Caroline LeRoy Webster (September 28, 1797 – February 26, 1882) was the second wife of 19th century statesman
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison, ...
.
Early life
She was a daughter of Hannah (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Cornell) LeRoy and Herman LeRoy. Her father was once head of the commercial house of Leroy, Bayard, McKiven & Co., a large trading company that operated in different parts of the world. Herman also served as the first
Dutch Consul to the United States.
A descendant of
Thomas Cornell, Caroline's maternal grandfather, the
Loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
Samuel Cornell, was the last Royal
Attorney General of North Carolina
The Attorney General of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The attorney general is a constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies in legal matters, supplying other state offici ...
. Her aunt, Elizabeth Cornell, was married to banker
William Bayard Jr., a close friend to
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
, and her first cousin, Harriet Elizabeth Bayard, was married to
Stephen Van Rensselaer IV, the last
patroon
In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch ''patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Freedoms a ...
of the
Manor of Rensselaerswyck
The Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Manor Rensselaerswyck, Van Rensselaer Manor, or just simply Rensselaerswyck ( nl, Rensselaerswijck ), was the name of a colonial estate—specifically, a Dutch patroonship and later an English manor—owned by the va ...
.
Personal life
She was the second wife of Daniel Webster, after Grace Fletcher Webster's death. She met Webster at her father's house while Webster was a guest there. After only a few months of courtship they were married. Their wedding was an upscale one with a large and fashionable assemblage.
In 1839, she traveled to Europe with Webster, during this time she was a guest of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
and the
Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
as well as other members of the British government and the British aristocracy.
When Daniel Webster died in 1852, Caroline received $100,000 which was invested for her benefit.
Thirty years later after Daniel Webster's death, Caroline LeRoy Webster died in her home in New York City after increasing illness and
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
. She died on February 26, 1882, in her bed. She was then buried in
Woodlawn Cemetery in New York.
See also
*
List of people from New York City
Many notable people were either born in New York City or adopted it as their home.
People from New York City
0-50
*50 Cent (Curtis Jackson, born 1975) – businessman and rapper
*6ix9ine (Daniel Hernandez, born 1996) – rapper ...
References
External links
*
Daniel Webster and Caroline Webster papersat
Harvard Library
Harvard Library is the umbrella organization for Harvard University's libraries and services. It is the oldest library system in the United States and both the largest academic library and largest private library in the world. Its collection ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leroy, Caroline
1797 births
1882 deaths
American people of Dutch descent
Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)
Cornell family
People from New York City
Spouses of Massachusetts politicians