Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur (April 8, 1802 – June 20, 1850) was the younger daughter of

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

James Monroe. She was the first presidential offspring to be married in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

Early life

Maria Hester Monroe was the third child of James Monroe and Elizabeth Kortright Monroe. She was born in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

on April 8, 1802, during Monroe's first term as

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

. When James Monroe was sent to France the next year to assist in the negotiations over the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

, he brought his family to live with him in France. Maria learned French there, and later in her childhood took a particular interest in the

pianoforte The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

. From 1816 to 1819, she was enrolled in

Madame Grelaud's French School Madame Grelaud's French School, also called Madame Grelaud's Seminary, was a boarding school for girls in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which ran from approximately 1809–1849. Many prominent northerners and southerners sent their daughters to such in ...

in Pennsylvania.

Marriage

Monroe became a popular part of the

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, social scene. In 1820 she married

Samuel L. Gouverneur Samuel Laurence Gouverneur (1799 – September 29, 1865) was a lawyer and civil servant who was both nephew and son-in-law to James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States. Early life Gouverneur was born in 1799 in New York City. His f ...

, who was serving as private secretary to her father. They were first cousins; his mother was Elizabeth Monroe's sister. On March 9, 1820, they were married in the White House, in a small ceremony with only 42 guests, probably in the Blue Room. While it was not the first White House wedding, it was the first time a president's child was married there. Monroe's older sister,

Eliza Monroe Hay Elizabeth "Eliza" Kortright Monroe Hay (December 1786 – January 27, 1840) was an American socialite who acted as unofficial First Lady during her father James Monroe's presidency, as her mother's health kept her away from many White House duti ...

, took charge of the wedding. Hay, who acted as an unofficial

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

during the Monroe presidency, created a social scandal by trimming the guest list and snubbing large portions of Washington society. Complaints even were raised during a

cabinet meeting A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countries ...

. President Monroe sought the assistance of war hero

Stephen Decatur Stephen Decatur Jr. (; January 5, 1779 – March 22, 1820) was an American naval officer and commodore. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in Worcester County. His father, Stephen Decatur Sr., was a commodore in the Unite ...

and his wife Susan Decatur, popular figures in Washington society. They planned a series of lavish balls for the couple at Decatur House to appease complaints. The first one was a success, but the rest were cancelled as the next day Stephen Decatur was killed in a duel.

New York

In 1822, the couple moved to New York City, where Samuel Gouverneur held a series of political posts. They built a two and half story house at 63 Prince Street in New York City. They were popular and threw lavish parties where the champagne flowed freely. After his wife's death in 1830, James Monroe lived with his daughter and her husband in New York City until he died in 1831.

Later life and death

In 1840 the couple returned to Washington. Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur died on June 20, 1850, at the Monroe family Virginia plantation, Oak Hill.

Family

Maria and Samuel Gouverneur had four children: *a daughter (d. September 4, 1821), who died in infancy * James Monroe Gouverneur (1822–1885), who was born a deaf mute. He died at Spring Grove Asylum in

Catonsville, Maryland Catonsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 41,567 at the 2010 census. The community lies to the west of Baltimore along the city's border. Catonsville contains the majority of th ...

. * Elizabeth Kortright Gouverneur (1826-1868), who was married three times. * Samuel Laurence Gouverneur (1820-1880), who was a United States diplomat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gouverneur, Maria Hester Monroe Created via preloaddraft 1802 births 1850 deaths People from Virginia James Monroe Monroe family Children of presidents of the United States