Born: 21 July 1864, United States
Died: 29 October 1947
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Frances F. Preston
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Frances Folsom Cleveland, the youngest First Lady in U.S. history, was an exceptionally beautiful and charming young woman. Following her marriage to Grover Cleveland, she became an overnight tabloid media sensation. A frenzied press began to cover her every movement and fashion statement. Her popularity became so great that when reporters made up a story that Frances had stopped wearing a bustle, everyone stopped wearing them—including Frances. During her two White House tenures as First Lady, Frances helped strengthen the Secret Service and promote free Kindergarten education for all.
Timeline
March 1885 President Cleveland chooses Frances C. Folsom as his bride.
June 2, 1886 The private wedding takes place in the White House Blue Room. John Philip Sousa’s Marine Corps Band plays at ceremony’s end.
June 1886 Honeymooning in a Deer Park Lodge cabin in Maryland, the couple finds themselves mobbed by the press.
1886 To protect his wife from reporters, Cleveland purchases a farmhouse in Georgetown Heights. After this, the Cleveland’s reside in the White House only during the social season.
1887 Crowds flock to see Francis Cleveland during the couple’s railway tour of Southern and Western states.
September 9, 1893 Frances gives birth to baby Esther in the White House: a First Lady first.
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Frances Folsom (Cleveland) Preston, born at Buffalo, N.Y., daughter of Oscar Folsom, law partner of Grover Cleveland. She graduated from Wells College in 1885, and on June 2, 1886, she was married to President Cleveland in the White House, Washington. Her charm and high type of womanhood added largely to the social grace of Washington life while her husband was President.
On his retirement, they lived in Princeton, N.J., where the ex-President died in 1908, and in 1913 she was married to Thomas Jux Preston, Jr., professor of archaeology at Princeton University. During the European war, Mrs. Preston rendered valuable service in connection with the National Security League.
From Woman: Her Position, Influence and Achievement Throughout the Civilized World. Designed and Arranged by William C. King. Published in 1900 by The King-Richardson Co. Copyright 1903 The King-Richardson Co.:
Mrs. Frances Cleveland, Mistress of the White House at Twenty-Two, 1864 – 1947 A.D.
Frances Folsom was born in Buffalo, N.Y. Her father, Oscar Folsom, died when she was eleven years of age. The mother, with her daughter, removed to Medina, where they resided for a few years. Upon their return to Buffalo, Frances entered the Central High School, where she prepared for college, and so thorough was the word done that she was enabled to enter the sophomore class at Wells College.
At the end of time of her graduation from college in 1885, she received a superb floral tribute from the White House conservatories. Grover Cleveland, then president, was the guardian-at-law of Miss Folsom, but he found himself lover as well as guardian.
After graduation she went abroad in the autumn with her mother.
No public announcement of her engagement to President Cleveland had been made, but the interested public felt that there was an understanding. When she landed in New York the following spring, she was met by the president’s sister, Miss Cleveland, and his private secretary. The wedding occurred June 2, 1886, in the blue room of the White House.
Thus for nearly three years of President Cleveland’s first term of office she occupied the position of “First Lady of the Land,” with rare grace. For one so young it was an arduous position, but it has been well said, “at no time did she forget the dignity of her position, nor did she ever presume upon it.”
When Mr. Cleveland returned to the White House for his second term in 1893, Mrs. Cleveland was welcomed with most cordial affection. To her many charms was added the dignity of motherhood. Her children are Ruth, born in 1891, in New York; Ester, born at the White House in 1893; Marion, born at their summer home, Gray Gables, in 1895, and Richard Folsom, born at Princeton, N.J., in 1897.
Princeton is the present home of the ex-president and his family. Mrs. Cleveland is known for her interest in charitable work, but is most admired for her devotion to her children.