Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 53, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 March 1909 — WHITE HOUSE FAMILIES. [ARTICLE]

WHITE HOUSE FAMILIES.

William Henry Harrison Had Larfles% Consisting of Ten Children. There have been times in American history when an advocate of large families could not have cited the household of the White House as an example, for small families have been the rule in the White House, and the census taker in more than one administration would have been obliged to report, “No family.’’ Yet only two bachelors have been elected to the Presidency, and one of these, Grover Cleveland, changed his condition by marrying before completing his first term. James Buchanan in his youth was a party to a romantic love affair, and after the death of the young lady he appears never to have thought of marrying. It has been said that few Presidents had what President Roosevelt would eaU larxe lamilies. William Henry Harrison had the largest; he was Tire father of six boys and four daughters. He was the oldest man ever elected to the Presidency. Hayes and Garfield had the next largest families; in the Hayes family were born eight children, and in the Garfield family seven, a large ntimber in each case growing to maturity.

President Grant had four, children, three sons and one daughter, and one of these sons, Frederick D. Grant Jb a Major General in the army. Abraham Lincoln had four sons, Robert Todd Lincoln, who became Secretary of War under Presidents Garfield and Arthur, alone surviving to maturity. Presidept Johnson had two daughters, Martha and Mary, Martha presiding over the White House during the frequent illnesses of her invalid mother.

President Arthur was a widower, and his sister presided over the White House. He had two children living, but his first child, a son. died in infancy. President Van Buren was also a widower. He had five sons, two of whom were Abraham, whose wife presided over the White House, and John, who was known as “Prince John.’’ President Taylor had a son and two daughters, of whom one married Jefferson Davis. President Pierce had three sons, two of whom died in infancy, and the child, a boy of 13, was killed in the presence of his parents in a railroad accident two months before his father’s inauguration as President. President John Adams had a daughter and,three sons, President Monroe had two daughters, and John Quincy Adems had several children. President Jefferson had five children, two of whom died in infancy. President McKinley's two daughters died while very young. —Boston Globe.