mary Lord Harrison, of Indianapolis, Indiana. But 
 Mrs. Harrison informed us that the President's 
 mother had died before she married General Harri- 
 son, and never knew her, but kindly referred to the 
 President's sister, Mrs. Samuel V. Morris, of Oak- 
 land, California. In reply to our letter, Mrs. Mor- 
 ris sent the following letter descriptive of the home 
 life of the Harrison family: 
 
 5515 Carlton St., Oakland. Cal. 
 Sept. 15, 1917. 
 Wm. J. Hampton, D. D., 
 
 My dear sir: — Your letter of the 10th came 
 about the time my sister, Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, 
 wrote to me regarding your wishes. I am sorry I 
 cannot do full justice to the things which could be 
 written of my sainted mother, but will gladly do 
 what I can. I am now the only daughter living. I 
 have a brother two years younger living in Kansas 
 City. John and myself were small children in 1850. 
 
66 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 when our dear mother died. I was nearly eight, and 
 remember distinctly the sweet Christian character of 
 our mother. Almost too young to fully realize what 
 her leaving us would mean to her home and fam- 
 ily. This has come to me more each year of my 
 life since. We had a country home, — Point Farm, 
 Hamilton Co., Ohio, twenty miles below Cincin- 
 nati. We were six miles below the city of Clews, 
 where we attended the Presbyterian church, my 
 father serving as one of the elders. We seldom 
 missed of attending the morning services. We 
 generally stopped for dinner, with Grandma Harri- 
 son, who lived at the Old North Bend home, up to 
 the last seven years of her life, when she came to be 
 a member of my father's family until her death in 
 1863. 
 
 "A very pleasant memory of my mother, was the 
 evening gatherings in her room, each Sunday, to 
 hear her read the Bible stories to the younger chil- 
 dren. So it was, the best things of life came to 
 us early thro' this devoted mother's teachings, and 
 I now add, thro' our father's also, in the daily family 
 prayers, and grace at the table, all having a 
 wonderful influence, — I am sorry to say, greatly 
 neglected in many homes nowadays. Our family 
 was a large one, and several cousins were invited 
 to share in the advantages of a most devoted 
 christian Governess, a niece of Rev. Horace Bush- 
 nell, of Cincinnati. My brothers frequently brought 
 some college friends home for the vacations, so I 
 have beautiful memories of parents, brothers, and 
 sisters, — a source of much pleasure in my declining 
 years. 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 67 
 
 My oldest sister told me, of Ben's devotion 
 to his mother, from a small boy, and that never left 
 him. And as a little fellow, when strangers were 
 about, Ben was always at his mother's side. It 
 seems a rather strange coincidence, that our mother's 
 birth, marriage, and death, should come the same 
 month, and so near together, born Aug. 13th, mar- 
 ried the 1 2th, and died on the 15th, 1850, aged only 
 forty. Her death came only after a week's illness. 
 We were most blessed in having two sisters, old 
 enough to look after the family and home. My bro- 
 thers were on their summer's vacation at this time. 
 Ben was the thoughtful brother to look after Bro- 
 ther John only six years old, and myself. I will 
 never forget his tenderness to us at that sad time. 
 Some have said his was a cold nature. All I can say 
 to this, — they did not know him. He told me once 
 he felt the light of our home had gone out in our 
 dear mother's death, but in after years, he came for 
 change and rest, and seemed to enjoy going about 
 the old farm, with gun and rod, as he had done in 
 his boyhood days. I was his little sister, and when 
 he was home on his vacations, we frequently spent 
 hours together. Ben, with his head in my lap, read- 
 ing or dreaming, while I stroked his hair, something 
 he greatly enjoyed. Some children might have con- 
 sidered this a task, to me, it was a great pleasure. A 
 college friend said to him one day, "Ben, you must 
 have had a happy home; I, however, have no pleas- 
 ant memories of my home." Needless to say, that 
 same young man, spent his next summer's vacation 
 with us. 
 
 When brother finished his law course and married, 
 
68 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 he brought his bride, to our house, where he spent 
 the winter, going to Indianapolis in the Spring, and 
 to housekeeping in a very modest little house. My 
 father sent them a fine cow, and each fall a generous 
 supply of all the good things from the farm, which 
 I was told Ben was as enthusiastic over as a child 
 over its Christmas stocking. I am sending a pic- 
 ture of the old home of our mother If 
 
 I can assist you in any way, let me know. 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 Mrs. Samuel V. Morris. 
 
 In some respects it has seemed almost too sacred 
 to turn this letter over to the eyes of the public. 
 With such a delicate touch, this sister has lifted the 
 veil in that Harrison home, where she and Brother 
 Ben were chums. What a delightful picture this 
 sister has drawn of that inner circle, and what a hal- 
 lowed Christian atmosphere pervaded that home. 
 No one has ever doubted that the father and mother 
 of Benjamin Harrison were Christians. They were 
 stout defenders of that sacred institution, the Holy 
 Sabbath. They regularly attended divine service. 
 The father was an honored Elder in the Presbyterian 
 church, always asked the blessing at the table, and 
 conducted with regularity the family altar. On Sun- 
 day evening, the mother, in that country home, 
 would gather her little family about her, and read 
 such Bible stories as would interest the children. 
 These things made a deep impression on the mind 
 of this little sister, for she was only eight years old 
 when her mother was translated. Out of such a 
 home came Benjamin Harrison, one of the Presi- 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS «9 
 
 dents of the United States. It was a home quite 
 the ideal. What a delicate touch from the sister's 
 pen when she tells of the grief that came to the 
 home, when this good mother was taken away, and 
 the tender devotion of the oldest brother, Ben, as 
 he tried to make up for the loss sustained in the 
 home, thro' the mother's death. And yet, writes 
 this sister, ''Some have called his a cold nature." 
 No wonder she adds: "they did not know him." 
 
 The reflections of Mrs. Morris have called to our 
 remembrance the beautiful poem of Elizabeth Akers 
 Allen. As she has drawn aside the curtains of that 
 delightful home of the Harrisons, and has eloquent- 
 ly told us about the golden memories of childhood 
 days, so does Elizabeth Akers Allen in her beauti- 
 ful poem. No more fitting place could be found in 
 this volume, than to add here, a few of those sweet 
 verses: 
 
 "Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years! 
 I am so weary of toil and of tears; — 
 Toil without recompence, — tears all in vain, — 
 Take them, and give me my childhood again. 
 I have grown weary of dust and decay, 
 Weary of flinging my soul wealth away, 
 Weary of sowing for others to weep. 
 Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. 
 
 Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue, 
 Mother, oh mother, my heart calls for you. 
 Many a summer the grass has grown green, 
 Blossomed and faded our faces between, 
 
70 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 Yet with strong yearning, and passionate pain- 
 Long I to-night for your presence again. 
 Come from the silence, so long and so deep, 
 Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. 
 
 Come, let your brown hair just lighted with gold, 
 Fall on your shoulders again as of old, 
 Let it drop over my forehead to-night, 
 Shading my faint eyes away from the light, 
 For with its sunny-edged shadows once more, 
 Happy will throng the sweet visions of yore. 
 Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep, 
 Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep." 
 
 Mother, dear mother, the years have been long, 
 Since I last listened to your lullaby song, 
 Sing, then, and unto my heart it shall seem, 
 Womanhood's years have been only a dream, 
 Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace, 
 With your light lashes, just sweeping my face, 
 Never, hereafter, to wake or to weep, — 
 Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep." 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 71 
 
 NANCY ALLISON McKINLEY. 
 
 William McKinley, 
 25th President of the United States, 1897-1901. 
 
 William McKinley, the twenty-fifth President of 
 the United States, was country-born, and it is a 
 remarkable historical fact, that not a single Presi- 
 dent from Washington to McKinley was city-born. 
 His parents, William McKinley, Sr., and Nancy Al- 
 lison, were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. They came from a family having strong re- 
 ligious convictions. Nancy Allison was of good old 
 Scotch Covenanter stock. The Allisons suffered im- 
 prisonment in the Lowlands of Scotland for consci- 
 ence sake, and came to America in search of religious 
 freedom. McKinley's parents regularly attended 
 church, the mid-week prayer meeting, and the chil- 
 dren were always at their place in Sunday School. 
 Former President William Howard Taft has said, 
 that McKinley's ''father was an active-minded, high- 
 principled member of the community, not highly 
 educated, but familiar with the Bible, Shakespeare 
 and Dante. His mother had the elements of leader- 
 ship. She, with her sister, ran the church, and did 
 everything to widen its influence, and control." Wil- 
 liam McKinley resembled his mother in face, man- 
 ner, and mental peculiarities, and his religious inspi- 
 rations were derived largely from her. He never 
 forgot the prayers he learned at his mother's knee. 
 His religious convictions were so strong, that the 
 family thought he would enter the ministry. His 
 mother said, "William is a good boy. Some day he 
 may become a Bishop. Hs is always clever at talk- 
 
72 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 ing." Indeed, had he chosen the ministry, those 
 same fine qualities of leadership, which placed him 
 in the front rank of statesmen, would no doubt have 
 given him a place among the chief pastors of the 
 church. Prof. Campbell, Principal of the Public 
 Schools of Niles, Ohio, in an address delivered at the 
 laying of the corner stone of the McKinley mem- 
 orial, said that McKinley joined the church when 
 about ten years of age, without any solicitation 
 whatever from any one. 
 
 Nancy Allison McKinley was the mother of nine 
 children, four boys and five girls, and there was no 
 black sheep among them. Her home is thus des- 
 cribed by the Hon. John Hay, a devoted friend of 
 the family. "He (William McKinley) was born into 
 that way of life, which is elsewhere called the middle 
 class, but which in this country is so nearly univer- 
 sal as to make of other classes an almost negligible 
 quantity. He was neither rich nor poor, neither 
 proud nor humble; his parents were sober, God-fear- 
 ing people, intelligent and upright, and without pre- 
 tentions. He grew up in the company of boys like 
 himself, wholesome, honest, self-respecting. They 
 looked down on nobody; they even felt it impossible 
 that they could be looked down upon. Their homes 
 were homes of probity, piety, and patriotism/' 
 
 William McKinley. Sr., the President's father, was 
 absent from home, much of the time, on account of 
 business, generally returning to spend the week-end 
 with the family. The training and education of the 
 children, devolved almost wholly upon the mother. 
 She was a woman of strong, rugged, positive char- 
 acter. Her old neighbors at Niles say of her, that she 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 7* 
 
 was known as a peacemaker, always doing some 
 kind, good act, ministering to the sick, helping the 
 poor and needy, and doing other Christian work. "It 
 was a humble home," to quote again from Prof. W. 
 C. Campbell, "presided over by an heroic mother, 
 who managed by hard work, economy and good 
 sense, to make the slender income of the father meet 
 the necessities of a large family. A home no doubt, 
 in which each child, had his own duties to perform, 
 and it may be surmised, that the house-hold tasks, 
 tho' vigorously insisted upon, were never thought 
 too irksome, for the children without exception, 
 loved their mother devotedly." Out of that sort of 
 home, came the young man, who when admitted to 
 the bar, promised his mother, that he would never 
 take a case, when he was convinced in his own mind 
 that the would-be client was guilty; and he never 
 did. His ancestors had fought in every war from 
 the Revolution down, hence it was but natural, that 
 he should respond, should his country need his ser- 
 vices. Accordingly, when but eighteen years of 
 age, he enlisted as a private soldier, in response to 
 President Lincoln's first call for seventy-five thou- 
 sand volunteers. For fourteen months he carried 
 his gun as an ordinary soldier in the ranks. His 
 military record was most gallant. He was frequent- 
 ly sent on most perilous errands. His commanding 
 officer, General Hayes, stated that once when he left 
 his side, to perform a perilous task, he never expect- 
 ed to see him alive on earth again. He participated 
 in some thirty engagements, and was mustered out 
 of service when less than twenty-two, with the rank 
 of Major. This was the title he loved most of all, 
 
74 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 used by his wife in speaking of him, and also by his 
 mother, when she did not call him by his first name; 
 and the title which clung to him throughout his life. 
 It was the one title, McKinley declared, he had earn- 
 ed. Between himself and General Hayes, both des- 
 tined to become future Presidents, there sprang up 
 a warm attachment, that lasted thru all of life. Un- 
 doubtedly Maj. McKinley would have risen to a 
 higher rank in the Army, had he remained there, but 
 in deference to his mother's wishes, he gave up the 
 life of a soldier, and began the study of the law. 
 This decision, no doubt, changed the entire future 
 course of his life, as it did that of Washington, when 
 he gave up a seafaring life at the request of his mo- 
 ther. 
 
 No one could possibly be more devoted to his 
 mother than William McKinley was to his. He has 
 left behind, so far as we know, no published tribute, 
 — but the world really needs none, for it is a matter 
 of public knowledge. His life spoke volumes. This 
 was, no doubt, the thought in the mind of his sister, 
 Miss Helen McKinley, when among other things 
 she wrote the author as follows: 
 
 "William McKinley's kindly heart, went out in 
 such love, and so much deep affection for his 
 saintly mother, tnat incidents are unessential in 
 proof of his attention to, and adoration for her." 
 
 Nancy Allison McKinley was one of the best 
 of mothers. Kind and loving, but firm on occasion, 
 she brought up her son to be a sober, upright, God- 
 fearing Christian man. To his pastor, Dr. C. E. 
 Manchester, he frequently said, "My mother is a 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 75 
 
 great woman," and then would quote the exact 
 words of Mr. Lincoln, "All that I am I owe to my 
 mother." He never grew away from her. When 
 at his own home he visited her daily, and when 
 absent, either wrote to her, or sent her a telegram. 
 This he continued to do, during his politically active 
 life, — when Governor of Ohio, when representing 
 his State in Congress, at Washington, are well as 
 when President of the United States. This man 
 cherished his mother with a devotion that was in- 
 deed sacred. One of the most familiar sights in 
 his home city, was that of seeing Mr. McKinley 
 escorting his mother to church, or walking down 
 the aisle of the church, to the communion altar. 
 This devotion has been compared to that exhibited 
 by Washington toward his mother. Both mothers 
 had much to do with the development of those 
 sterling traits of character and honesty of purpose, 
 that both exhibited. Every child is familiar with 
 the story of the cherry tree attributed to Washing- 
 ton when a boy. When McKinley took the oath of 
 office, as President of the United States, the fond 
 old mother was a proud observer, and as she saw the 
 thousands of his fellow-country men, congratulating 
 and applauding him, she said simply, "William has 
 always been a good boy. I could always depend on 
 him. He never gave me a cross word, and I do not 
 believe he ever told me a lie. I am glad that he is 
 President for his sake." This tribute has never been 
 charged up to the account of fables and myths. His 
 word was ' as good as his bond. That word once 
 pledged was as dear to him as his life, and in these 
 high moral qualities we see the influence of that 
 
76 OVR PRESIDENTS 
 
 Scotch Covenanter blood that flowed thru the veins 
 of his mother. 
 
 At the Republican National Convention of 1888, 
 that nominated Benjamin Harrison for President, 
 William McKinley went pledged to vote for John 
 Sherman. Some of the delegates shouted for Mc- 
 Kinley, and some voted for him, but he gave the 
 delegates to understand, in a stirring speech, that he 
 stood pledged to vote for John Sherman, and would 
 not permit his name to come before the Convention. 
 His loyalty to his friend made him stronger than 
 ever. In 1892, he headed the Ohio delegation which 
 went pledged for Harrison. The Ohio delegates 
 cast their votes for McKinley. He at once chal- 
 lenged their vote. He insisted that it be changed 
 for Harrison. Altho' Chairman of the Convention, 
 he seemed powerless to act. The delegates broke 
 out into loud cheering, and the name of McKinley 
 was heard on every side. He was plainly touched, 
 but would not consent to be a candidate. His pled- 
 ged word to his friend, meant more to him, than to 
 be nominated to the high office of President of the 
 United States. In the end, President Harrison was 
 re-nominated. This sacrifice and loyalty to his 
 pledged word, made him still stronger, and more 
 popular, and he was soon to receive his reward. The 
 Republican National Convention, which was held at 
 St. Louis, June 16-18, 1896, nominated William Mc- 
 Kinley on the first ballot. He received three times 
 as many votes as all the other candidates combined, 
 and at the November election, was elected Pres- 
 ident of the United States. He lost nothing by 
 standing by his pledged word. He was rather the 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 77 
 
 gainer. We believe that William McKinley would 
 rather have sacrificed his opportunity to become 
 President of the United States, than to have played 
 false to his pledged word. 
 
 William McKinley was one of the best loved Presi- 
 dents this nation has ever had. He made friends 
 easily, and possessed the rare art of making friends 
 of those whom he was compelled to disappoint. 
 Sincerely did he believe in a divine Providence. One 
 day as he sat in the White House, in the presence 
 of certain distinguished gentlemen, he tapped the 
 desk with his hand, and gave expression to this sig- 
 nificant statement, "No person will ever sit in this 
 chair as President of the United States who denies 
 the existence of God." What did he mean? Sim- 
 ply this, that God would not permit such a person 
 to become President of the United States, who 
 denied the existence of God, and furthermore the 
 people of this great nation would never consent to 
 the election of such a person. Strange that such a 
 noble soul should be the mark of an assassin! His 
 life was shot thru with righteousness, and in his 
 death he waved the palm of a victor. John Hay, 
 his Secretary of State, in his eloquent funeral ora- 
 tion, said, "McKinley showed us how a citizen and 
 patriot should live, and how a Christian and gentle- 
 man should die." No man in history has been so 
 sincerely and universally mourned, — this the univer- 
 sal verdict of the historian. At his funeral, Bishop 
 E. G. Andrews said, "It is a beautiful thing, that to 
 the end of his life he bent reverently before that 
 mother whose example and teaching and prayer, had 
 so fashioned his mind and all his aims. The school 
 
78 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 came briefly, and then came to him the church, with 
 its ministration and power. He accepted the truth 
 which it taught. He believed in God, and in Jesus 
 Christ, thru whom God was revealed. He accepted 
 the divine law of the Scriptures, he based his hope 
 in Jesus Christ, the appointed and only Redeemer 
 of men. Such influences gave to us William Mc- 
 Kinley. And what was he? A man of incorrupt- 
 ible personal and political integrity. I suppose no 
 one ever attempted to approach him with a bribe. 
 
 A man of immaculate purity. No stain was 
 
 upon his escutcheon, no syllable of suspicion that I 
 ever heard was whispered against his character." 
 
 Sixteen years after his death, Oct. 5, 191 7, there 
 was dedicated at Niles, Ohio, a beautiful McKinley 
 Memorial. It is erected practically on the spot 
 where he was born, and within a stone's throw of the 
 little white school-house he attended as a boy. Dr. 
 C. E. Manchester, McKinley's pastor during his 
 terms of office as President, and who officiated at 
 the funeral of Mother McKinley, said: "Sixteen years 
 after McKinley had finished his earthly course, we 
 gather here at the place of his birth, and reflect that 
 no after death discoveries have cast a shadow upon 
 the white light that played upon him then." How fit- 
 ting that this statement be placed alongside the trib- 
 ute paid to William McKinley by Bishop Andrews. 
 
 The statue of William McKinley, which stands at 
 the entrance to the McKinley Memorial, was un- 
 veiled by Miss Helen McKinley, the President's sis- 
 ter. As the band softly played the President's fav- 
 orite hymn, "Lead, Kindly Light," Miss McKinley 
 "with emotional tenderness and justifiable pride, 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 79 
 
 drew the cord which in turn revealed to the thou- 
 sands present the immortal likeness of one of the 
 nation's greatest statesmen, her brother, William 
 McKinley." Almost akin to a benediction come the 
 words of Bishop Fowler, "A son, loving and 
 thoughtful, and obedient, he secured the blessings 
 of a happy mother, and the blessings of Almighty 
 God. History will never forget the name of Corne- 
 lia, mother of the Gracchi; nor of Aurelia, mother of 
 Caesar; nor of Atia, mother of Augustus; nor of 
 Mary, mother of Washington; nor of Nancy Hanks, 
 mother of Lincoln; nor of Nancy, mother of McKin- 
 ley." 
 
SO OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 MARTHA BULLOCK ROOSEVELT. 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt, 
 Twenty-sixth President of the United States, 1901- 
 
 1909. 
 Theodore Roosevelt was born to a life of ease and 
 luxury. If ever one was born with a gold spoon in 
 his mouth, it was he. Reared in an elegant home, 
 and the graduate of a famous University — in fact 
 the first President to be graduated from Harvard, 
 since John Quincy Adams. In his note-book, the 
 family physician wrote: "Theodore Roosevelt, a 
 bright, precocious boy, aged twelve, he ought to 
 make his mark, but for the fact that he has a rich 
 father." Yet this man thro' choice, has become one of 
 the most prodigious workers America has produced, 
 and has long been a preacher of the strenuous life, 
 and the foremost advocate of the Big Stick. He was 
 the first city-born boy to reach the Presidency, all 
 his predecessors having been village or country 
 born. Mr. Roosevelt is a bundle of energy. He is 
 the Republic's finest type of an efficient American 
 citizen. In his early childhood of delicate frame, he 
 has transformed that frame into a sinewy, athletic 
 type, capable of enduring the most terrific strain. 
 Julian Ralph once asked him, "What did you expect 
 to be, or dream of being when you were a boy?" 
 Mr. Roosevelt answered, "I do not recollect that 
 I dreamed at all, or planned at all. I simply obeyed 
 the injunction, 'whatever thy hand findeth to do, do 
 that with all thy might,' and so I took up whatever 
 came along, as it came, since then I have gone on 
 Lincoln's motto, 'Do the best — if not the best pos- 
 sible.' " 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 81 
 
 The President's mother, Martha Bullock, was a 
 Southerner, and her sympathies always inclined 
 toward the South. Her brother was Captain James 
 Bullock; he was at the head of the Secessionist Navy 
 during the Rebellion, and fitted out the Alabama, 
 and the Shenandoah from England. But the North 
 has never had a more stalwart defender than Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt. 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt is still living, exercising a 
 potent influence for good in American channels. In 
 his Autobiography, published in 191 3, he paints this 
 word picture of his mother. "My mother, Martha 
 Bullock, was a sweet, gracious, beautiful Southern 
 woman, a delightful companion, and beloved by 
 everybody. She was entirely unreconstructed to 
 the day of her death. Her mother, my grand- 
 mother, one of the dearest old ladies, lived with us, 
 and was distinctly over-indulgent to us children, be- 
 ing quite unable to harden her heart toward us, even 
 when occasion demanded it. Toward the close of 
 the Civil War, altho' a very small boy, I grew to 
 have a partial but alert understanding of the fact 
 that the family were not one in their views about the 
 conflict, my father being a strong Lincoln Repub- 
 lican; and once when I felt that I had been wronged 
 by maternal discipline during the day, I attempted 
 a practical vengeance by praying with loud fervor 
 for the success of the Union arms, when we all came 
 to say our prayers before my mother in the evening. 
 She was not only a most devoted mother; but was 
 also blessed with a strong sense of humor, and she 
 was too much amused to punish me. But I was 
 warned not to repeat the offense, under the penalty 
 
82 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 of my father being informed, — he being the dis- 
 pencer of serious punishment." 
 
 The father of Theodore Roosevelt, according to 
 the President's Autobiography, had family prayers 
 every morning, and every morning the three children 
 would sit with their father on the sofa, while he con- 
 ducted worship, two on one side, and one on the 
 other. The coveted place was the "cubby hole," 
 which was the space between the father and the arm 
 of the sofa. 
 
 This was the ex-President who was asked by the 
 New York Bible Society, to write a message that 
 might be printed in the special copies of New Testa- 
 ments designed for soldiers and sailors. Coming 
 from such a home, that was consecrated with prayer 
 and Bible study, we are not surprised that this dis- 
 tinguished man should have forwarded the follow- 
 ing: — "The teachings of the New Testament are 
 foreshadowed in Micah's verse, 'what more doth the 
 Lord require of thee, than to do justice and to love 
 mercy, and walk humbly with thy God?" 
 
 Do justice; and therefore fight valiantly against 
 the armies of Germany and Turkey, for these nations 
 in this crisis stand for the reign of Moloch and Beel- 
 zebub on this earth. 
 
 Love mercy; treat prisoners well; succor the 
 wounded: treat every woman as if she were your sis- 
 ter; care for little children, and be tender with the 
 old and helpless. 
 
 Walk humbly; you will do so, if you study the life 
 and teachings of the Saviour. 
 
 May the God of justice and mercy have you in his 
 keeping. Theodore Roosevelt. 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 83 
 
 In the great world war now in progress, Mr. 
 Roosevelt has four sons fighting under the Stars and 
 Stripes. He is making the supreme sacrifice. The 
 Southern patriotism of the Bullocks, and the North- 
 ern patriotism of the Roosevelts, have combined in 
 producing a gallant soldier and officer of the Span- 
 ish American war, a statesman of a high order, and 
 President of the United States, one who has been 
 an ardent exponent of the principles of pure Ameri- 
 canism. 
 
84 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 LOUISE M. TORREY TAFT. 
 
 William Howard Taft, 
 
 Twenty-seventh President of the United States, 
 
 1 909-1913. 
 
 A biographer of Wm. Howard Taft writes, "Like 
 father — like son." It would be difficult to con- 
 ceive how it could be more strikingly true than in 
 the case of Mr. Taft, and his father, Alphonso Taft. 
 The father earned the money to meet his college 
 expenses by teaching school. This same persis- 
 tency of the father to thus fight his way thro' school, 
 in the face of difficulties, we see exhibited in the al- 
 most bulldog persistency of the son, in all his years 
 of noble service. Whatever he began he finished. 
 Alphonso Taft became a distinguished lawyer, so 
 did the son. He became a prominent Judge, so did 
 the son. He became a member of General Grant's 
 cabinet, serving as Secretary of War, and later as 
 Attorney General, the son served in the Cabinet of 
 Theodore Roosevelt. The father later served his 
 country as Minister to Austria and Russia, and the 
 distinguished son served as Governor of the Philip- 
 pines, and later was exalted to the high office of 
 President of the United States. 
 
 But while Wm. Howard Taft has reproduced 
 many of the high qualities of his father he is also 
 greatly indebted to the mother. In a brief note to 
 the author, Mr. Taft states that it is his purpose to 
 write a book of Reminiscences in which he proposes 
 to describe the character of his mother. His 
 mother, Louise M. Torrey, was of Puritan stock, 
 but with broad views of life, and lofty ideals. There 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 85 
 
 was a decided absence of narrow mindedness, such 
 as characterized the earlier Puritan stock. Her 
 views were broad and liberal. Wm. Howard Taft 
 inherited the broad, liberal views of his mother. 
 President Hayes was affected by the strict Puritan 
 notions of his mother, and these notions had much 
 to do in his thinking throughout his entire life. In 
 like manner, Mr. Taft has been influenced by the 
 more liberal views of his mother. Owing to her 
 dignity, quiet self-respect, and independence of 
 character, Mr. Taft's mother was always an element 
 to be reckoned with in any community wherever 
 her lot was cast. She lived to be eighty years old. 
 Throughout her long life, she had always been inter- 
 ested in the welfare and success of her son. His suc- 
 cess in public life, was especially a source of joy and 
 delight. He visited his mother as frequently as 
 possible, and never neglected her thro' failure to 
 correspond with her, and their correspondence was 
 always of a confidential nature. Frequently they 
 spoke together of the onerous tasks that fell to him 
 to perform. She was particularly interested in his 
 work in the Philippines, and approved of his entire 
 course of action, in dealing with them, and never 
 doubted his ability to win over the suspicions inha- 
 bitants of the far distant islands. 
 
 The time had arrived for the Filipinos to open 
 their first Assembly. Mr. Taft had promised this 
 people that he would go to Manilla, and make the 
 formal opening. He was the man who had given 
 it to them, and now their ideals were to be realized. 
 But as the time approached, his mother's health 
 began rapidly to fail, he feared, should he go, she 
 
86 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 would not survive his return. He wanted to post- 
 pone his journey, believing he could explain satis- 
 factorily his absence to the Filipinos, but his mother 
 would not consent. She told him, his first duty 
 now, was to the people whom he had befriended, 
 and not to her. Her desire to have him go, we are 
 told, had almost the force of a command. He re- 
 luctantly obeyed. Mr. Taft was becoming more and 
 more the popular candidate for President, by the 
 Republican party. During his absence abroad a lull 
 might occur in regard to his popularity as a candi- 
 date. Some have thought that this was the reason 
 his mother was so insistent on his making the jour- 
 ney to the Philippines at once, and not postpone it, 
 because should he go later, it would bring his ab- 
 sence from the country, nearer the time of the 
 gathering of the leaders of the Republican Party, 
 when a nomination for President would be made, 
 and his interests accordingly jeopardized, and that 
 therefore she was influenced wholly by selfish reasons 
 in being desirous of having him go at once. We 
 have inclined to the view, however, that while his 
 mother was greatly interested in the ever-increasing 
 interest that the American people had taken in the 
 candidacy of her son for President, it evidently 
 seemed to her that his promise to the Filipinos 
 should come first, even tho' his absence from the 
 country might flag the interest of the people. Mr. 
 Taft made the journey as quickly as possible, but 
 his mother passed away while he was enroute from 
 Hamburg to New York. Mr. Taft's farewell to his 
 mother, was similar to that of George Washington, 
 when he turned aside to bid his mother a last fare- 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 87 
 
 well, while on his way to be inaugurated President 
 of the United States, and felt that he would see 
 her face no more. Both left their mother's presence, 
 going forth to perform the high and important 
 duties that had been imposed upon them by the 
 State. It was to be a last and sad farewell. 
 
88 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 JANET WOODROW WILSON. 
 
 Woodrow Wilson, 
 
 Twenty-eighth President of the United States, 191 3 
 
 and Serving Second Term in Office. 
 
 Woodrow Wilson, as an educator, was a star of 
 the first magnitude, in the scholastic world. He re- 
 flected credit, not only upon himself, but also upon 
 the various in ons he served, in the capacity of 
 
 Professor, and University President. Would this 
 man of academic training, "a son of clergymen and 
 editors" make a good public official? There were 
 many, who said that this man, who had had no prac- 
 tical experience in politics, would be too theoretical. 
 But everybody today knows that he made one of 
 the best Governors New Jersey has ever had, and 
 also one of our greatest Presidents. Easily, the 
 historian will place him alongside Washington, Jef- 
 ferson and Lincoln. 
 
 Woodrow Wilson, altho' he made his debut sud- 
 denly into the political arena, is no political pro- 
 digy. His many years of training have prepared 
 him to handle with rare skill, and in a practical way 
 the problems of statesmanship. Mr. Wilson, him- 
 self, has said: "How did I happen to enter political 
 life ? Why I suppose I was born a political animal. 
 Always from the first recollections of my youth up, 
 I have aimed at political life. The reason why I 
 studied law was, I suppose, because in the South, 
 when I was a boy, the law furnished the shortest 
 path to political life. I gave it up, because I found, 
 I could not be an honest lawyer, and politician, — at 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 89 
 
 least, I didn't know how then to do it I took 
 
 a new start, went back to school, where I tried to 
 learn something about the facts of government. 
 From the start, my interest has been in things as 
 they are, rather than in a theoretical knowledge of 
 them I was always a practical politician." 
 
 So instead of being a mere theorist, in the polit- 
 ical world, according to his own words, he has al- 
 ways been a practical politician. This accounts for 
 the astuteness and diplomacy with which he has 
 handled some of the most delicate problems, that 
 it has ever been the lot of a President of this Re- 
 public to solve. He has proved himself to be a 
 Past Master in the art of Statesmanship. In pass- 
 ing from Andrew Johnson to Woodrow Wilson, we 
 study two absolute extremes. Johnson's mind was 
 wholly untrained by the schools, never attending a 
 public school a day in his life. Wilson's mind, on 
 the other hand, was trained by the Masters of our 
 great Universities. This mental training has stood 
 him well in hand, in these days of tremendous crises, 
 which have confronted him, with ever increasing fre- 
 quency. When praised, he has never lost his head, 
 when maligned, exhibiting at all times, an unruffled 
 spirit. 
 
 Woodrow Wilson's father, Rev. Joseph Ruggles 
 Wilson, D. D., was a prominent Presbyterian clergy- 
 man of the South. His father was popular as a 
 pastor, but more distinguished as a theological 
 Professor, in fact it would seen as tho' he was one 
 of the most prominent leaders of the Presbyterian 
 Church, South. The President's mother's name was 
 Janet Woodrow. She came from a Presbyterian par- 
 
90 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 sonage, Rev. Thomas Woodrow, D. D., a Presbyte- 
 rian minister occupying many prominent pulpits of 
 the South. In such a cultured home, in 1856, 
 Woodrow Wilson was born. 
 
 Among educated people of the South, the 
 custom obtained of having someone read aloud in 
 the evening, after the day's work was done, and the 
 family had come together. Sometimes the father 
 would read, and sometimes the mother. The 
 atmosphere of the University was continually in that 
 home, and when we combine a finely trained mind, 
 with hearts devout toward God, we have a result 
 bordering on the ideal. From such a home came 
 President Wilson, inheriting from both father and 
 mother, rare intellectual gifts, and trained by devout 
 parents, to a firm belief in the doctrines of our holy 
 religion. The President's mother died in 1888. 
 
 This heavily burdened President, with a world 
 war on his hands, with delicate diplomatic problems 
 constantly to solve, as commander-in-chief of our 
 national forces, at the head of an Army and Navy 
 of a million men, trying to untangle difficulties af- 
 fecting questions of food, and fuel, and munitions, 
 and with a hundred million people looking to him as 
 their national leader, this burdened man drops mo- 
 mentarily all these burdens, draws aside the cur- 
 tains of the past, and with the touch of an artist, 
 presents to us a lovely pen picture of the sainted 
 mother who went to heaven years before national 
 honors came to her distinguished son. 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 91 
 
 U. S. S. MAYFLOWER 
 
 15 September, 1917. 
 
 THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington 
 Rev. William J. Hampton, D. D., 
 
 Butler, N. J. 
 My dear Sir: — 
 
 I am sure that you will not have misunderstood 
 my long delay in replying to your letter of the 
 twenty-third of July last. It has been due to an 
 extraordinary pressure of public business not only, 
 but also to a feeling that I really did not know how 
 to write an adequate answer. It is very hard for 
 me to speak of what my mother was without colour- 
 ing the whole estimate with the deep love that fills 
 my heart whenever I think of her; but while others 
 cannot have seen her as I did, I am sure that every- 
 one who knew her at all, must have felt also the 
 charm of her unusual grace and refinement, and 
 have been aware of the clear-eyed, perceiving mind 
 that lay behind her frank grey eyes. They were 
 not always grey. They were of that strange, change- 
 able colour, which so often goes with strong char- 
 acter and varied ability. She was one of the most 
 remarkable persons I have ever known. She was 
 so reserved, that only those of her own household 
 can have known how lovable she was, tho' every 
 friend knew how loyal and steadfast she was. I 
 seem to feel still, the touch of her hand, and the 
 sweet steadying influence of her wonderful character. 
 I thank God to have had such a mother! 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 WOODROW WILSON. 
 
92 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 President Wilson has been accused of having a 
 nature rather cold, and the same has been said of 
 President Harrison; but who can truthfully say this 
 after reading this beautiful tribute he has paid his 
 mother? History will place this tribute alongside 
 that of John Quincy Adams and James Buchanan. 
 He has also been accused of being ungenerous toward 
 those who have befriended him in a political way. 
 May it not be true, that certain ones who thus be- 
 friended him, did so because they had an axe to 
 grind, and President Wilson's well-trained mind, dis- 
 covered that the kind of government they favored 
 was not that kind which was shot thro' with right- 
 eousness? In his superb strength, he rises above his 
 critics, leaves them to themselves, and looms before 
 us, a colossal world figure, in strength and true 
 greatness. 
 
 Some of his messages to the people will live for- 
 ever. His address delivered personally at the joint 
 session of Congress, April 2, 1917, contains state- 
 ments that have already become famous. Pulpit 
 and press have stamped his words, "The world must 
 be made safe for democracy" indelibly, not simply 
 upon the hearts of the American people, but upon 
 the hearts of all liberty loving people the world over. 
 Along with Lincoln's immortal Gettysburg address, 
 will go this remarkable message. From it, we 
 quote in closing this section: 
 
 "To such a task we can dedicate our lives and 
 our fortunes, everything that we are, and every- 
 thing that we have, with the pride of those who 
 know that the day has come when America is 
 
AND THEIR MOTHERS 93 
 
 privileged to spend her blood and her might for 
 the principles that gave her birth and happiness, 
 and the peace which she has treasured. God help 
 her, she can do no other!" 
 
 The study of "Our Presidents and Their Mothers" 
 has led us to see the tremendous influence mothers 
 have had in preparing sons for the Presidential chair. 
 These Mothers were women of high moral charac- 
 ter, of Christian graces, and richly endowed intellec- 
 tually. We are not sure whether any mother was 
 a college graduate, it is safe to say, none were, with 
 the possibility of recent rare exceptions. Educa- 
 tional advantages for the young woman were un- 
 known in the early history of our country. The 
 Puritans of New England for a century and a half did 
 not permit girls to attend school, except at such 
 seasons of the year when the schoolroom would not 
 be needed by the boys. To-day everything has 
 changed. Schools, colleges and universities are all 
 open for women to enjoy the advantages of a liberal 
 education on the same basis as the men. Seventy 
 years ago about the only avenues of employment, 
 open to young women, were dress-making, and 
 school-teaching. To-day women are welcomed in 
 all the marts of trade, and in practically all the profes- 
 sions. The right to vote is being granted to the 
 women of our country so rapidly, that to mention 
 the number of states granting equal franchise would 
 endanger our being behind the times, by the time the 
 printed page reached the eye of the reader. If these 
 mothers had lived in this day, styled by some the 
 day of the "New woman", would so many have been 
 
94 OUR PRESIDENTS 
 
 passed by in silence? We cannot believe it true. 
 The woman of to-morrow, historically will have her 
 place alongside that of man. Her voice will be 
 heard, not simply in the domestic circle, but in the 
 affairs of state, in the great world reforms, in the 
 world of politics, in public office, and in legislative 
 assemblies. She will not shine with a reflected 
 glory, but with a glory all her own. 
 
 It is honor almost sufficient to be the mother of 
 a son who became President of the United States. 
 Such a mother might be willing to shine ever with 
 a reflected glory. We are told that "the hand that 
 rocks the cradle rules the world." That will not be 
 less true to-morrow because of changed conditions 
 as affecting woman, but if possible more true. How 
 true it seems when we apply it to those who cradled 
 and trained those who became the Rulers of our Re- 
 public! It has been a noble line of Mothers, from 
 Mary Ball, mother of George Washington, to Janet 
 Woodrow, mother of Woodrow Wilson. Napoleon 
 one time said, "What France needs is mothers." 
 But mothers have been the glory and pride of our 
 fair land, and none have been more worthy the praise 
 of men, than the Mothers of our Presidents. Mothers 
 — who were great because good, and good because 
 God-like! 
 
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