71. “John Gaffney, stand up”: Buffalo Evening Times, 15 February 1873; Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, 14 February 1873.
4. WITHOUT MY CONSENT
75. “Grover told me that night that,” Armitage, 58; Nevins, 64.
76. The Metcalfes were celebrated in Buffalo, New York Times, 1 December 1893.
77. Cleveland decorated his suite of rooms, Nevins, 66.
77. “fondness for children,” Barnum, 82.
78. “Uncle Jumbo,” Nevins, 66.
79. “I want you to know that I practice,” ibid., 70.
79. “Grant’s re-elected, and the country’s gone to hell,” Lynch, 66.
80. “very pleasing in appearance” Stephen F. Robar, Frances Clara Folsom Cleveland (New York: Nova History Publications, 2004), 2–4.
82. The Tifft House on Main Street: George M. Bailey, Illustrated Buffalo, the Queen City of the Lakes (Buffalo: Acme Publishing and Engraving Co., 1890), 226; Buffalo Express, 21 May 1903.
82. He was “persistent,” and “urging”: Halpin Affidavit.
83. “He told me that he was determined to ruin me. Ibid.
84. Julie Dow was riding a horse: The author is indebted to the work of the historian Mary R. Block and her PhD dissertation, An Accusation Easily to be Made: A History of Rape Law in Nineteenth Century America (Lexington: University of Kentucky, 2001)
84. a woman of “easy virtue,” ibid., 28–30 (People v. Brown).
85. “did not earnestly resist it,” ibid., 75.
85. “ultimately yielded,” ibid., 123–124 (State v. Hartigan).
86. “fullest extent of her abilities,” ibid., 15.
87. “he being the proper person to whom I could tell my trouble,” Halpin Affidavit.
87. “What the devil are you blubbering about?” Chicago Tribune, 30 and 31 October 1884.
87. “told me that he would do everything which was honorable,” Halpin Affidavit.
88. “Was she there at Mr. Cleveland’s expense?” Chicago Tribune, 30 July 1884.
89. “I cannot ask your love in advance,” Buffalo Democrat & Chronicle 11 April 1872 (Avery is sometimes spelled Arey.)
90. “I do not wish to palliate his offense: Boston Daily Globe, 31 October 1884. Avery is apparently quoted but goes unnamed in the article.
90. “Mr. Cleveland wanted him to have that name,” Chicago Tribune, 30 July 1884, quoting Boston Journal interview with Maria Baker.
91–95. “I don’t want to take it,” ibid., 1 October 1884, interview with Sarah Kendall. Author’s note: Some of the quotes from the 1884 interview have been put in the present tense for purposes of the narrative.
5. THE ORPHAN
96–98. It was a Friday afternoon, July 23, 1875: account of Folsom’s death from Buffalo Commercial Advertiser and Buffalo Morning Express, 24 July 1875.
98. The adolescent Frances, who was considered to be too young. Robar, 5.
100. Marriage was the “only step possible: Buffalo Evening Telegraph, 21 July, 1884.
100. “After the birth of her child she led a blameless life. Ibid.
101. Byrne was born in Ireland and came to America: New York Times, 27 May 1879; Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, 30 December 1909.
104. Received from MB Halpin: Buffalo Orphan Asylum records, courtesy Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society Archives, C821–1.
105. “Thoroughly cleaned,” Mrs. M. L. Hopkins, Charities in Western New York: A Record of Examinations, 1893, 23. Author’s note: No record exists of Oscar Folsom Cleveland’s specific experience at the orphanage. This description is based on state inspection reports from the era.
106. “Poor and shiftless,” ibid., 21.
107. Overcrowding was a serious problem: Buffalo Express, 23 May 1909.
108. “Stolen by M. B. Halpin—mother,” Buffalo Orphan Asylum records, vol. III, Admissions and Departures, 4 January 1875–20 March 1882. Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, C82–1.
109. Because of her purported alcoholism, he informed Level. Lynch, 70.
109. Level, forty-three, liked to boast: Buffalo Times, 1 March 1925; 25 February 1925.
109. “Attendant publicity,” Lynch, 70.
110. Detective Watts “surreptitiously” broke into the apartment: Buffalo Evening Telegraph: 21 July 1884.
110. evidence that Oscar was being neglected was “not lacking,” Lynch, 70.
110. “It was a hell of a time,” Buffalo Evening Telegraph, 21 July1884.
111. There she was registered as patient No. 1050: Register, Providence Lunatic Asylum, History of Patients, Sept. 23, 1861–Jan. 13, 1897, 35.
111. “A peculiar form of insanity,” George W. Field, Field’s Medico-Legal Guide for Doctors and Lawyers (Albany: Banks and Brothers, 1887), 71.
112. She utterly “loathed” the man: Chicago Tribune, 19 September 1884.
113. “Pray that I may meet some good soul,” Jean Richardson, A History of the Sisters of Charity Hospital, Buffalo, New York 1848–1900 (Lewiston, New York The Edwin Mellen Press, 2005)
113. “Guarantee against destructive tendencies,” Buffalo News, 5 May 1901.
113. “I went through all the halls and rooms and saw all of the patients,” State of New York, Eighteenth Annual Report of the State Board of Charities, 1885, 311–312.
114. He came to the asylum once a week to offer: Sisters of Charity Hospital Archives, 75 Years Providence Retreat, 1860–1935, 26.
114. “Without warrant or form of law”: Buffalo Evening Telegraph, 21 July 1884.
115. “Long enough to get straightened out,” Lynch, 71.
116. Cleveland had “plotted” her abduction and “hired the men to carry it out,” Boston Journal, 30 July 1884, interview with Milo Whitney.
117. Appearing under the name The Misses Kendall: Author interview with William H. Kendall III, 12 June 2009.
119. Grover Cleveland was a “seducer”: Chicago Inter-Ocean, 29 September 1884.
120. The Halpin family was not willing to risk a “public scandal,” Buffalo Evening Telegraph, 21 July 1884.
121. The lawsuit had been irrevocably “compromised,” Boston Journal, 30 July 1884.
122. The sun could one day “blaze up” and destroy the earth. New York Times, 2 January 1877.
122. “Taken by his guardian,” Buffalo Orphan Asylum archives, Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, C82–1.
6. PATH TO THE PRESIDENCY
125. Finally, Cleveland said, “All right, I’ll run,” Lynch, 79.
125. Sheehan had a reputation for shiftiness and political malfeasance. New York Times, 1 November 1894.
125. “I’ll be damned if I’ll run with that Irishman,” Lynch, 79; Armitage, 82. In John B. Weber’s biography, he says the actual quote was, “None of that Irishman for me.”
126. The “boy judge,” Armitage, 59.
126. “I think you’d better accept,” ibid., 86–87.
127. “Great unwashed,” Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, 26 October 1881.
128. “lordly manners,” ibid.
129. A Buffalo policeman stood outside each polling station: Buffalo Morning Express, 6 November 1881.
129. His reputation for pugnacious honesty. Nevins, 80.
129–130. “But now that you have taken upon yourself the burdens,” Barnum, 185.
132. “I cannot remember a time when interest,” Armitage, 101–102.
132. “While I was your attorney I was loyal,” ibid., 105.
132. “I have made the greatest mistake of my whole life,” Nevins, 86.
133. “Gruff as a mastiff,” Armitage, 141–142.
134. “Best available engineering skill,” Nevins, 87.
135. “Has always been devotedly attached to her,” Buffalo Morning Express, 20 July 1882.
135. “Her children arise and call her blessed,” Harold I. Gullan, Faith of Our Mothers: The Stories of Presidential Mothers From Martha Washington to Barbara Bush (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001), 137.
/> 136. “I shrink from it every time with just the same reluctance you would feel,” Moses Coit Tyler, In Memoriam Edgar Kelsey Apgar (Ithaca, New York, Ithaca Democrat Press, 1886), 133.
137. An “ugly-honest man”: Nevins, 98–99.
138. “Men come here daily from all parts of the state,” Armitage, 166–167.
138. “I am gratified with the interest you take in my candidacy,” GC to Edgar K. Apgar, 29 August 1882, Nevins, Letters, 15.
139. “A man for the hour,” Armitage, 169.
140. “I’ll do that and better,” Mahoney said. Armitage, 153; Lynch, 97.
141. No one here expresses any confidence in his nomination,” Lynch, 103.
141. “Deposits placed in his mind were as safe as those made in a bank,” William C. Hudson, Random Collections of an Old Political Reporter (New York: Cupples and Leon Co., 1911). The description of Hudson is from the introduction by St. Clair McKelway, 9.
142. “Mr. Cleveland, you will be the nominee. Ibid., 132–134.
143. “John B. Manning has been in to see me tonight,” GC to Wilson S. Bissell, 19 September 1882, Nevins, Letters, 17.
143. “He’s our kind of people,” Armitage, 154.
143. “It was almost beyond my understanding what to do,” George F. Parker, Recollections of Grover Cleveland (New York: The Century Company, 1911), 52.
144. A “chance to look me over,” ibid.
144. “His features are regular and full of intelligent expression,” New York Times, 21 September 1882.
146. “He had achieved that rare result in a political convention,” Nevins, 103.
146. Still confident of victory, Congressman Flower buttonholed. Armitage, 156.
148. Grinning like a “conqueror,” New York Times, 24 September 1882.
148. “My friends . . . I cannot but remember,” Ibid, 22 September 1882. Some reports say the speech took place in front of Democratic Party headquarters. Dranger’s saloon is sometimes spelled Drainger’s.
7. THE GODDESS
150. Indisputable glamour: Isabel F. Harmon, Glamour Girl, paper presented 14 December 1949 before the Buffalo chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, courtesy, Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society.
152. “Advanced standing,” Robar, 6.
152. Her roommate, Ms. Katherine “Pussy” Willard: Frances Elizabeth Willard and Mary A. Livermore, eds., A Woman of the Century (Buffalo: Charles Wells Moulton, 1893), 781.
154. “Do you know that if Mother were alive,” GC to William Cleveland, 7 November 1882, Nevins, Letters, 17–18.
155. Cleveland said he was “unable to understand it,” Parker, 244–245.
157. “I propose the health of Governor Grover Cleveland,” New York Times, 6 December 1882.
158. “We come to you as the king,” Nevins, 92.
159. Governor Cleveland’s inaugural address impressed everyone: New York Times, 2 January 1883.
160. “The governor might just as well place his desk on the grass,” Hudson, 138.
161. “Blunder of great dimensions,” Hudson, 141–142.
165. “When I marry it must be someone more than a year older than I am,” Robar, 12.
167. “Specifically for the White House,” Ibid, 13.
8. STIRRINGS OF A SCANDAL
169. “My boy, don’t you see it is impossible?” Nevins, 146.
169. “Cleveland is not yet a candidate.” Hudson, 151.
170. “What makes me puff so?” New York Times, 5 August 1886.
170. “I ought not to assume a task which I have not the physical: John Bigelow, The Life of Samuel J. Tilden (New York: Harper & Bros., 1895), 280–282.
172. “I wish I might not hear my name mentioned.” GC to Mary Cleveland Hoyt, 23 March 1884, Nevins, Letters, 32.
172. “Good heavens, Governor, how can you potter,” Hudson, 152–154.
173. Dr. George W. Lewis could still remember the day: Buffalo Evening News, 5 February 1890. The anecdote is based on Lewis’s testimony at the trial of Ball vs. New York Evening Post Corporation. Lewis claimed on the stand that he could not recall whether Cleveland’s name was brought up when Maria Halpin came to see him, but it seems unlikely that Halpin would have told Lewis her story without referencing Cleveland.
173. Ball was sixty-five years old. Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, 22 February 1907; Buffalo Express, 10 March 1904.
175. Ball went to see William Flint and Henry Kent: Buffalo Evening Telegraph, 21 July 1884.
176. Had a notorious reputation, second only to Canal Street: Buffalo Courier, 7 March 1926; Buffalo Times, 26 May 1929; Buffalo Express, 29 July 1902.
177. “Grossest licentiousness,” Boston Journal, 6 September 1884.
178. “I’m enlisted for the war, Mr. Manning,” Hudson, 162–163.
179. He found the city in the grip of anti-Cleveland. Ibid., 180.
180. “You can print this as coming from me,” New York Times, 8 July 1884.
181. Every now and then a rebel yell could. Nevins, 151.
182. “For revenue only,” a “national disgrace,” a “tumor,” New York Times, 8 July 1884; 9 July 1884.
183. “Not a particle of ambition to be president,” GC to Daniel Manning, 30 June 1884, Nevins, Letters, 149.
184. “Ideal size for a cavalryman,” Lynch, 198.
185. “Holler for Hendricks.” Ibid., 203.
185. Kelly and Butler were up until four in the morning. Nevins, 153–154.
186. “How long shall we holler?” New York Times, 12 July 1884.
187. “Making the great blunder of his life.” Ibid., 13 July 1884.
188. “Congratulate you and the cause of good government.” Ibid.
188. “Mr. Hendricks is a man whom very few understand”: ibid, 12 July 1884.
189. “Shorn of their plumes,” ibid., 14 July 1884.
190. “I am directed by Mr. Blaine to thank you.” Boston Daily Globe, 28 September 1884.
9. “A TERRIBLE TALE”
191. “Is there someone you wish to see?” Frank H. Severance, ed., The Periodical Press of Buffalo vol. 19, (Buffalo: The Buffalo Historical Society, 1915), 335.
192. “He looked me up and down,” ibid., 340.
193. “I wonder what I will write about tonight?” Ibid., 173, quoting Joseph O’Connor, editorial writer of the Buffalo Courier.
194. “We have no politics . . . We are not Republican, nor Democrat,” Vance H. Trimble, The Astonishing Mr. Scripps: The Turbulent Life of America’s Penny Press Lord (Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1992), 75.
194. “Everything was done to make the paper a success,” Buffalo Morning Express, 18 August 1885.
196. It was one of the finest estates in Augusta: Norman L. Bassett, Sprague’s Journal of Maine History, vol. 8 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1909), 342. Author’s note: Blaine’s mansion is now the official residence of the governor of Maine.
196. Zemro Smith sat down with Blaine: New York World, 19 May 1885.
197. “Secret consultation,” ibid.
197–204. “Responsibility for the disclosures,” Boston Journal, 30 July 1884.
205. The cause of his derangement: New York Times, 15 July 1884.
206. Theodore Roosevelt expressed the sentiment. Ibid., 21 July 1884.
206. “Absolute integrity has never been questioned,” ibid., 16 July 1884; 22 July 1884.
206. “Great bombshell,” Nevins, 162.
207–210. Titled “A Citizen’s Statement,” Buffalo Evening Telegraph, 21 July 1884.
10. DEFAMED
211. Went around to all the major newsstands trying to buy. Utica Herald, undated.
211. “Whatever you do, tell the truth,” GC telegram to Charles Goodyear, 23 July 1884, Nevins, Letters, 37.
211. “Filled with anguish,” Nevins, 168.
212. “The issue of the present campaign is moral, not political,” New York Times, 23 July 1884.
213. “Great revulsion,” Buffalo Evening Teleg
raph, 23 July 1884.
214. “The conclusion I draw from these facts is that.” M. A. DeWolkfe Howe, Portrait of an Independent (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1932), 150–152.
215. “I learned last night that McCune had started,” GC to Daniel Lockwood, 31 July 1884, Nevins, Letters, 38.
216. “They would bring the blush to the cheek of,” Rochester Herald, 23 July 1884; New York World, 24 July 1884; New York Morning Journal, 24 July 1884.
217. “The Telegraph is little, but it is mighty and will prevail,” Buffalo Evening Telegraph, 23 July 1884.
217. “All honor to the bravest paper in Buffalo!” Buffalo Evening Telegraph , 27 and 28 July 1884.
219. “Owing to late developments from Albany,” New York Times, 7 August, 1884.
219. Beecher had been sued for adultery,” Debby Applegate, The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher (New York: Three Leaves Press, 2006), 462.
221. “I told him,” King later said. New York World, 8 August 1884. The headline accompanying Horatio King’s interview was, “Cleveland’s Vindication.”
221. He had erected the mansion in 1879: New York Times, 17 March 1889; 8 December 1889.
221. Wallpaper so “exquisite,” Applegate, 457.
223. “My husband has been quite ill for several days,” New York Tribune, 7 August 1884.
224. The facts seem to be that many years ago when. New York World, 8 August 1884.
11. FINDING MARIA
227. “Interview Mrs. Maria Halpin who is said to have had child,” Buffalo Evening Telegraph, 14 August 1884.
228. Roosevelt read the telegram: Buffalo Evening Telegraph, 14 August 1884.
228. Secor, Seacor, Secord, and finally to Seacord. Morgan H. Seacord, Biographical Sketches and Index of the Huguenot Settlers of New Rochelle, 1687–1776 (New Rochelle, New York, The Huguenot and Historical Association of New Rochelle, 1941), 47.
229. She had been living a “quiet, decorous, unobtrusive” life: Boston Globe, 6 August 1884.
229. Mrs. Halpin was to remain in “strict seclusion,” New York Morning Journal, 14 August 1884.
A Secret Life: The Lies and Scandals of President Grover Cleveland Page 39
