A Secret Life_ The Lies and Scandals of President Grover Cleveland - Charles Lachman [98]
Maria Halpin’s son, Frederick Halpin, circa 1867. The back of the photo read, “Sick & expected to die.” Frederick survived, and lived to come to the defense of his mother’s honor.
Obituary of Dr. James E. King Jr., from 1947. The son of Grover Cleveland and Maria Halpin, revealed for the first time in this book.
Rose Cleveland’s “Viking”—Evangeline Marrs Simpson Whipple.
Rose Elizabeth Cleveland served as her brother’s First Lady from March 4, 1885-June 2, 1886.
The boys of the Buffalo Orphan Asylum, where Grover Cleveland’s illegitimate son, Oscar, was taken. The orphans are seen here harvesting potatoes for the orphanage.
Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, in a studio portrait taken in Rome, Italy.
The Cleveland Family. Marion (far left); Francis (Cleveland was sixty-six when he was born); Esther; and Richard. Said Cleveland of his days in retirement, “I herd the children.”
The Cleveland siblings. Grover is at far left. Rose is second row, far left. Cecil and Fred, seated in front row, were lost at sea in 1872.
The Goddess—Frances Folsom Cleveland, America’s youngest First Lady.
The famous “I want my Pa!” cartoon from the Sept. 27, 1884 cover of “Judge” magazine. The edgy caption read, “Another voice for Cleveland.”
The Lion in Winter. Last known photo of Grover Cleveland, taken March 5, 1908. He died fifteen weeks later.
The Halpin affividait—”I did not believe it possible that even Grover Cleveland could attempt to further blacken me in the eyes of the world...”
The Wells College Class of 1885. Frances Folsom is seen on second row.
The Providence Lunatic Asylum, later renamed the Providence Retreat, where Maria Halpin was taken by force.
The story that started it all—the July 21, 1884 edition of the Buffalo Evening Telegraph, with the famous headline, “A Terrible Tale.”
The widow Emma Folsom and her daughter Frances. President Cleveland was offended when newspapers reported he was marrying Emma. “I don’t see why the papers keep marrying me to old ladies.”
Other publications, chiefly the partisan Republican type, were disposed to give Maria the benefit of the doubt. Still fuming that his newspaper had been robbed of its huge scoop, the editor of Charles Banks’s New Rochelle Pioneer was now claiming that Maria had been “betrayed into the hands of her enemies.”
When the editor was asked, “Where do you believe the woman now is?” he responded, “I do not know, but if you inquire from Mr. William Hudson, I think he can tell you.”
Under pressure to account for Maria’s whereabouts, Hudson wrote an open letter from his office in Albany, stating that he knew nothing about the “alleged disappearance or so-called abduction” and had no more insight into what happened to the Halpin woman than any other citizen who followed the news. His denial was met with disbelief. The Pioneer posed the question, “How can Mr. Hudson . . . explain his business in New Rochelle on this very night and almost the very minute that she is known to have been taken away?”
The stress of the previous week had gotten to James Seacord. In tears, he said that he missed his dead wife. “I have had trouble enough already, without more being added.” It was all too much for an old man to take.
“Has Mrs. Halpin seen the story of her wrongs as published in the papers?” he was asked.
“She had,” Seacord said.
“What does she say of it?”
“That it’s every word true.”
Around New Rochelle, Seacord was reputed to be a solid citizen—poor but honest. He was utterly opposed to Maria Halpin going public about her relationship with Grover Cleveland. All he wanted was privacy. One New Rochelle resident said Maria “idolized her uncle,” predicting that if she ever emerged from hiding, she would “bow to his judgment” and remain mute.
As the days passed and nothing was heard from Maria, her family in Brooklyn started thinking the worst. Her two unmarried sisters went to New Rochelle