Samuel Laurence Gouverneur (1799 – September 29, 1865) was a lawyer and civil servant who was both nephew and son-in-law toJames Monroe, the fifthPresident of the United States.
His maternal grandparents were Lawrence Kortright, a wealthy merchant, and Hannah (née Aspinwall) Kortright.[4] His paternal grandparents were Samuel Gouverneur (1720–1798) and Experience (née Johnson) Gouverneur (1720–1788).[1] He was a first cousin ofU.S. RepresentativeGouverneur Kemble (1786–1875) through his aunt Gertrude Gouverneur, wife of merchantPeter Kemble.[1]
Gouverneur served asprivate secretary to his uncle, the fifthU.S. PresidentJames Monroe who served two consecutive terms as President from March 4, 1817 until March 4, 1825.[b] Gouverneur helped former president Monroe to press his claims to Congress to repay mounting debts. After Elizabeth Monroe's death in 1830, Monroe came to live at the Gouverneurs' home, and died there in 1831.[9] Gouverneur was executor of Monroe's estate, which had to be sold off to pay the debts.[10]
Monroe's personal papers were left to Gouverneur, who also was asked to support his wife's sisterEliza Monroe Hay (also his cousin, then a widow).[12] Gouverneur started work on publishing the papers or a book on Monroe, but it was never finished. After Mrs. Hay died in 1840, the Gouverneurs moved toWashington, DC where he worked in the consular bureau of theU.S. Department of State from 1844 to 1849. After Congress agreed to buy the papers ofPresident Madison, Gouverneur proposed a similar arrangement, which was concluded in 1850. Some personal papers would be retained for a few generations.[10]
On March 9, 1820, Gouverneur was married toMaria Hester Monroe, his first cousin and the daughter of President Monroe. The wedding was officiated by the Rev.William Dickinson Hawley[13] and was the first wedding held in theWhite House for a child of a president.[c][d] The wedding was small, with only 42 guests and no cabinet members invited, and GeneralThomas Jesup served as groomsman for Gouverneur.[8] The couple went on a brief one-week honeymoon, and upon their return, Commodore and Mrs.Stephen Decatur gave them a reception at theDecatur House on May 20, 1820. Another ball was planned, but was cancelled due to Decatur's death two days later in a duel.[13] After moving to New York, the Gouverneur's bought and lived at 63 and 65Prince Street atLafayette Street inManhattan. Together, Samuel and Maria were the parents of four children:
a daughter, who died in infancy (d. September 4, 1821)[16]
Elizabeth Kortright Gouverneur (1824–1868), who married Dr. Henry Lee Heishell, James M. Bibby, and Colonel G. D. Sparrier.[5]
Samuel Laurence Gouverneur, Jr. (1826–1880), who married Marian Campbell (1821–1914), and became the first U.S.consul inFuzhou,China (then spelled Foo Chow).[5]
In 1832, the Gouverneurs' sold their Prince Street residence to Miles R. Burke.[e] On June 20, 1850, his wife Maria died at theOak Hill estate, which was sold two years later in 1852.
In September 1851, the widower Gouverneur married Mary Digges Lee (1810–1898), a granddaughter ofThomas Sim Lee (1745–1819). They retired to the Lee estate called "Needwood", nearFrederick, Maryland andHarpers Ferry, West Virginia.[22] This stressed family relations during theAmerican Civil War, with Gouverneur associated with the Union government, while his in-laws had deep roots in the Confederate states.[8]
^The first documented wedding ceremony held in the White House was whenDolley Madison, wife of PresidentJames Madison, arranged the wedding of her youngest sister, Lucy Payne Washington, to Supreme Court JusticeThomas Todd in 1812.[14]
^There might have also been a private wedding ofAbigail Adams' maid Betsy Howard in 1801.[15]
^After three years it was owned by John Ferguson and then was sold to Charles H. Contoit in 1873, and then Daniel Mahoney in 1900.[18] On April 28, 1905, a historical plaque was placed on the building in a ceremony with several Monroe descendants in attendance. A crowd of "thousands" included GeneralFrederick Dent Grant and an army attachment.[19] However, by the 1920s the once-elegant pair of houses had fallen into disrepair and were covered in advertisements.[18][20] A group tried to save one of the houses in the 1920s, but it suffered damage when a move was attempted.[21]
Nicholas Jenkins."Samuel Laurence Gouverneur".W. H. Auden Family Ghosts. Stanford University. Archived fromthe original on July 20, 2011. RetrievedMarch 13, 2011.
