Sarah polk was very big on diplomacy and her strong suit happened to be intelligent political discussion. She took an interest in politics, and she was her husbands partner. She grew up in a political household in tennessee. Her father was a local politician, so she grew up loving politics. She married james after he want to see in the legislature, because if she would not married him if he had been content to be a clerk. Unfortunately for James Kaye Polk, he died three months after leaving the white house, and sarah began a 42 year widowhood. Pulled place became a shrine and she would invite anyone she wanted to come for a visit to see the objects they had collected throughout their long and illustrious political career. She lived there for many years on her own and during the civil war, generals on both sides would come and visit her to pay their respects. Thats very interesting as a commentary on what a beloved status she had. She was earnest about her husbands work. She went to every post she could go to. She went through that arduous journey. The hardships were terrible, they really were. She was very well liked in the diplomatic community. They had met all kinds of people, friends and enemies and others. They had to make things work. And they were very experienced people. They were more sophisticated than those around them, frankly. ,. We know today that first ladies have this bookshelf was part of the First White House library. She much preferred being in a room with a good book to staying in a receiving line making mindless chatter. We know that abigail was a very wonderful seamstress. We do have her quilt here, a very colorful quelled called the tumbling block pattern. She was one of the true intellectuals. She loved reading. She was very caught up on politics and like very much being a part of the cultural accoutrements that came with being in washington. Welcome to cspan, first ladies influence an image. And this program, we will meet three first ladies. One, her husbands trusted political advisers. The next, a steadfast generals wife. The third, a teacher who establish the First White House library. They served during the 18 forties and fifties as the country continued to grow and tensions continue to mount over the issue of slavery. To introduce us to sarah polk, Margaret Taylor, and Abigail Fillmore, we have to historians at the table. Con over hunt, an author and historian and expert in Historic Preservation. Paul franklin is a historian and legal scholar based at Albany Law School. Hes the author of a biography of Millard Fillmore. Welcome to both of you. James kaye polk is sometimes described as the least known influential president. Would you agree with that . Why . He is not well known, and he is certainly important. When he was nominated for president , he had no public office. He had twice lost the governorship of tennessee. Before that, he had been a one term governor, and before that he had been a member of congress. So he was a practicing lawyer in tennessee, and he was what is known as the dark horse candidate, the first dark horse candidate. He had hoped to get the Vice President ial nomination, and suddenly a deadlocked convention came out of nowhere and polk is the president ial nominee. Most people dont know who he is. He becomes president and almost immediately puts us in a position to have a war with mexico. He pushes for the war. Hes prepared to declare war on mexico, and in fact sends troops, including Zachary Taylor who will be the next president. He sends Zachary Taylor to the mexican border, in an area thats completely disputed, that all International Law says belongs to mexico, but polk says its american land. While tailors troops are there, he goes to his cabinet and they vote on a saturday afternoon to ask for a declaration of war against mexico. That night, he gets a message, because it takes a long time to get information from mexico to washington. That night, he gets a message that tailors troops had been in combat. So he writes his message to congress saying, american troops have been killed on american soil. Abraham lincoln would later give a speech known as a spot speech, in which he said, show us the spot where it took place. Because it wasnt on american soil. He gets us into a war with mexico. We acquire mexico. This is all very important. It also means the complete blowup of all of the sanctionable compromises and pushes the country had long into civil war. His wife is also, frequently when you do moderate coal his wife was always on the top tier. Why is that . She was truly a political partner with her husband. They did not have children. At a time when women were expected to be mothers, and hearth and home, the keepers of the faith, she was very much her husbands political equal and his partner. She never went too far within the boundaries of what a proper victorian or Early Victorian lady should be in the early 19th century. But everyone knew that they shared an office in the private apartments. She was active in discussions at many state dinners they had. And he would ask her to mark newspapers and articles for him to read. She was a sounding board. Franklin pierce, before he became president , told her husband that he would much rather talk politics with sara polk then with james polk. And yet the women of the time excepted her. She was very pious, very religious, a very strict presbyterian. She did not allow dancing in the white house. She got rid of hard liquor. But they had winds, and of course, brand ease with the frequent dinners they had. And she was not a prude. She was very much a woman who knew what she wanted and set her roles out and everyone had to play according to those rules. And she was respected for it. She was very, very popular. To introduce you to the polks, by video, we will take you to the polk ancestral home. The house that they lived in together no longer exist, but this Historic Site contains much of the history of the family. We will take you there next. This is the inaugural fan. Its an incredible piece of history. It was a gift from president polk to his wife, sarah. She carried it with her on the day of his inauguration. Its guilt paper with bone styles ornately carved and it features the little graphic images of the first 11 president s from washington all the way through james polk. She carried it with her throughout the festivities of the spring of 1845. The back is as beautiful as the front, and features a little graphic image of the signing of the declaration of independence. The family came into the white house a young vibrant couple, but amidst a Democratic Party that was widely split. It was one of the reasons why James Kaye Polk said he would run for a single term only and then stepped down. Sarah polk used the white house and her time as the president s wife to enhance her husbands political privilege. Dining in the polk white house was a serious affair. Twice a week on tuesdays and fridays, mrs. Polk would entertain 50 to 75 people for dinner. The china they used was beautiful. The poll china is considered some of the most beautiful of the white house china. It features the president ial seal embossed along the side band. The dinner set is white embossed with gold. They had a tee said that was, blue and they had to assert said that it is green. You will often read that mrs. Polk didnt allow alcohol in the white house. Her presbyterian upbringing precluded that from happening. Thats not exactly the case. She stopped the serving of whiskey punches at public levies in the polk white house, but wine was one of the largest bills during their years there. One of the more interesting objects in the collection speaks to her ability with music. We have a music book that has handwritten no initiations and one of the songs featured inside is the song hail to the, chief which she is credited with starting as the official president ial anthem during her time as first lady. I wanted to ask about that hail to the chief, because a little controversy has erupted between our last program with the tyler,s who are also claiming that they introduce tail to the chief, and the pokes who make it part of their history. Is there a definitive answer on that . I wont touch. It i dont care. laughs it came about in the 18 forties. Its possible that the tylers used it and the pokes then confirmed its use. It is kind of antiquarian silliness to worry about Something Like that. There are so many more important things. You do the contrast with julia taylor who brought dancing to the white house, who ended her brief tenure, eight months as first lady, by throwing a huge party as they left the white house. Was sara polk more in touch with the times . Sarah polk was an imperial presidency, meaning that the couple thought the office of the presidency and the white house as the official executive residents needed to be highly respected. So there is more formal protocol and so on. It was a very liberal approach. You could come with an introduction to any of their receptions because koch was a democrat. But at the same time, people were well dressed. There were more formal dinners. There were multiple courses. And it was considered an honor to be at the white house. She basically said dancing at the white house is not dignified. And she was known for her frugality. Does the president still making a 25,000 dollar salary and expenses for the White House Events have to be paid out of that salary . How was her frugality seen by washington and the American Public . She reorganized the staffing at the white house. Sarah polk was a wearable organized woman. What she did was she hired a steward. They brought in their own servants and got rid of some of the paid staff at the white house. She then got her steward to cut deals with the various vendors and groceries and so on in the washington area. And if they gave them significant discounts, they would give them the royal seal as it were. The first endorsement by the white house then . By her majestys whatever. Its the american version of that. But if you want us to abide by your rules for white house dinners, then you will have to give us a discount. And it worked. They were very frugal in that way. During the entire time they were married they were that way. When you say she brought in her own servants, these were slaves . Yes. I was about to say, she owned those servants. And thats important to understand. The polks come from very wealthy circumstances and they are slaveowners and bring a lot of assets with them. They can afford to be president just as john tyler could afford to be. We have a quote from her i would like to have you put into context. She writes, if i should be so fortunate as to reach the white house, i expect to live on 25,000 dollars a year. And i will neither keep house nor make butter. That echoes modern first ladies and baking cookies. The context of it as someone said, i think i will vote for mr. Clay, his opponent in the president. They say his wife keeps a good house. And makes her own butter. That was her return to that. By god, she did live on the 25,000 a year and did not keep house. She ran a house. And she did not make better. But she made sure that butter was made efficiently and that the place was run like a top. It looks like you had something . Slave mistresses dont make butter unless they choose to make better because they enjoy the handicraft of making butter. Its important to see this both for sara polk and for barbara taylor. I want to tell folks that this is an interactive program. We are working Facebook Comments and tweets and. We will put the phone number on the screen as well and begin taking your phone and questions as well throughout the program. Dolly madison has been an element of our series from the very beginning. This is dollies last hurrah. What was Dolly Madisons role in the polk white house . Dolly madisons role was she had come back to washington and sara polk and dolly became very close. Dolly mentored sarah and sarah also like dolly. That was important. She was very broke. She honored her in all of their entertainments. They were the two war first ladies. The war of 1812 and 30 years later the mexican more. There are many parallels between Dolly Madison and sara polk. The sense of self, the sense of fashion, the understanding the role of the first lady in conveying the sort of in direct support of her husbands presidency. Its not easy to be a first lady during war. There were many detractors as the war went on. But polk went in and said i will do the following things in four years. And he did. In the 18 forties, this is also the first time we have photography. We have a fabulous photo to show you on the screen right now. It brings together a number of these characters in one place. Here are the polks and there is Dolly Madison, the second from the screen right with her turban, and we have an opportunity here to see harriet lane, who served as a white house hostess later on. Sarah polk and ali madison with James Kaye Polk. Photography as a political tool, how do politicians absorb this new technology . They are just beginning to figure this out. You really dont get it until the 18 fifties i think and maybe the 1860 election, when photography is everywhere. Now its almost a novelty in the 18 forties. It is not all that terrific. First of all, you have to sit for a long time. Its not a single shot and the picture is. There you have to sit there rigidly and not move all the photograph is being taken. So i think they are moving towards photography. What is much more important than photography is the very sophisticated liner type and the sophisticated art in newspapers. You get Wonderful Campaign posters being done for when polk runs for example. Korean does a Campaign Poster for his opponent, henry clay. Justice to harry in the west, and a big picture of henry clay. Theyre using that kind of technology. Photography, they probably want to save for the film mores and beyond. We have the first known photograph of the white house in this period. We will show that next. We are working with the White House Historical association throughout this series. Look at this white house in 1846, i think thats the date. Sarah polk brought some innovations to the white house. Central banking and gaslighting. She didnt actually bring them. Lets say they arrived. Central heating and gaslighting, she did hold out when they put in the gaslights and insisted that the oval room at the white house be left it candlelight. When they turn on the gas lights, when they shut down the gas for the night, the whole white house during a reception went dark. And yet, the oval room was still lit with the beautiful candle lighting. There were experiments, but it ultimately save the president ial family a lot of money. They had to heat the white house out of that 25,000 dollar salary. So these efficiencies did come in, starting with the pokes, earlier, but mainly the gas. Central heating must have been a great innovation. Central heating in the white house must have been a joke. I dont think you would have been very warm. Must have been better than the alternative, though. You wonder, though. A nice warm fireplace in the right room keeps that room warm. Again, what we are getting, at which is, always true for the white house, for every presidency, is that technology is going to change the way president s campaign, the way they portray themselves, and the way president ial families live. Notice, by the, way you just had a picture of polk up there. He is sitting there very stiff like this, because thats what you had to do when you are getting a photograph taken. I just saw a picture of john kennedy giving a speech with his fist in the air and you can almost see the fist shaking in the photograph. You couldnt do that in those days. We have no sense of personalities so much in these photographs. We get a bad sense of personality because what we get is that these people are absolutely stiffened frozen and have no personality. They are dead. They used to brace, to keep them still. You dont smile in these pictures because it would be too hard to smile that long. Weve got a question on twitter. What was saras educational background that allowed her to be so politically savvy and an equal to her famous husband . One of the most advanced educations for a woman of her day. Her father was a great believer in educating women. Her and her older sister were educated academies and murphys borough, nashville, and then he sent them to salem what had me in winston salem, that was Salem College today. 500 miles away, it took them a month to get. There they were there for two years. She was unusually well educated for her time. And i think that atmosphere encouraged her to speak her mind and participate in discussions. She grew up in a political household. This next question we will answer by video. Dave murdoch wants to know, did sarahs frugal ways also prevent her from lavish gowns and fashions, and to the American People see her as frugal . Lets watch this video. This is back at the polk Historic Site. Then we will talk with you about, this because you have done some work on sarah poll style. Lets watch. How sarah looked was important to her, certainly from a standpoint of how she looked and was perceived by the public. But she also saw it as a reflection of the presidency itself. She was known for having beautiful dresses and looking incredible in a white house that was equally beautiful. The blue dress is called a rogue disarm, it was purchased in paris, france and 1847 and warned by her late in the administration. It would be the undressed dress of a first lady. If she was taking visitors before she was dressed, this is the dress she would wear. The white dresses a ball gown, also made in paris france. A high end fashion for the 18 forties, v. Cut in the center. It was a style mrs. Poke used again and again. You get the indication she found a style she liked and thought she looked good in and kept with that. Its a beautiful gown in silk and satin. It has a great deal of lace attached to it as well. Mrs. Polk was always a frugal woman. She often purchased dresses and would buy a great deal of material to go along with them so she could enhance them and change the way that they looked. Instead of buying six counts, she would buy a single down and then buy extra material to make it look different. She was a mastered accessorize. And she had a wonderful collection of handbags and purses and ridicules. Then her jewelry as well was of the american mode in the 19th century. It was thought to be unamerican for women to wear precious gems and semi precious stones. Instead she would wear speak silver and gold and french paced enamel ware. Few of these dresses have survived from this time period because theyre made of silks and satins that get worn out. We have a wonderful collection of dresses. One unusual piece, a turban. By the 18 forties that would have been a bit out of fashion. But Dolly Madison was still alive in the Polk Administration and was a regular visitor to the polk white house. We wonder if she didnt adopt that style after her. Cohen overhunt is the author of this cover story in the white house history magazine published by the White House Historical association. It shows you have done a lot of work on sarah polks approach to fashion and what it symbolized for her. What can you tell us . She had a wellestablished sense of style from her childhood. She grew up with silks and satins. In the white house years, of course she dressed elegantly for evenings and receptions. In the summer 1847, they sent in order to paris for some gowns for the first lady, which was not the usual style. All of the invoices survive. So do the gowns. Its amazing. The top designers in paris were asked to make some downs for the misses. And this was usually done by a commercial agent that they had. David bell martin was the agent in paris. He got the order. He immediately found his good friend, modem molten, good friend, who went around the paris shops and they made three gowns, one is that the smithsonian. But it was very unusual for her. Khoury Dolly Madisons order in 1811 cost 2000 dollars. A 2000 in those dollars . He here there was more lace on, a path that caused 2000 dollars. The blue, and green gowns were about 25 dollars made by seamstresses in washington. But the fabric would have been there. She was trying to find a sweet spot between frugality and image. But she did it so well. Everyone said she was beautifully dressed. She carried herself like a lady, acted like a lady, and was very gracious. At the same time we are learning about her modern approach, what is happening to women at large in the United States . 1848, whats going on with women overall . Are they beginning to ask for more presence in power in society . The people incentive to falls our. You need to have perspective on what is happening there. For most american women, not much has changed and not much is being asked. The most important changes for women, the cutting edge of women in politics, is coming out of the anti slavery movement. In the, north you have thousands and thousands of women who are politically active for the first time in American History. And the 18 thirties, there is whats known as the great petition campaign. Literally hundreds of thousands of petitions show up in washington asking congress to do things like not annex texas because it was seen as a great slave conspiracy, which it was. To repeal the fugitive slave law, to end slavery in the district of columbia, many of these petitions were gathered and many women signed them. So what you get is women actively participating in politics, changing america for the better. There is also the Temperance Movement which was very active. They are active in movements to prevent prostitution. And these are things that of course are close to what would be considered domesticity for women. But its outside the house. Whats fascinating is someone like sara polled probably, with the exception of temperance, would have been appalled at the activist women and what they were asking for. By 1840, eight some of the abolitionist women, along with a few men like Frederick Douglas, who was at the 1848 convention, are asking for the right to vote for women. That is a long time coming, but it begins at this time. Tim is on the phone from jackson, mississippi. Hi, tim whats your question . Id like to know who ran against James Kay Polk when he was running for president. He runs against henry clay of kentucky. Clay had run for president twice before this. Clay believes its his turn to become president. He expects it will be a cakewalk for the presidency, because no one has hurt of bulk. But clay makes a number of mistakes during the campaign, and in the end, and a very close vote, clay loses to polk. Oddly enough, play carries polks home state of tennessee, but pull carries new york which has the biggest number of electoral votes. When he carries new york, that puts him into the white house. The issue of a president ial campaign at that time is very different than what we see today. It was considered proper for the candidate to be called to office. The campaigning, active campaigning went first state offices like the governor. But the candidates did not show up at the nominating conventions, and afterwards, when they were drafted and accepted the nomination, there were letters sent to the editor. But very little stomp speeches. No stump speeches at all. Sarah was her husbands Campaign Manager for this Congressional Campaign and gubernatorial campaign, but during the president ial campaign, it was very much basically a lot of them said whatever you do, dont say anything. laughs when polk ran for congress, he would canvas the district. When he ran for governor three times, winning once, he went all over the state of tennessee, as no other candidate had before. One wonders what was going on and polks mind when he nominated and had to sit home and do nothing except right a few letters. This is a question from mary in little rock. A heard somewhere that barbara bush is related to the polk family and use their Dinner Service while her and george bush was in the office. Is that true . I dont know. Good question. As our series progresses, we will answer that question. We will go back in time now and learn about how that Political Partnership came together. You told us that sarah polk was from a wealthy family in tennessee. How did she and James Kay Polk meat . They ran in the same circles. Either through Andrew Jackson or her fathers family, polk went to the university of North Carolina and then went into law to study in nashville. He became clerk of the legislature. They met their, or they met it Andrew Jacksons, because the polk girls were often at the jacksons home. Certainly, jackson is known, or we think he advised polk to marry her. This is who you needed, it wife. Its commonly said she told polk that she wouldnt marry him unless he ran for office. He did and he won, of course, and they were married in 1824. So Andrew Jackson was a matchmaker . He and his wife rachel did not have children of their own. They had many, many different young people that they took in. Jackson would right to sara and call her my daughter. Patricia on facebook asks, is a true that enigma for sara polk was the spanish madonna . Yes. She had extremely dark hair and all of skin, and they thought she looked european. Exotic. The jacksons had no children, but sarah and James Kaye Polk also had no children. What was the impact of having, being freed up from house work and not having to do that, and her ability to become a political partner . I think they breezed into that. By the same token, they spent a lot of time with nieces and nephews. Sarah brought her nieces into the white house as first lady to help her with entertaining and returning calls, because she did not return calls. The first lady did not do it. That was a change in tradition. Then when she was a widow, she had a niece and a great niece who lived with her. Can i also add, had they had children, she would have had slaves who would have raised the children and would have done all the diapers. Slaves might have been wet nurses when the children were infants. So the notion of the burden of families for someone like sarah polk would be very different than when we talk about Abigail Fillmore, who is a woman a very modest means and has to raise her own children without the help of host fool slaves. They come to congress here in washington and what is washington like at the time and how involved with xi in congressional debates . She was very actively involved. He went for his first term in the Congress Without her and never tried that again. She didnt like being left at home at all. They established what they called a mass, several different elected officials living together and sharing meals and a parlor and so on. They did that for years until he became speaker they had to have larger apartments. But she attended the sessions of congress. She was very attentive to the issues of the day. The elected members of congress who were in the mess with her new that she was a congressional wife. James kaye spoke become speaker of the house. How does that happen . Politicking. He is a very good politician. The first time he runs for speaker of the house, he loses to a man who will later run for president in 1860. Then the next time around, he manages to win. Part of it has to do with jackson. Polk is jacksons man in the house of representatives. So when jackson has a strong majority, polk is the leader of the house. We have seen the ascendancy of the presidency and congress. At this point in our history, which branch of government has more power . I would say congress. Being the speaker was important . Being the speaker is not as powerful as being present. In terms of the politics of america, more needs to be happening in congress than in the presidency. I should add that Andrew Jackson is strong and dynamic and pushes the envelope of the presidency and alter the dynamics for his presidency. It reverts back when john tyler becomes president. Being speaker of the house was important. Its important today. It sounds like sarah polk had a view of this when her husband was in the role. The, speaker if the proper, personal with the correct idea of his position, has even more influence over legislation and in directing the policy of the parties, than the president. Thats a quote from sara polk. When he became president , the president was powerful in terms of waging war. He pulled a lot of power in the executive branch. But henry clay is the one we all think of as building the job of the speaker of the house. The man who ran for president. Through the years, the speakers job grows. The presidency grows in power. It ebbs and flows. The balance of power is the key to the whole thing. Nobody ever just completely runs away with it. It was set up so that that could not happen. Our next video demonstrates the role of sarah polk as a political wife. The traveling desk is really indicative of sarahs life with James Kaye Polk, family as his health mate. He had no staff as a congressman or president of the United States. Sarah took a hands on attitude towards being his wife. She took the traveling desk with her to washington twice a year on trips that could take 30 days going one way from columbia, tennessee to washington, d. C. Shes communicating with her family and friends back home. That means she wrote tens of thousands of letters in her lifetime. The traveling desk is indicative of communication in the time period. The portraits are painted by ralph earl when they were in washington. Sarah was very much a help to him and his political career. When he was writing speeches, she would get her opinion and she would critique them for him. She would read the newspaper and underline passages for him to. Reaches irregular fixture in the gallery and congress. This is a great time to hear speeches from politicians like henry clay and Daniel Webster and john kowloon. And she was right in the middle of all of it and very much a part of his political career. 14 years a member of the house of representatives. The last four as speaker of the house. It brings with it a whole new level of social status in washington, d. C. Sarah very much played the part of the official hostesses in washington. Typically, congress would enact a memorial to the outgoing speaker of the, house officially thanking her for her service. When james kaye poke left congress, the congress was so widely divided they refused to do so. In the newspapers, a number of politicians wrote poems in honor of sarah at the time she left. One of them was the United States Supreme Court Justice Joseph story. He wrote a poem lamenting the loss of sarah polk to washington society. Today, we would be amazed that a speaker of the house stepping down to run for governor. Why would he decide to do this . I think because being speaker of the house is something you didnt do for a really long time in those days. Congressional careers are often quite short in the 19th century. Three or four terms in washington is probably enough. Think of the arduous task of just getting to washington from tennessee once or twice a year. Its a lot of work and effort. Being the governor is somewhat easier. Its probably less expensive. You are home. And being the governor is a good way to build a political career for the vice presidency our presidency. He has his eye on the vice presidency. He doesnt think hell be president. But he thinks he could be Vice President. Yes, he could be Vice President. The vice presidency is not a very good path to the white house. Since thomas jefferson, only Martin Van Buren had made it as a Vice President and tyler did only because of the death of the president. Sandy is in delaware. My question is, i know there is what does sarah think about slavery . Was she a kind slave master . James polk, in his, well made an expression that he hoped that when she died she would free the slaves. She saw the plantation before the civil war. The issue of slavery was not really brought to the forefront either during their marriage or during his administration. It became much more critical with the administrations that followed polk. I think in some ways thats not true. The politics of america, from the 18 thirties to the 18 sixties, is swirling around slavery all the time. The opposition to the mexican war, which polk starts and we did not have to have, the opposition to the war in part comes from northerners who see it as a vast conspiracy to steal mexico so that slaveowners could have someplace to go. Southerners says much. They say we want mexico because we want to place for slavery to spread too. The reality is, the pulitzer slaveowners. They are not opposed to slavery. They like being slaveowners. Being a slaveowners very good for them. And i suspect that she treated her slaves as kindly or as an kindly as was necessary to get the labor and support from the slaves that she wanted. Thats what slavery was about. Ethan is in franklin, tennessee. A hero of mine is a nephew of sarah polk named general lucas polk. He served with general patrick clay burn. He tried to give the confederacy a petition to end slavery and get African Americans to fight for the south. He was wounded several times during the war. And at some point, he was sent behind lines and allowed to stay in columbia, tennessee. He would eventually run the ku klux klan out of murray county. But sarah polk, i have heard, somehow kept him from going to prison camps when any other confederate prison, prisoner would have been sent to a prison camp. I have heard she was afforded power and the unions people respected her so much. Im going to jump in right there. Our time is short. Its important to say, james polk announced he would be a one term president. We will get your question, because the civil war does come. Sarah polk is a widow. How long does James Kaye Polk live after leaving the white house . Three months. Three months. She she becomes a widow. She wore windows weaves for the next 42 years until she died at 88. The house they had purchased for retirement became a shrine to her husband. She was very reclusive, only went to church, but she received people. During the civil war, she did not take sides. What should i tell the Union General . She said you may tell him i am at home. So he came to call, and the confederates and the union troops respected her. She did not take sides. She was completely neutral and she isolated herself in that period prior to the civil war. People put their artifacts in storage at pulled place to preserve them. But she just went right on through. And she earned a great deal of respect for that. From both sides . From both sides. Do you have more comments to add . Only that the contrast would be with president tyler, who becomes in with the confederate government, having taken an oath to support the constitution of the United States. In that sense, the contrast with sarah polk is revealing. Jenny on facebook, who apparently portrays her in canton, ohio writes, mrs. Poke led more than 40 years as a widow. Did she continue to be involved in politics after the president . No she did not. She would speak about her husbands time. Any honors that were sent to, her she accepted on behalf of his memory. She was conversant with what was going on, but not an active political player. We have one more video from the pole. Caroline swatch. James polk was promised a one term president. As, such after four, years james and sarah polk were going to retire. While they were in washington still, in the white house, as they were outfitting the white house as part of that restoration, they took the opportunity to purchase things for pole place, the home in nashville they would retire to. They purchased all the furnishings for pull place through alexanders shop in new york city. They picked some of the finest American Furniture at the time. Its all rose wood frames with red velvet. We have gentlemans chairs and sofas. They had 33 side chairs and 18 are remaining. They would ring the rooms with these chairs when they had guests. We have interiors of what it looked like, probably around the time of her death in 1891. The house is still filled with objects they collected in their political live together. Unfortunately, he died after three months of leaving the white house. Sarah had a 42yearold widowhood. She held a levy for the state legislature as a body. Polk place became a shrine to her husband and she would invite anyone who wanted to come for a visit to see the objects they had collected throughout their long and illustrious political career. Patricia on facebook rights, when i visited nashville, i was amazed at the plaques there that recognize the sites of president polks homes and offices that were raised. Why would they allow those to be torn down . Progress. I have worked in Historic Preservation for 40 some years. If we didnt have a need to preserve buildings, i wouldnt be in the field. But there are periods, the polk home was torn down in nashville. The great niece kept the artifacts together until they could find a home. And thats what the museum in columbia is. But the madison home has been in private hands for years and not saved until the eighties, the 19 eighties. These things go on and on all the time. The homes of the president s are deemed to be among the most important, but in some cases, you have multiple homes that one president lived in. As we say goodbye to Dolly Madison and her influence, Sheldon Cooper, we cant do a program without dolly, Sheldon Cooper asks, as influential as Dolly Madison was on future first ladies, did sarah pull provide guidance to future first ladies . Yes, for 50 years. She was alive until the early nineties. She died in 49. Sarah was the embodiment of the elegant proper first lady after Dolly Madison. The respect passed down with her. Yes. Building on, that the question is, what is sara polks legacy . I will let her answer, that since she has written a great deal. I think that james polk probably might not have been able to achieve his ambitious one term agenda without her help. She certainly kept the white house running, because he literally worked himself to death. She handled his legacy well after his unfortunate early death. We have most of the legacy is his, the first postage stamp, treasury department, almost doubling the size of the United States. Many things to be thankful for. First ladies themselves are not so much innovators as they are, sometimes they embrace those aspects of the american character that the public needs. And i think that she did it very, very well. The election of 1848 brought the tailors into the white house. As we continue our program tonight, we will learn more about Zachary Taylor and more importantly for our series tonight, his wife Margaret Peggy taylor. Its a brief stay in the white house, so it will be a ten minute exploration here. Tell us, set the stage for the 1840 election. Polk is leaving office. He chose to be a one term president. That was probably good, he probably wouldnt have gotten the nomination again. And he probably would have been defeated. He was not very well liked when he left office. Its true that he started a war which was successfully one, but when it was over, he didnt want to have peace. He fired his envoy to mexico and his envoy to mexico negotiated peace treaty after he had been fired and then sent back to washington and polk was forced to bring a treaty to congress that he did not actually want to sign or have congress ratify, but he was forced to do. It during the war, he became very jealous of the very successful general Zachary Taylor. He demoted taylor as a result. General Winfield Scott was promoted over him, then he got jealous of scott. So in the war ended, polk is leaving, and taylor is the great hero of the war. Taylor had never voted and annul action. Taylor had never done anything political. He had been a career military officer for his entire life. His wife, had traveled with her husband to some of the most remote military bases in the country. She had been a military wife, the wife of a man who started as a lieutenant and ended up a major general. Taylors politics were almost unknown, other than that he said over and over that he supported henry clay. Henry clay of course lost to polk. Henry clay believed it was his time to win, 1848 was going to be a wig year. Clays party is the whip party. Clay thinks he will win and then out of nowhere, taylor gets the nomination and clay is absolutely devastated that he doesnt get, even nominated. In addition to taylor getting the nomination, he completely obscures almost unheard of Millard Fillmore, who went nominated is the most obscure person ever to be nominated for the presidency at the time. So you had this strange axis of taylor, a louisiana sugar planter, running with phil moore, who was the controller of the state of new york. For, me there is a personal thing i have to say. I teach at Albany Law School where phil moore was living. Next, year i will be a visitor at lsu in louisiana. I am the embodiment of the albany, baton rouge accent as well. I would like to say, lets dont discount that the mexican war brought us all of the western southwest. California, new mexico, it set aurora. He was the commanderinchief, and he acted like it. And if it upset Winfield Scott, who had quite a temper, and Zachary Taylor, so be it. But as it turned out, thats what history has recorded. We greatly expanded the United States during that time, and we got those properties for very, very little. In terms of the history of real estate, polk rates high. On to Zachary Taylor. Only if you think theyre going to war with a country to steal half their country is an appropriate and legitimate thing to do. Significant numbers of americans believed that the mexican war was purely a land grab and war of aggression. And many americans, including john c cal whom, who was a great defender of slavery, believe the mexican war was a huge mistake because cal whom predicted correctly that once you have a mexican war, would open up again the question of slavery in the territories. And that would cause a catastrophe, which it does. s accurate taylor, old rough and ready, the last southern are elected for 64 years until wilson is in the office. His partner is maybe taylor . What do we know about her . She was not particularly keen on being first lady. She had gone around to all of his postings with him, they had innumerable children. Their daughter, knox, married the Young Jefferson davis, who fought with taylor in mexico. Unfortunately, their daughter died after three months of marriage. But, later when they were in the white house, the tailors became quite close with Jefferson Davis and his second wife. And the second wife was very close to the first lady. The first lady let her daughter do a lot of the entertaining. And it was such a brief amount of time, really. We he was inaugurated in march 1848 but he didnt take office until march 1849. Taylor dies in july 1850. There is essentially a 15 month period when they are in the white house. And she doesnt want to be there. She retreats to the upstairs of the white house. Basically. Oddly, enough like her predecessor, she came from a political family. One of her aunts was married to a three term governor of maryland, and one of her cousins was married to senator jon smith maryland. She came from a very very wealthy family of maryland planters. She grew up most of her early years in the washington d. C. And Northern Virginia area. One of her playmates was nearly, who was the granddaughter of martha washington. This is someone whos been around politics as well. But the opposite of sarah polks. She did not want her husband to run for president. Here is a snapshot from the census of america anything 50. Population was at that point, 23 million and there were now 30 states. Almost 36 growth since the last census of 1840. Slaves numbered 3 million or 13. 8 of the population. The largest cities of the country for new york city, baltimore and boston. Washington d. C. , weve learned throughout the city, was a capital city traded on gossip. It seems the gossip about peggy taylor was much like rachel jackson, and she was a pipe smoker. Sounds different than what paul just described. What is the truth about her . She did not smoke a pipe. The pipe smoking is utter nonsense. All the people who were close to her said she was in fact allergic to smoke and nobody smoked around her. The problem is, she is a military wife whos traveled from base to base, who lived in some style on this basis. The tailors were very wealthy. They had lots of slaves. They had a plantation in louisiana. Some of the slaves would travel with them when they went to bases. She was not a high society woman. She did not want to be around a crowd. This was not a world she felt comfortable with. Im sure when you got to washington, the gossip, the parties, she simply felt that this is not where she was comfortable. She did not know how to compete. She did not know how to operate, so she retreated to the second story of the white house and let her daughter do most of the socializing. She was an enigma. She was an enigma. How did Zachary Taylor die . July 4th parade, and he watched the parade on a very hot july 4th loyola. He either spent the day eating cherries and milk, or cucumbers and milk, depending on who you talked to. If one imagines what a bowl of milk would look like on a hot july day in washington, d. C. , without ice to keep it cold. He got some kind of intestinal disease. He was a very tough man. He had survived winters in michigan, minnesota. He had survived the deserts of mexico. He was rough and ready. The one thing he could not survive was mid 19th century medicine. When he got sick, he was bled, and they did all sorts of other things, including giving him mercury, which would have killed him if they gave him enough. He may have died from an intestinal virus. He may have died from a bacterial infection. You may have died because the doctors killed him. What we do know is that he died very suddenly, to the great shock of the nation. Perhaps, taylor was the last president who could have managed to somehow change the sectional conflict. He was a southern slave holder who did not believe and spreading slavery to the west. He thought that all the territories from mexico ought to be free. He was a man who is willing to stare down, and if necessary, lead an army to suppress southern Anti National at one point, the texans are played into santa fe and sees all of what is today mexico. Taylor sends troops and one can imagine, that he lived, if the texans had done that again, taylor like Andrew Jackson would have said, i would be personally happy to personally lead the army to austin and hang the governor of texas, the wage acts and said he would hang the governor south carolina. A couple of quick questions. We may have answered them. I read that as first lady, mrs. Taylor was a devout a script paleo. Did it have on an impact on her role as first lady . And several different publications i dont think that she realized that when her husband came back from the war she would end up being first lady. It is hard to say. Twitter. Bethany johnson. When did margaret, howled was margaret when she died and itchy plain instruments . She dies in 1853. That makes her about 65. She died of a broken heart, many say. Because she was so shocked. We should tell the story of Zachary Taylor. She was convinced he was poisoned. That was a story that stayed with Zachary Taylor for many years. And our lifetimes that retailers bottom was it zoomed. They brought him up and did testing and no poison. By the way, when phil becomes president , he gets letters americans love conspiracy theories. This was a conspiracy theory. Let us listen to someone from columbus, ohio. Hello. I was wondering if its true that Margaret Taylor prayed for her husbands the seat for the president s issue. She was much against it. When she was in the white house, due to having so many difficulties with children he was the first to admit that she was not very happy with his victory. I dont know that she actually prayed for his defeat. Many of these stories are written well after the fact, and as a historian, we have to question where is the source of the story. If you hear a story told and five different places, it turns out its the same story told over and over and over again, we dont know if its true. There is a story that apparently taylor was on a steamboat when the movement was to make taylor the nominee and somebody asked him who he was going to vote for. Taylor said, im not sure. The man said im voting for taylor. Why wont you vote for taylor . Taylor does not know hes he doesnt know he stalling to tailor. Taylor said, i would not vote for taylor because i personally know his wife would not want him to run for president. Taylor was very unassuming and he often did not appear to be there is a true story that when he was in mexico he was sitting in front knot with general stars on. A young officer came up to tailor instead will you shine my boots . Taylor shined the guys boots. Then the next day, he came to meet his commanding general. This is the second time in history the president dies an office and the Vice President ial succession. Could we do a better job with the Second Time Around . Succession . It was a constitutional crisis the first time. They never fixed it until after the kennedy assassination. The 27th amendment. When harrison dies, the question is, does john tyler become president of the United States or does he remain Vice President of the United States, an acting president . That is something the constitution does not aggressed address. John quincy who hated tyler referred to him as his accidency rather than his presidency. He is now the president of the United States. Fillmore very graciously asks Margaret Taylor to stay on in the white house as long as she wishes, and she moves out two days later. She has had enough. You told us earlier about the new york and baton rouge access. We have to learn more about new york. We will do this by video. Here is a bit of the film war, fillmore that you will see now on videotape. We are in this most charming little home. Small as it is, it belonged to millard and Abigail Fillmore. They met when they were both teachers. They both had this desire and love of reading. Abigail actually was brought up in a family that had many books. Her father was a baptist preacher and he left to read. She was surrounded by books her whole lifetime. When she moves into this house with Millard Fillmore, she continues that. They had their own personal library, and she wanted to let young people learn extensively about the world as it was. This room that we are in is actually the focus of the entire house. History is made right here. She independently employed herself as a teacher. She tutored Young Students in the evening, namely in the course of history. This room would have been the living room. It also served as their kitchen. Here, in front of the fireplace, miller and abigail which spent hours by the light of the fire. They would do their reading and writing. As abigail cooked in this kitchen. Here we are in the fillmore bedroom. We do believe it was a wooden ladder at that time, when abigail and millard live here. As a young wife and mother, dressed in a long skirt and with a toddler on her hip, she ascended that ladder into the bedroom. Within this room, we have the fillmore bed and dresser. We know that abigail was a very wonderful seamstress. We have her quilt, here. A very colorful quilt called the tumbling block pattern. The house, being on main street was a very busy place. East aurora was a vibrant community. It was a frontier but it is developing. Abigail would have had many visitors. She would have people come in, possibly they would have tea. We can envision abigail having a very full life. Her days were full. We do see her as a hospitable young woman. Young wife, young mother, teacher. That house is Still Available to visit if ever you are an east aurora new york. The 13th president of the United States was the last whig president. They came from honest means. All the president s before had personal wealth. This begins as these series of president s who are more or less middle class, what is the impact of that on the institution . Long term . I think that what we see with fillmore is something of a change that may follow through in the 20th century looking forward. The economy, we are still part of the civil war which will be a giant hiatus in terms of business. Who were the others that were not help wealthy . That came along . There are four president s before this, counting fillmore who are not wealthy. The adams are very middle class. John quincy adams is probably the closest to wealthy at the time. Martin van buren comes from middle class. Millard fillmore grows up in abject poverty. As did Andrew Jackson. Miller and phil moores family does not own their land. Abigails fillmore, abigail powers, her father died when she is to. She becomes a schoolteacher. She is the first first lady to have worked outside the home, and significantly, she does not only work outside the home before shes married, but after she is married, the first year. She works as a School Teacher when millard is starting his law career. These are people who have experienced poverty and have not at all achieve anything that would be considered other than middle class status. After her death, miller lives his life with wealth wealth. Here is his biography if you are interested in reading more about our 13th president. It is Still Available or you shop for books, and we have about 20 minutes to learn about the fillmore presidency and most importantly about abigail. Abigail brings her sensibility to the role of first lady. How did she approach the job . Which she is known for, her legacy, is that she created the First White House library. What her father left her mother when he died when she was just a little girl, was books. They kept those books and it became the core of her education and obviously instilled in her elovitch keeping others. The congress appropriated 2000 dollars fort, quote, the president to establish a White House Library. But it pretty much understood that she would be the one who would select it. She preferred to read and engage in intellectual pursuits. She did her duty. She helped her husband. She had a bad ankle, as i recall. She was injured. She has an injury shortly before he runs for Vice President. She cannot stand. She cannot go to receptions and stand. So she avoids things like that as much as possible and lets her daughter as a young woman in her twenties do much of the role of the white house hostess. The introduction of a White House Library became a controversy with congress. I read that Abigail Fillmore successfully lobbied and committee to bring the library to the white house. She was there talking to them. It was the standing that she could not do. She obviously convinced them. Here comes 2000 dollars to set up a White House Library. I was a lot of money in those days. A lot of money. And of course it had to be for the president to buy the books. The president was being a president. Apparently, she did a very good job of selecting a broad category of volumes for the library. She was interested in music. Wasnt she, paul . She was interested in music. Theyre also very interested in geography. They love maps. They buy books of matts. Theyre very interested in the world in that respect. The little film about the fillmore house but Willard Fillmore was actually her student. She was 21 years old and she was teaching at a private academy, and Millard Fillmore had been an apprentice in a Textile Factory to learn how to make cloth making machinery. This was during the 18 thirties in the middle of the depression, the panic of 18 thirties. The factory laid off everybody for a while. This close down for a while. Fillmore used this time to go back to school and fell in love with his teacher. She fell in love with him. It is hard to tell from the pictures we see, but both of them are described at that time as being very very attractive people. Queen victoria would later say when she meets fillmore that he was the handsomest man she never met. That might be an exaggeration. So here you have these two, young, handsome people. Phil moore is over six feet tall at the time, when most men dont grow to be that tall. He must have been as striking figure. She globs on to her. They have a long courtship, because her family does not want her to marry. They ultimately do not marry until about five or six years later. For two years, the courtship is only by letters. He moves to east aurora and then goes to buffalo where he becomes a lawyer. From north, dakota you are on. Thank you for waiting. Thanks. I was wondering, what did fillmore do after she got out of the white house . We will come back to your question and just a little bit. Therell is an alabama. Hi. Does the white house have plumbing and if so, where did they get plumbing . Are there still in use today . Thank you very much. We learned about gas labs coming into the white house and heating. What about plumbing . Fillmore is credited with having the first bathtub in the white house, but it is not clear that it is true. This is the problem. Whenever you say, what is the first in the white house . We do know that fillmore has installed either the first bathtub and the white house. Big did religion play a big part in fillmores life and the presidency . Abigail is the daughter of a baptist minister and she is raised in a Baptist Community in rural upstate new york. They are raised in the middle of new new york in a very poor part of new york. She is a baptist. Miller has various religious training growing up. But when they get married they are married by an episcopal priest because in the town that abigail lives and by this time, the most Prestigious Church is the episcopal church. They then moved to buffalo and become unitarians, because all of the smart people, the successful people are becoming unitarian. In fact, religion, i think, for the fillmores reflects when i would call as their journey from poverty to middle class status, to ultimately, a secure position in society. They change churches as they go up the social ladder. We are going to learn more about her love of books and establishment of the White House Library in this next video. When abigail came to the white house, she was appalled that there were no books. This bookshelf was part of the First White House library that her and millard were able to get congress to give her money to start the First White House library, which still exists today. We know today that first ladies have causes and illiteracy and reading would have been Abigail Fillmores cars. It was important to her as a teacher and she carried that love and passion for books right with her into the white house. Abigail suffered from illness throughout her time as first lady. Mary abigail would have been the hostess for many of the events. This punchbowl would have been one of the many items used during the entertaining at the white house. Mary abigail followed in her mothers footsteps and was very educated herself. She spoke five languages. There are stories of her playing the piano or the harp for guests, congressman as they would come to visit the white house. We have merry abigails piano, and we have her music books that she would have played from. We also have her harp that was in the white house. When we say she entertained at the white house, she literally entertained. And the room and the white house that the fillmores established as the library was in fact the oval room. You see the picture today. It is called yellow oval room. That room during the fillmores time filled with bookcases an instruments became a salon. How did they use it . As a salon. Was it useful in their legislative goals . She participated in the form of dinners downstairs. There was receiving always, going on. The white house had very little privacy. She was known for her interest in writers. She had Charles Dickens come to the white house. She, way ahead of the canadians, brought leading lights into the white house. She was interested in these more intellectual literary pursuits and with her bad ankle. I do not think anyone understands what those receptions were like when they threw open the white house for 5000 people. Hours, and hours, and hours of standing on your feet. The salon she created, it would seem like an intimate place to bring few members of congress and others. Was it in fact a way to be in the inner sank time of the president and advances goals . I am not sure. For one thing, i think that few congressman were interested in talking to a novelist or talking to a cultural figure like that. She grew up as the women known as the swedish perhaps some members of congress would have come to see her as a celebrity. I think that in a sense there is a bifurcation here between Abigail Fillmore creating a cultural setting that the former schoolteacher really by the way, she is a mother, always a schoolteacher. She writes letters to her children, because they are separated from their children various times in their lives. Correcting their spelling in previous letters. Giving them lists of spelling words to learn. She may also be always educating her husband who is not quite as educated. What kinds of titles and authors were in the First Library of the white house . It was a mixture of the classics. A lot of shakespeare. Shakespeare. Probably lots of histories. I know a lot of geography books. They were very interested in foreign countries. As president fillmore sends Commodore Perry to japan to open up japan, and this is in part because fillmore has a personal interest in foreign things, exotic things. Could you very briefly it is so important. We have to talk about the major legislative peace. Zak retailer dies just as the compromise of 18 fifties and Millard Fillmore picks up the debate over that legislation. As briefly as possible, what is the significance of the compromise of 1850. The compromise of 1850 is introduced by henry clay, the disappointed guy who did not get to be president. The goal is to solve the nations problems and as it emerges and the congress in a series of separate bills. Its not one bill. It will, among other things organize the new mexico territory, arizona. The utah territory which includes nevada, and parts of colorado. It would admit california into the union as a free state. It also would prevent the open auction of sleeves in washington, d. C. But we also give millions of dollars to texas. They would sub divide a portion of new mexico and give what it is today west texas to texas which previously, nobody belonged to texas. Most importantly created a fugitive slave lot of 1850. The First Federal Law Enforcement of bureaucracy in the United States. It is an outrageously unfair law in which alleged fugitive sleeves are not even allowed to testify in hearings on their own behalf, so that if a freak black is seized in new york and someone says hes my fugitive sleep, the man cannot say no, you have got the wrong person. It created a draconian punishment for anyone who interfered with the slave la. Fillmore pushes the fugitive slave law, science it almost immediately after it is passed by congress, and then very aggressively enforces it wherever he can. How did the compromise of 1850 work into the timelines of peggy taylor and or Abigail Taylor . Do we know about Abigail Fillmores position on slavery and how it might have been different from her husbands . No. What is odd about both millard and abigail is they come from a part of new york near known as the burned over district because it is said that the fires of the revivals burned so often that it was the burned over district. It was the most anti slavery part of the United States. It was the center of the anti slavery movement. Just south of where phil moore is growing up, william, one of the most antislavery senate is starting his political career. Just down the road, Frederick Douglas lives in rochester new york. With all this anti slavery activity going on, neither the fillmores ever lift a finger to fight slavery. They never show any hostility to slavery at all. They show no sympathy to free blacks. It is really quite shocking that they are completely clueless about this, when he is running for Vice President , someone accuses him of helping fugitive slaves escape, and in a letter that is so shocking that i would not say it on the air. He simply says incredibly horrible things about black people. Why would i ever lift my finger to help them . To her love of books. Did abigails love of books cause any national change in education or Library Expansion . To my knowledge, no. But you have to look at the long term. We they did not have instantaneous communications. Her books were not going to set off a trend in the way that modern communications do. I think what we are beginning to see as we go into the second half of the 19th century, is more and more work for middle class women. Teaching, and so on and so forth. Obviously, it would be aware that they had a first lady who was a teacher. An honored profession. Having that library certainly was known. Marley, thank you for waiting. Hi. I was wondering, how many children did the fillmores have . Two. One two. Once served as an official hostess in the white house. Lets hear from ben next. Then from los angeles. What is your question . Id like to know what was his Foreign Relations policy . Foreign relations were in part to enhance trade with europe, to enhance trade with other countries. He extends to japan. At the time japan was completely closed to the outside world. Fillmore sends United States naval vessels. We are hearing you are going to trade with us whether you like it or not. The japanese refers to this at as a dark ship. I sought in japanese cartoons and which they are portrayed as monsters. They thought it was horrible. Phil moore also negotiates a treaty with switzerland. Allowing trade on equal terms force with citizens. But the treaty has a clause that says this can only happen if the people in america would be eligible to have own land or have businesses in switzerland. They did not allow jews to own land. When phil moore was told about this he said, this should not be a problem. He does not seem to be interested in issues that would involve minorities. He later becomes a no nothing. An anti catholic activist. A short amount of time left. Elizabeth, from pacific california. Thank you for the series. When correction. The fillmores met Charles Dickens in washington in 1842. They did not host him at the white house. They did entertain washington hurting additionally, abigail reportedly advised miller not to sign the fugitive slave la. One of their best friends and buffalo was the most prominent abolitionists there, George Washington johnson. Thank you so much. We have only 30 seconds left. Why dont we use that to ask both of you about Abigail Fillmores legacy . Books. Learning. Literacy. And the fact that she may have influenced people by being a working first lady. Careers for women. I would say, sadly she dies very shortly, and then her daughter dies three years later. I can only say that there is no documentary evidence whatsoever that she advised film or not to sign a fugitive slave la. These are things that people like to throw out there because they want to enhance peoples reputations without any evidence whatsoever. Actually, ill be gayle fillmore died and the famous Willard Hotel which continually plays a role in president ial history. Just very shortly after the inauguration of her successor, franklin pierce. Weve gotten a number of people tweeting. But that earlier call about the barbara bush connection telling us it was with pierce. Yes, pierce. We will try to answer that question for next week when we deal with the pierce administration. Thanks to both of our guests for being here, and our thanks to the White House Historical association for their continuing help throughout the series. First ladies, influence an image examines the private lives and the public rules of the nations first ladies. Through interviews with top historians, friday night we look at Mary Todd Lincoln and eliza johnston. Watch first ladies influence and image, friday at 8 pm eastern on American History tv on cspan 3. Excellent she is probably the most tragic of all first ladies. She hated politics. Hated it with a passion. She did not move into the white house. This couch is one piece that they took to the white house. They had eight rooms that they had to furnish. They had personal furniture. When she did arrive she spent much of her time writing letters to her that son. In her great grief, she calls him my