Miss Edith Bolling
The Bollings were an old old Virginia family, dating back to Pocahontas. Edith, the seventh of nine children, was born in southwestern Virginia in 1872, a decade after the Civil War diminished the family fortunes, despite their gentry standing and the fact that Edith’s father was a Judge.
Being a girl, and low in the birth order, her education was spotty. College was out of the question. Her opportunities were even more limited. A propitious marriage was by far at the top of the option list.
Edith was an attractive young woman, but tall: five-foot-nine in her stockings. As she matured, her figure would become what they would euphemistically term “statuesque.” Suitable young men, in a generation decimated by war, were scarce. At twenty, she met Norman Galt, a relative of an in-law. He was several years her senior, and it would be a lukewarm, pleasant courtship. Edith neither encouraged nor discouraged, but Norman persisted. With no better prospects on the horizon, they married when she was twenty-four.
Edith Bolling Becomes Mrs. Galt
Marrying Norman Galt was indeed a very viable option. He was a prominent Washington jeweler, whose shop had been around for decades. Mary Lincoln had been a customer.
Despite their childless marriage, it was a happy one, albeit not overly exciting or romantic. Edith would always say that she and Norman Galt were “great friends.” The best part was that Norman was well-to-do, and happy to spend his money on whatever would make Edith happy.
She was always well-dressed and stylish. Jewelry was no object. They led a genteel social life and traveled widely. They went to dinners and the theatre. When automobiles were introduced, Edith was the proud owner of her own electric car. She was also able to help her aging mother and single siblings from time to time.
After a dozen years, Norman died. Edith as his sole heir would be financially comfortable. She continued to dress well, to travel regularly, and through her interest in the jewelry store, developed a latent good head for business management. She also maintained relationships with a small but select group of friends.
One of those friends was Alice Gertrude (Altrude) Gordon, a twentyish young woman whose deceased parents had been Edith’s close friends. She took Altrude under her wing and was like a second mother. Altrude had a beau: thirty-something Cary Grayson, a Navy doctor, and personal physician to President Woodrow Wilson. Edith liked him.
Wilson Meets the Widow Galt
President Wilson was a widower. His wife Ellen had died a few months earlier. It had been a very happy thirty year marriage, and the President was understandably devastated and depressed. To help ease the social burdens and house management, he had asked his cousin, Helen Bones, to move in. She was a single woman near in age to Edith Galt, and Cary Grayson thought they might have interests in common. The two women became friends, meeting frequently for lunch or walks or shopping trips.
One day they had been caught in a rainstorm after an outing. They were only a couple of blocks from the White House, and Helen suggested they go there for tea. Despite living in Washington for two decades, Edith had never been to the White House. Her first reaction was to decline – her boots were all muddy. Assured that it wouldn’t be a problem, they proceeded inside, where they encountered the President by chance. He promptly invited himself to their tea party, where Edith found him to be delightful and engaging. She would later claim that if he was depressed, you would never have known it from his charm and wonderful sense of humor that afternoon.
The following day, the President sent Edith a note, enclosing a copy of a book they had been discussing. Not long afterwards, she was invited to luncheons – as “Cousin Helen’s friend.” Then came invitations to dinners and teas and afternoon carriage rides. It didn’t take the forty-three-year-old widow long to realize that she was being wooed.
President Wilson, the Lover
Woodrow Wilson was a Southerner, born in Virginia and raised in the Carolinas and Georgia. He understood the nature of charm. He had courted his first wife ardently and passionately, and once he had decided that the Widow Galt was in his romantic future, he pressed hard. Wilson had always depended on a woman’s nurturing and care. It was vital to his emotional well-being. Determined that Edith Galt was essential in his life, he proceeded to lay siege to her heart.
Within a month of their meeting, he not only had fallen in love, but had fallen hard, which took Edith by surprise. It was a completely new experience for her. Her courtship with Norman Galt was neither romantic nor passionate. Fifteen years her senior, Woodrow Wilson was a brilliant man, a professor, college president, and author of several books. He was also President of the United States. He was a romantic and passionate courtier. Edith was overwhelmed.
Her photograph was on desk. He had a special private telephone line installed between his office and her town house, only a mile away. He called often. He sent his private aide to the post office every day to intercept her letters and circumvent the White House mailroom. The letters between them were frequent. Most interesting, however, was the fact that he treated her as he might treat a colleague. He had been a gifted teacher, and he was in essence, teaching her politics and government – a subject she knew little about. She was a quick learner however, and began reading her way through his library. Their letters seesaw between ardent sentimenality and serious and often remarkably confidential political discussion.
The President was subconsciously preparing her for a role that neither of them could have known was coming.
Sources:
- Hatch, Alden - Edith Bolling Wilson: First Lady Extraordinary, 1961, Dodd, Mead
- Levin, Phyllis Lee – Edith and Woodrow – 2001, Lisa Drew Book
- Schachtman, Tom – Edith and Woodrow - 1981, GP Putnam’s Sons
- Wilson, Edith Bolling – My Memoir - 1939, Bobbs Merrill
Feather Schwartz Foster - Feather Schwartz Foster, author-historian. Making the First Ladies come to life.
