White House Weddings: Nellie Wilson

Eleanor "Nellie" Wilson, youngest daughter of President Woodrow and Ellen Wilson, first met businessman William Gibbs McAdoo when her father was governor of New Jersey. 

Eleanor Wilson, circa 1910. Public Domain

McAdoo was a widower and a leader in the Democratic party, and on this occasion of their first meeting, probably in 1912, he stayed overnight at the mansion. In the morning, he needed to catch an early morning train. Nellie, who was around 22, was tasked with seeing him off, and she was so nervous that she spilled the cream at breakfast...and almost spilled McAdoo's coffee.

He didn't seem to mind, because at some point while he worked on her father's presidential campaign, he began pursuing Nellie. And no one much noticed, least of all her family.

Perhaps they didn't expect the two to make a match, because Nellie had many young suitors, and McAdoo was a fifty-year-old grandfather with seven children. 

William McAdoo. Public Domain

Supposedly, one evening McAdoo called at the White House. As the butler announced him, President Wilson began to rise, until the butler finished his sentence: "for Miss Eleanor."

The cat was out of the bag. When Nellie's sister Jessie got married in the White House, Nellie pulled McAdoo into the empty Blue Room and taught him to Fox Trot. In January of 1914, he proposed, but she turned him down.

He didn't give up, and his next proposal was accepted. 

The First Lady's health was failing, Nellie's sister had wed at the White House just six months earlier, and the groom's children were not enthusiastic about their father's remarriage, so the wedding held on May 7, 1914 was a small affair in the Blue Room (where she'd taught him to Fox Trot).

The bride, Nellie Wilson. Public Domain, wikimedia commons

McAdoo offered to resign his cabinet post when he married Nellie, but President Wilson kept him on. Immediately, Nellie was a cabinet member's wife and was followed relentlessly by the press. Despite such pressures, the couple seemed happy and welcomed two daughters, Ellen and Mary.

He left the post in 1918 to open a law firm, moved the family to California, and continued to be active in politics, running for president in 1920 and again in 1924, when he became the Democratic party's nominee. He lost, but decided to run for US Senate, and won, serving from 1933-1938.

Nellie was happy in California, and she did not enjoy spending time in Washington. By this time in their marriage, the couple lived apart for much of the year.

In 1934, he and Nellie divorced in what the Chicago Tribune called "a surprise" with the decree based on mental cruelty. Two months after the separation was finalized, the 71-year old McAdoo married a 26-yr old nurse. He died six years later of a heart attack and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Nellie worked on a biography of her father, The Woodrow Wilsons, served as a consultant on the biopic "Wilson" in 1944, and lived quietly. In 1965, she suffered a brain hemorrhage. She died two years later at age 77 in her California home and is buried in Santa Barbara.

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BIO: Susanne Dietze began writing love stories in high school, casting her friends in the starring roles. Today, she's the award-winning author of over a dozen historical romances who's seen her work on the ECPA and Publisher's Weekly Bestseller Lists for Inspirational Fiction. Married to a pastor and the mom of two, Susanne lives in California and enjoys fancy-schmancy tea parties, genealogy, the beach, and curling up on the couch with a costume drama and a plate of nachos. You can learn more about her and her books on her website, susannedietze.com.

Her most recent book is My Heart Belongs in Ruby City, Idaho: Rebecca's Plight.

THE LUSITANIA By Golden Keyes Parsons

All history buffs are aware of the tragic sinking of the Lusitania during World War I. That event was probably the catalyst which propelled the United States

into World War I. However, what I was unaware of until researching cruise ships for my protagonist to get to the States from England in 1914 was how luxurious the ship was. Every bit as comfortable and regal as the Titanic, the Cunard Line touted the Lusitania as able to make the trip from Liverpool to New York City in four days.

Common to all liners of the day, first, second, and third class passengers were strictly segregated, each class being assigned its own space on the ship. The Cunard Line prided themselves on passenger satisfaction.The ship even accommodated the many emigrants who traveled on the ship with larger dining rooms and comfortable sleeping facilities.

The ship's first class dining room was the most elegant of the public rooms, sporting a crowned ceiling and decorated in neo-classic Louis XVI style. White and gilt carved mahogany panels lined the walls, supported by elaborate columns. The furniture was bolted to the floor for safety measures in lieu of the waves of the North Atlantic. Unique to the Lusitania was a veranda cafe with walls which could be opened up to the deck in warmer weather, which actually proved to be infrequent due to the North Atlantic's harsher weather.

When the Lusitania was built, the British financed it with the understanding that it could be converted to an armed merchant cruiser. Special compartments were designed to carry arms and ammunition. In the fall of 1914 the cruise passenger business fell off considerable due to the escalating war in Europe, but the Lusitania continued to run.

On May 7, 1915, as the Lusitania neared his destination near Ireland from New York, she crossed in front of a German U-20. Some believe the intersecting of the two vessels was coincidence, nevertheless, the German commanding officer

ordered that a torpedo be launched. The torpedo hit the liner on the starboard

bow sinking the vessel with 1962 people aboard in about 18 minutes. The crew scrambled to launch the lifeboats, but the severe list of the ship allowed them to only get 6 out of 48 launched successfully. Eleven hundred and ninety one lost their lives, most due to hypothermia and drowning. A second explosion sent the Lusitania to the bottom of the sea.

A tragic end to a beautiful ship thrusting the United States into a terrible war.

Although a multi-published fiction author, Golden Keyes Parsons’ first published

non-fiction work, Spiritual Spring Cleaning, (BoldVision Books) just released in April 2015. Her series, Darkness to Light, (Thomas Nelson) chronicled the journey of her ancestors in 17^th century France and was a finalist for ACFW’s Debut Author of the Year in 2008. Her fourth novel, His Steadfast Love, a Civil War novel, was a National Readers Choice finalist. Parsons has also written a biblical fiction series entitled Hidden Faces, Portraits of Nameless Women in the Gospels (WhiteFire Publishing). Golden lives in Waco, TX, with her husband, Blaine. www.goldenkeyesparsons.com