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The Ulysses S. Grant Association |
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The Ulysses S. Grant Association |
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Mrs. Emma Dent Casey of Washington, sister-in-law of President U.S. Grant, gives an interesting account of the two inaugurations of her brother-in-law. During eight years Mrs. Casey was a constant companion of her sister, Julia, the first lady of the land, in the White House. Her husband, Col. James Pinnie [Finney] Casey, was collector of the port of New Orleans during the reconstruction days, and after his death Mrs. Casey moved to Washington. She is now eighty-one years of age. She says:
"It is almost impossible for me to realize, that one-half a century has passed since the first inauguration of Gen. Grant and this second inauguration of President Wilson. Forty-eight years ago this spring my husband and I were guests of Gen. and Mrs. Grant at their I street house, a large and beautifully furnished home which had been presented to the general by the men and women of the north.
"At that time I was young enough and romantic enough to enjoy with all my heart and appreciate with all my senses each day's pleasure. Although my husband was closely related to President Zachary Taylor, this connection with things presidential was different, for was it not my own beloved sister who was to be the mistress of the White House?
"As the 4th of March drew near, the members of Gen. and Mrs. Grant's families gathered in Washington. It was like a great and joyous gathering of the clans in Scotland. We were many. Gen. Grant's father was there, his brother, Orvil, and his sister, Jennie; also my father, my husband and Gen. Dent, Col. Dent and Judge Dent, my three brothers, and their respective wives, and my other sister, Mrs. Sharp, and her husband.
"Gen. Grant was known as a grave man, but he was also as witty and charming and affable in manner and speech as any man I ever knew. I met him for the first time when I was only seven years of age, and I knew him well through all those years. Now, his happiness seemed unbounded, for the war was over and a nation had favored him with its highest honor.
"The 4th of March, 1869, was typical of inauguration day. The morning broke gloomily with lowering skies and occasional showers, which later settled into a steady drizzle.
"Gen. Grant, with his military aid, Gen. Rawlins, left the house quite early for his headquarters at the corner of 17th and F streets. Soon afterward Mrs. Grant and her guests left for the Capitol. The streets were filled with a hurrying crowd moving toward Pennsylvania avenue. We drove to the north entrance of the Capitol and were escorted to the Senate gallery. Below us on the Senate floor was gathered an imposing sight that grew more impressive with each passing moment. I was awed into hushed expectancy. Into this gathering of senators, the Supreme Court of the United States entered, wearing their somber official robes.
"Shortly after this, Gen. Grant's staff, among whom was my brother, Gen. Frederick Dent, all in full uniform, entered and were shown to seats. Next came the diplomatic corps in their brilliant costumes. Then Gen. Grant and Vice President Colfax entered, each escorted by a member of the Senate. The general was not in uniform, but wore a black suit, much to the disgust, so I heard later, of a noted painter, who would portray the general a la Gen. Washington, in all his brave trappings of war, taking the oath of office. No doubt you have often seen copies of this same painting.
"After this, several speeches were made, to which I did not listen. The Vice President took the oath of office and the assemblage adjourned to the stand built over the east front of the Capitol steps. It was raining, and my heart went out to the waving, cheering mass of upturned faces below me. Soon after we were seated Gen. Grant appeared and approached Chief Justice Chase to receive the oath of office. During the war I had been within the dread sound of cannon fire, but never before had it sounded as music to me. Now, the cheering and handclapping and booming of cannon was quite deafening. However dreary the day, there was a wild song of joy in my heart. When quiet was restored the general delivered his inaugural address in a clear but not very loud tone of voice.
"After the ceremonies at the Capitol the procession, with the President and Senator Craigin in an open carriage at the head, moved toward the White House. Although it had been freshly brushed, Pennsylvania avenue was not the smooth, clean street it is today and our carriage swayed and and rocked as we drove slowly between the two lines of cheering humanity.
"When we reached the White House we entered the library, where we offered our congratulations to the new President. Although very quiet, I know the general was supremely happy. A few moments later we all went to the reviewing stand to watch the procession. I remember some troops - I believe they were Missouri troops - calling out "Three cheers for our Nellie" as they passed the stand, where Nellie Grant was standing near her father.
"After the parade, as well as I can recollect, we returned to the I street home for luncheon. The Grants did not move to the White House until the 18th of March.
"The inaugural ball was held in the Treasury building, and, womanlike, I remember the dress I wore on that occasion so long ago. It was blue silk, with a white tulle overdress. Sister Julia, I remember, wore white satin. It was about 11 o'clock when we reached the Treasury, and a little later followed the presidential party to the marble room, now the cashier's room of the Treasury Department, where we were met by the committee of reception. Later we adjourned to another room, where we received the guests.
"First in the receiving line came Gen. and Mrs. Grant. Upon their right stood the Vice President and Mrs. Colfax, Mrs. Sharp, Mrs. Dent and myself, with the four Grant children. The general's military staff and many others stood immediately behind us. Before Gen. Grant stood a small marble table on which he leaned slightly forward as he bowed his acknowledgments. The crowd was so dense that he could shake hands with but a few intimate friends. He was worn out by a trying day and looked tired. At midnight we went to supper.
"Being of the receiving party saved me many annoyances, so I discovered later. It came about in this wise: We disposed of our wraps in a room reserved especially for us, and our supper was served in a private apartment, but the other guests did not fare so well. The truth of the matter is that the facilities for caring for the large number of persons attending the ball were not sufficient. There were not waiters enough, nor was there space enough and, worse still, food enough for those who desired supper. This nearly caused a riot in the supper room.
"Furthermore, the arrangement for checking and storing the guests' wraps was poor. I was told that some guests actually waited until 4 o'clock in the morning for their wraps, others broke through the barriers and took what they could find and some, less fortunate, went home without wraps. The venerable Horace Greeley, white-haired and spectacled, lost his white overcoat and, although he tried as best he could to charm it back by magic of strange and horrible words, he never saw the coat again. I am glad I escaped the horror of that night, for a horror it was to many a thinly clad woman. As for myself, I rode back to the I street home and went peacefully to sleep.
"For me, four happy years elapsed between the first inauguration of Gen. Grant and the beginning of his second term. In that time, if I may be trite, many changes occurred. I was four years older in social and political experience. I had discovered that history in the making is often forcibly urged along the pathway of time. My knowledge of my fellow mortals had advanced by leaps and bounds, for my make-believe friends as well as my true friends were legion.
"I knew every one of prominence in Washington and studied keenly those who aroused my interest. Men and women are as books. Some have tawdry bindings, some crude bindings, but, often as not, such human books are filled with the wisdom of a Solomon. And some are beautiful to gaze upon from the outside, but when opened are found, like Elbert Hubbard's essay on silence, only blank pages within.
"The morning of the 4th of March, 1873, was more inclement than the day of the preceding inauguration. From my apartment in the old Arlington Hotel, I looked out upon a dreary view. Sleet and snow, fierce, bitter winds, and the thermometer was several degrees below zero. I felt like going back to bed and staying there. However, I called my husband, who looked out with no less repugnance upon the scene, for we had but lately come from our warm, sunny home in New Orleans.
"For all that, we breakfasted, and, wrapped up snug and warm, drove to the Capitol, where we were shown seats similar to those we had occupied four years before in the Senate gallery. On this day my interest was not so centered upon the few as it had been four years ago. Now, many of those assembled were intimate friends.
"The inaugural proceedings were much the same as they had been four years before. The Senate of the United States was assembled, the Supreme Court entered in their robes, the President and Vice President appeared next, followed by the diplomatic corps. On the heels of the diplomats came others, who quickly filled the room. There were several speeches, but, as I could read these to better advantage the next day, I looked more than I listened. Below me sat Sir Edward Thornton, the British minister, looking most gallant in his decorations.
"I waved to Lady Thornton, sitting nearby, and with whom I had but recently dined, who sent back a telegraphic response. And there was Conkling, looking proud as a peacock and quite as handsome; and Logan of the leonine hair, and Blaine, who was later to be known as 'the plumed knight,' and who, indeed, was truly a knight in deferential courtesy, and Senator Sherman, Gen. Sherman and Gen. Sheridan, and so many, many gallant men whom I knew well. Now they are all gone.
"As on the previous inauguration, the oath of office was administered on a grandstand built over the north entrance to the Capitol. In 1873 the inaugural stand covered the stairway only. Our seats on this stand were somewhat sheltered, but it was bitter cold and a high wind drove the icy chill through one's thickest wraps. The soldiers must have suffered frightfully.
"Those who were not enforced spectators, as the troops, were brave indeed to face that frigid blast. But when Chief Justice Chase administered the oath of office and Gen. Grant bowed his head and reverently kissed the Bible the tension of the great crowd was broken and cheer upon cheer drowned the howling of the wind. But I was well pleased when again I found myself seated in the carriage, warmly wrapped, with a hot brick at my feet.
"On the return to the White House the streets were crowded. The gayly decorated stands along the Avenue were not so popular. To keep one's body warm one had to be most active, and a grandstand seat is no place for exercise. I remember the triumphal arches, flags and bunting that spanned the way at various points, with here and there immense banners and pendants fluttering in the gale. Truly it was a riot of color.
"As 'Cincinnati' and 'Egypt,' the general's saddle horses during the war, hauling Nellie and Jennie, turned up the Avenue at 15th street, they stepped with no less dignity than was displayed in the bearing of the negro coachman and footman, Albert Hawkins and Jerry Smith, who always drove the President's four-in-hand about Washington. I believe no other President used four horses to his official carriage, and much criticism was heaped upon the President's head because he used two horses more than others thought necessary.
"By the time we were seated in the stand in Lafayette Park across from the White House, the procession was coming down the Avenue. It was a long time in passing, but the marchers looked a great deal warmer, and even the middies and cadets strode gayly by.
"That night every one was worn out, but we went to the inaugural ball. A temporary wooden structure was built in Judiciary Square for the occasion. Though a little crude outside, it was beautifully decorated within, and, for normal Washington weather, adequately heated, but the night of March 4, 1873, was not normal, and every one who went to the ball had reason to remember it for many a day.
"The ballroom was spacious and the decorations of numerous flags and streamers, shields and garlands were gorgeous. At one end of the room was a raised platform for the use of the President, the cabinet and their families and friends. Here I shivered, when I was not dancing or walking, but, frankly, to keep warm I danced the greater part of the evening, and in my wraps at that.
"I remember, too, there were many cages hung about the room, filled with birds. These birds were supposed to add to the joyous music of the orchestra, but they could not sing, poor things.
"The next day there was another military parade, but I did not see it; I was in the care of a physician."