Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom were married on June 2, 1886, and made history.
Cleveland is the only president in history to have been married inside the White House. Their wedding took place in the Blue Room, according to the White House Historical Association. Their marriage made Folsom the youngest First Lady in history, as she was only 21 at the time of her marriage.
Folsom was the daughter of Cleveland’s longtime friend and law partner, Oscar Folsom, who Cleveland had known Folsom since birth and was nearly 30 years older than Folsom.
Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom were married in a small ceremony at the White House on June 2, 1886. (Getty Images)
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After Folsom’s father died, Cleveland became the family’s conservator of the estate and guided the young Folsom with educational advice, according to the White House website.
Cleveland was the first Democrat elected president after the Civil War. He was unmarried when he took office for his first term in 1885. According to History.com, Cleveland wrote to Folsom, with his mother’s permission, while Folsom was attending Wells College in New York.
Sources say he proposed to Folsom in a letter, and the couple kept their engagement a secret until shortly before their wedding.
Cleveland and Folsom were married at the White House on June 2, 1886. According to History.com, their wedding was a small one, with only 28 people in attendance. Sources say that the president’s brother, the Rev. William Neil Cleveland, officiated the wedding along with the Rev. Brian Sutherland.
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Music was provided by the United States Marine Corps Band conducted by John Philip Sousa.
Frances Folsom was the youngest First Lady in history: She was just 21 when she married Grover Cleveland and took office as president. (Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
Before Cleveland married Folsom, his sister, Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, served as First Lady.
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As first lady, Folsom hosted two receptions each week, including one on a Saturday to accommodate working women, according to the White House website.
Cleveland ran for two consecutive terms as president, losing to Benjamin Harrison, but ran again the next time around, was reelected, and returned to the White House with his wife. To date, Cleveland is the only president to be reelected after leaving the White House.
During her time as First Lady, Frances Folsom hosted Saturday receptions open to working women. (Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)
Cleveland and Folsom had five children. Their first child, Ruth, was born in 1891 after Cleveland lost the election. She died of diphtheria at age 12. Their second child, Esther, was born in 1893, the year Cleveland returned to the White House. Their third child, Marion, was born in 1895. Their fourth child, Richard, was born in 1897, and their youngest child, Frances, was born in 1903.
Cleveland died on June 24, 1908, at age 71. Five years after his death, Folsom married Thomas J. Preston, Jr., a professor of archaeology.
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Folsom died on October 29, 1947, and was buried next to Cleveland in Princeton, New Jersey.
