#the edit isn't great and that's partially b/c these are by far the least-interesting ladies in this series so far

[peremadeleine]

T H E  F I R S T  L A D I E S #5 // Elizabeth Monroe & Eliza Monroe Hay

One of six children, Elizabeth Jane Kortright was born into a wealthy New York merchant family in 1768. She was educated by her mother and paternal grandmother and was probably given lessons in French, dancing, music, and literature, subjects considered appropriate for a young lady of her class. Elizabeth was from an early age seen as elegant and gracious. Her mother died when she was just nine years old, and the family’s home partially burned down during the American Revolution the following year. After the war ended, Elizabeth caught the eye of a young Continental Army officer from Virginia named James Monroe. The two were married in February 1786; Elizabeth was just seventeen.

The Monroes’ first child, a daughter named after her mother but called “Eliza,” was born that December. The little family lived in Philadelphia and Virginia before moving to Paris in 1794 when Monroe was appointed Minister to France. Regarded as beautiful, fashionable, and well-mannered, Elizabeth was popular in France, where both she and her young daughter flourished. She famously intervened on behalf of Adrienne de Noailles, the wife of her husband’s friend and American hero Lafayette, who was imprisoned during the infamous Reign of Terror. Eliza meanwhile attended the school established by Henriette Campan, where she befriended Hortense de Beauharnais, Napoleon Bonaparte’s stepdaughter and the future queen of Holland. The Monroes returned to Virginia in 1796. Elizabeth then had two more children: a short-lived son and a second daughter, Maria.

Around this time Elizabeth also began suffering from seizures and other health problems which severely limited her social activities. In 1808, Eliza Monroe married prominent Virginia lawyer George Hay. When her father was elected president in 1817, she, her husband, and their daughter moved to Washington. Eliza began stepping into the role usually performed by the president’s wife due to her mother’s ill health. Unlike her mother, however, she was thought to be haughty and even rude by much of Washington society. She refused to call on the wives of foreign diplomats, and the presidential social circle grew much more exclusive than before under her influence. Her self-important behavior, influenced by her time in Paris living with daughters of the French aristocracy, was at odds with the warmer and less formal conventions in place during previous administrations.

The extent of Elizabeth Monroe’s political influence–unlike that of Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison–is unknown: her husband burned their correspondence after her death. Her health continued to decline following the end of Monroe’s presidency, and she died in 1830 at the age of 62. James Monroe died less than a year later. After his death, the now-widowed Eliza left the United States. She returned to her beloved France and retired to a convent, where she lived until her death in 1840, aged 53.