Elizabeth Kortright Monroe (June 30, 1768 – September 23, 1830) was First Lady of the United States from 1817 to 1825, as the wife of James Monroe (1758), fifth President, who held the office for two terms. Due to the fragile condition of Elizabeth's health during his presidency, many duties of official hostess were assumed by her eldest daughter, Eliza Monroe Hay.
Biography
Eliza Kortright Monroe was born circa 30 June 1768 in New York to Lawrence Kortright (1728-1794) and Hanna Aspinwall (1729-1755) and died 23 September 1830 Oak Hill, Loudoun County, Virginia of unspecified causes. She married James Monroe (1758-1831) 16 February 1786 in New York City, New York, United States.
Birth / Early Years
Born in New York in 1768, Elizabeth was the daughter of Lawrence Kortright and Hannah Aspinwall, 6th generation of Dutch Flanders origins. Lawrence Kortright the eldest son of Cornelius Kortright, also a merchant. During the French Indian wars, he became wealthy and prominent. He was part owner of several privateers fitted out at New York against the enemies of the British Crown . He was one of the founders of the Chamber of Commerce in 1768. He had a large interest in Tryon County lands, and on his purchase the township of Kortright was settled. He had identified himself with the Episcopal Church, and during the Revolution remained quiet at his residence, but his sympathies were with his country. His residence was 192 Queen Street about the time mentioned. In 1778, partly on his security, Judge Fell, then a prisoner in the Provost, obtained his release. He died in 1794, but before his death he conveyed his farm at Harlem with some woodland, to his only son, John, Elizabeth's older brother.
Final Years
After Monroe's terms as President expired, he and Elizabeth faced considerable debts from their years of public service, both from non-reimbursed entertaining expenses and because Monroe was forced to manage their various properties remotely. Monroe sold his plantation, Highland in Albemarle County to pay debts, and both retired to Oak Hill in Loudoun County, nearer Washington, D.C. and their daughter Eliza and her husband (although the Hays moved to Richmond in 1825 when he became the U.S. District Judge for Virginia). Although retiring, Elizabeth managed to travel to New York to visit her younger daughter, as well as other friends and relations, but made no further social visits. Sickly and suffering several long illnesses (including severe burns from a collapse near a fireplace a year after leaving the White House), Elizabeth died at Oak Hill on September 23, 1830 aged 62.
Marriage & Family
She first caught Monroe's attention in 1785 while he was in New York serving as a member of the Continental Congress. James, age twenty-seven, married Elizabeth, age seventeen, on February 16, 1786, in New York City. After a brief honeymoon on Long Island, the newlyweds returned to New York to live with her father until Congress adjourned. Their first child, Eliza, was born in December 1786 in Virginia. James and Elizabeth had three children:
- Eliza Kortright Monroe Hay (1787–1835): Eliza appeared to many a haughty, pompous socialite, quick to remind others of her good breeding and lofty station. In 1808 she married George Hay, a prominent Virginia attorney who had served as prosecutor in the trial of Aaron Burr and later U.S. District Judge. Eliza alienated most of Washington society for her refusal to call on wives of the diplomatic corps, as was the custom, and caused another social furor in closing her sister's wedding to all but family and friends. For all her apparent vanity, however, she demonstrated genuine compassion during the fever epidemic that swept Washington during her father's Presidency. She spent many sleepless nights selflessly caring for victims. Following the deaths of her husband and father in 1830 and 1831, Eliza moved to Paris, converted to Catholicism and lived in a convent. Her daughter, Hortense, was named in honor of her childhood friend, Hortense de Beauharnais, step-daughter of Napoleon.
- James Spence Monroe (1799–1801): The only son of the Monroes was sickly and died in early childhood. His name is merely educated speculation, as his gravestone reads "J.S. Monroe".
- Maria Hester Monroe-Gouverneur (1803–1850) was still a child when her father was elected president. Maria finished school in Philadelphia before moving into the White House in 1819. On March 9, 1820, she married her first cousin, Samuel L. Gouverneur, in the first wedding of a president's child at the White House. Many in Washington criticized the Monroes for keeping the wedding private; just 42 members of the family and close friends were invited. Friction between Maria's husband and her outspoken sister strained family relations thereafter. The Gouverneurs moved to New York City. Former President Monroe, upon losing his wife in 1830, moved in with them. President John Quincy Adams appointed her husband postmaster of New York City.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Eliza Monroe (1786-1835) | |||
| James Spence Monroe (1799-1801) | |||
| Maria Hester Monroe (1803-1850) | |||
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Hester Kortright (1770-1842) | |||
| John Kortright (1755-1810) | |||
| Sarah Kortright (1757-1795) | |||
| Mary H Kortright (1761-) | |||
| Elizabeth Kortright (c1760-1830) | 30 June 1768 New York | 23 September 1830 Oak Hill, Loudoun County, Virginia | James Monroe (1758-1831) |
References
- Elizabeth Monroe - Wikipedia
- Elizabeth Monroe - White House History of First Ladies
- James Monroe Immigrant Ancestors - Early Colonial Ancestors of Mr & Mrs James Monroe