PRESIDENT CLEVELAND WEDS FRANCES FOLSOM
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On June 2, 1886, President Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom* in the Blue Room at the White House here in the Nation's Capital.
The President was 49 years old while his bride was 21. Mrs. Cleveland became the youngest First Lady in history.
The event also marked the first time a sitting POTUS married in the Executive Mansion. John Tyler was the first president to marry while serving in office but the ceremony was not conducted at the White House.
According to presidential historian Feather Schwartz Foster, "the 'engagement' had been a total surprise to Washington society." The wedding date was not announced until the week before and less than fifty invitations were sent out.
*Frances Clara Folsom Cleveland (1864-1947) was born in Buffalo, New York & graduated from Wells College.
SOURCE
"Frances Cleveland: The Wedding Gown," by Feather Schwartz Foster, Presidential historian, www.featherfoster.wordpress.com/
