With James Buchanan being the only bachelor president, one would think his time in the White House would be devoid of entertaining. However, President Buchanan had a lovely, gregarious, and intelligent niece that served as his White House hostess, Harriet Lane. She ensured that even the dire politics of the day didn’t interfere with the important business of political entertainment.
Each month, I’ll detail the life of the first lady and their legacy. Then I’ll share what I learned while studying them, along with ways you can travel in their footsteps through historical sites and museums. I’ll also share books, podcasts, TV shows, and websites where you can learn even more about that first lady. Read all of the way through the blog post or click on the links below to go straight to those sections.
Life
Childhood
Harriet Rebecca Lane was born in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania on May 9, 1830. Her father was a wealthy merchant from Virginia and her mother was the favorite younger sister of a well-to-do lawyer and congressman, James Buchanan. The house where Harriet grew up with her many siblings was a large home that even had a ballroom! Harriet attended school in town and was described as a merry, mischievous girl who loved playing pranks and riding horses.
Her young life was marked by tragedy, which would follow her the rest of her life. Several of her brothers died before she was nine years old when her mother also passed away. Just two short years later, her father died, leaving Harriet, her older sister, Mary, and two older brothers as orphans. The boys were old enough to be on their own, and Mary was sent to a boarding school in Charlestown, West Virginia (then Virginia) where her father’s family was located. Harriet was sent to her Uncle Buchanan’s home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where he was also raising an orphaned nephew.
Harriet loved her indulgent uncle, calling him “Nunc,” and enjoyed listening in to political discussions he had with guests at his Lancaster townhome. As a US Senator, he was often away on business and let Harriet have the run of the house with only his housekeeper as her sitter. She attended school in Lancaster but didn’t enjoy the strict rules and often got in trouble for her pranks. Buchanan called her a “mischievous romp of a niece” and nicknamed her “Hal.”
When she was old enough, Buchanan sent Harriet to the boarding school with her sister where she thrived under the education provided. She fell in love with history and mythology and was known as a caring, kind young girl. She also enjoyed traveling to see Uncle Buchanan in Washington City and Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania where he liked to relax at the hot springs.
After a few years, Buchanan wanted to bring the girls closer, so he enrolled them in the Georgetown Visitation Convent School in Washington. As a Presbyterian, Harriet wasn’t sure about the theology taught but enjoyed the academic rigor if not the strict rules. She led the girls in many pranks that were harmless but kept her in trouble with the headmistress. Her sister left after one year to get married and move to California, which must have been hard on Harriet. She threw herself into her studies and graduated with honors in 1849.
While at the convent, Harriet was able to attend Washington soirees with her uncle and enjoyed getting to know former first lady, Dolley Madison, and current first lady, Sarah Polk. She admired both greatly and was even in a famous photo with them, the oldest known photo taken at the White House.
When James Buchanan retired from politics in 1850 after having served as Secretary of State for President Polk, Harriet went with him to his newly purchased estate in Lancaster called Wheatland. She helped furnish and style the grand home and enjoyed participating in political conversations with guests. She became an advocate for the antislavery cause living in the Underground Railroad hotbed in Lancaster and also was a proponent of the women’s suffrage movement started by the 1848 Seneca Falls convention. She helped her uncle with meeting political friends such as John Tyler’s son and the Van Burens, curating friendships that kept Buchanan in political discussions. She had many friends and suitors as an attractive and vivacious young woman, including one of President Van Buren’s sons.
Time Abroad
When James Buchanan was made minister to Britain, Harriet joined him in the spring of 1854 and soon became the belle of London. Even Queen Victoria succumbed to her charms, spending much time with Harriet and granting her the status of a diplomat’s wife and the title of an Honorary Ambassadress. She attended social functions at Buckingham Palace including a ball where she wore a tiara and white lace dress with a hundred yard train. She was pursued by many suitors in England and received two marriage proposals, one from an English lord over forty years her senior!
She also traveled the European continent and met Emperor Napoleon II and Empress Eugenie in Paris where Harriet was known as the “Girl Queen.” She impressed the hard-to-please Europeans and acquired a taste for formal court life.
When she returned to America in 1855, she was bereaved by the sudden death of her sister in California. She went into a deep mourning at Wheatland that was only remedied by being in nature. By the next fall, she was actively involved in political discussions just in time for her uncle to be elected president. Harriet prepared to take on her greatest role yet – White House hostess at the young age of twenty-six.
Serving as White House Hostess
Harriet and her older brother, Elliott, accompanied President-elect Buchanan to Washington where both men became ill with dysentery at the National Hotel along with dozens of others. President-elect Buchanan recovered in time for his inauguration where Harriet rode with him in the carriage to the Capitol and attended the Inaugural Ball in a white satin dress with lavender tulle and silk flowers in her hair that cascaded to the scandalously low bodice. Harriet was a trendsetter with many women ordering their dressmakers to lower their bodices by two inches as well!
Even on the precipice of triumph, Harriet was brought low by grief as her brother died from dysentery just a few weeks into Buchanan’s presidency. After she recovered from this blow, she made the tension-filled years of the Buchanan administration a beacon of entertaining highlights through her gracious hostessing skills. With the last four First Ladies being either austere, shy, or depressed, her youth and vitality was a breath of fresh air for the Washington social scene.
Harriet first fired all of the White House staff (which was mostly hired out enslaved workers whose owners were the benefactors of their service) and hired Irish and German workers to take their place. She also spruced up the shabby state rooms in the President’s mansion and had a greenhouse built where she tended flowers that decorated the home.
With the advent of photography, she was the first White House hostess that many Americans had seen, and she posed for pictures that would be sold as collectors items to the public. She was pretty with masses of golden hair and an enviable figure enhanced by the fashions of the day. Her wealthy uncle indulged her purchases for both herself and the White House and no expense was spared on the entertainment held there. The White House parties had the highest degree of elegance from her time spent in royal courts in Europe. She invited popular American artists to entertain, erecting large tents on the lawn for their concerts and serving cake and ice cream to guests. One of the entertainers was a young African-American artist who became the first person of color to entertain at the White House.
Harriet befriended all guests no matter their politics, which was especially difficult as sectional differences over slavery caused a deepening rift even among friends. Her poise and intelligence enabled her to head off disputes by strategic placement of attendees. Her soirees were described in breathless detail by her best friend, Lilly, who wrote many letters to her relatives about the events.
Harriet herself was so popular and respected that the US Navy named a steamship after her – the USS Harriet Lane – which fired the first naval shot in the Civil War (a cutter named after her is still in use today!). She also had a song written about her, “Listen to the Mockingbird,” and she was lovingly called the “Democratic Queen” and “Golden Beauty.” She was the first woman to be referred to as First Lady in print (although Dolley Madison can claim to be the first woman to be called First Lady by President Taylor at her funeral).
Two social events held during her time at the White House showcased her many talents. A Japanese delegation paid its first official state visit, and Harriet charmed them. The Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria’s eldest son and heir to the British throne, also visited, becoming the first British heir to visit America. He was enraptured by Harriet who took him on a tour of Washington and Mount Vernon where he laid a wreath at George Washington’s tomb. She also took him to her old convent school where she promptly outbowled him at ten pins! He never forgot her and invited her to his coronation decades later in 1902, which she attended. She was unforgettable!
Harriet didn’t focus exclusively on social occasions. She had a heart for philanthropic endeavors and promoted hospital reform, prison reform, and the plight of American Indians. The Chippewa Indians even called her the “great mother of the Indians” for her work.
As the nation lurched toward war, President Buchanan was eager to get back to Wheatland. He told President-elect Abraham Lincoln that, “If you are as happy in entering this house as I am returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man.” Harriet hosted her last White House event on February 12, 1861 and met with the incoming first lady, Mary Todd Lincoln, on March 1. As she and former President Buchanan left Washington, she was remembered as a triumph but he left in disgrace, having lost seven states to secession. The start of the Civil War was just over a month away.
Marriage and Motherhood
During the Civil War, Harriet stayed at Wheatland but was able to send letters to a friend in Alabama through a flag of truce boat. Her uncle was in a state of depression as he was blamed for the onset of war, and Harriet spent her time assisting him while taking care of the estate.
She became reacquainted with a Baltimore banker whom she had met during a previous visit to Bedford Springs, and at the age of thirty-five, she chose to marry Henry Eilliot Johnston in the parlor at Wheatland. Her uncle was pleased even though it meant that Harriet would leave him for Johnston’s Park Avenue home in Baltimore. After a honeymoon in Cuba, Harriet and Henry settled down to marital bliss, welcoming two boys, James Buchanan Johnston in late 1866 and Henry Elliott Johnston, Jr. in 1870. Their arrival must have eased her grief as Uncle Buchanan died in 1868, leaving Harriet the title to Wheatland which they maintained as a summer home.
Harriet enjoyed fifteen years as a wife and mother before tragedy struck. Her eldest son died of rheumatic fever at the age of fourteen. Her younger son also suffered from the illness, and the frantic parents took him to Europe in hopes of recovery. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, and he died in Paris at the age of twelve. The bereft parents channeled their grief into doing good, establishing the Harriet Lane Home for Invalid Children in Baltimore. It eventually became the pediatric training center for Johns Hopkins University in 1912, making it the first pediatric institution in America. Its Harriet Lane Handbook is published annually with its outpatient clinic serving thousands of children to this day.
Harriet endured yet another heartbreak just over a year after the death of her last child as her husband died from pneumonia, leaving her a widow at 54 years old.
Philanthropic Work
Harriet sold Wheatland and her Baltimore home, moving back to Washington, DC and reigning as the former First Lady, much like Dolley Madison did after James Madison’s death. Beginning with the Cleveland administration (the first Democrat in the White House since her uncle), Harriet was invited to White House parties and was still considered fashionable and a sought after guest. The Washington Post described her in 1894 by saying “there is no more elegant figure in the official and social gatherings,” and its social pages are full of mentions of Harriet.
She used her vast wealth to collect art through these years, with her collection eventually becoming the basis for the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She was called the “First Lady of the National Collection of Fine Arts.” She helped establish a school attached to the Washington National Cathedral which still exists, the venerable St. Albans School. She also pushed Congress to build a James Buchanan Memorial in Washington which was controversial due to his unpopularity. Of course, Harriet prevailed with an eventual monument built in Meridian Hill Park.
She traveled to England for King Edward VII’s coronation in 1902 but was diagnosed with cancer later that year. In the spring of 1903, she traveled to her Narragansett, Rhode Island home and died there on July 3 at the age of 73. She was buried at Green Mount cemetery in Baltimore with husband and sons, reunited after almost thirty years apart.
Legacy
Harriet Lane left a glittering legacy full of vivacity and happiness; however like many of her predecessors, her life was full of death and gloom. The difference with Harriet is that she rose above the overwhelming grief to live life to the fullest. In a time where women had little to no rights, Harriet proved that a young woman could be opinionated while also feminine.
Her legendary hostessing skills must have been a tough act for Mary Lincoln to follow. As the nation was falling apart under the inept political machinations of her uncle, Harriet was the glue that held the Washington social scene together. Thanks to her grace and dignity, the horrible outbursts of violence, including on the Senate floor, were not a part of the White House events.
Harriet is one of the rare First Ladies whose legacy after the White House eclipses even her brilliant turn there. Her charitable work on behalf of sick children and the arts world is still felt today in the thousands of doctors trained in her namesake clinic and museums created by her collections. Only Betty Ford rivals Harriet in such a lasting philanthropic legacy. If she had been a wife of a president instead of a niece and if Buchanan’s presidency wasn’t considered the worst in history, I believe she would be remembered as one of the greatest!
My Time with Harriet
In this abbreviated month’s study, I became utterly fascinated with Harriet. How did this young woman who experienced so much loss in life stay positive and affect so much change? She is truly an inspiration, and one that I’d like to learn even more about!
The Civil War time period has always been my favorite to study, especially what the women were doing while the men were arguing and eventually fighting in battles. Some of the most outspoken opponents to slavery were women, and I’d love to dig into how Harriet responded during the war. I am especially intrigued by how she must have felt when the Confederates invaded Pennsylvania during the Gettysburg campaign. Maybe I’ll have to take a trip back to Wheatland to find out!
I felt that Harriet was a breath of fresh air after studying several solemn First Ladies in a row. I loved reading about her parties and fashions along with her vivacious personality. I love when women, especially those from history, show how women can contain a multitude of passions from the serious to the frivolous. What Harriet did during this difficult time should be remembered and celebrated. I think the only reason she isn’t is that she wasn’t the wife of the president and because most people dislike Buchanan’s politics so much.
Harriet Lane is definitely someone I’d like to continue researching!
Travels with Harriet
Harriet spent most of her early life in Pennsylvania before becoming a world traveler.
Pennsylvania
Lane House (now The Inn at Historic Lane House), Mercersburg
You can stay in Harriet’s childhood home where she was born and lived with her parents and siblings before their deaths. You can also visit the Presbyterian Church around the corner where her family worshiped, and stop into the Fendrick Library which has many of her family’s records.
There are many Buchanan sites to see in town as well, including his birthplace outside the town (the memorial here was funded by Harriet’s will), the birthplace cabin now located at Mercersburg Academy, his childhood home that is now a hotel, and a statue.
Wheatland, Lancaster
This is the place to visit to learn more about Harriet and President Buchanan. I loved my visit during the summer of 2021, so be sure to check out my review. As President Buchanan said about Wheatland, “the whole arrangement reflects the highest credit upon the young lady.” Most of the furnishings were chosen by Harriet and the house has many artifacts from her life including a doll made to look like her and her beloved piano which still has her music book displayed.
Check out several sites in the downtown area that relate to the active Underground Railroad during Harriet’s time living here. It’s really cool to see as part of the Marriott and Thaddeus Stevens’ home site.
Bedford Springs (now the Omni Bedford Springs Resort)
This resort in the Pennsylvania mountains is where Harriet and President Buchanan visited for relaxation and rejuvenation. She also first met her husband here.
Maryland
Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore
The final resting place for Harriet and her family.
Washington, DC
While Harriet’s home sites are now modern office buildings, you can still see her legacy in today’s capital.
James Buchanan Memorial at Meridian Hill Park
Harriet’s will left funds to ensure her uncle wouldn’t be forgotten. Ironically it is located on the grounds of the former home of President John Quincy Adams.
Georgetown Visitation Convent School
Still an active school, you can see where Harriet received an advanced education (and committed many pranks!).
Visit where President Buchanan accompanied by Harriet would retreat during the sweltering DC summer months. The cottage here was also greatly used by President Lincoln.
Visit the school that Harriet funded near the Washington National Cathedral.
Smithsonian National Museum of American History
While there is currently nothing displayed from Harriet’s time in the White House, you can see a stunning blue dress and her wedding dress on its website.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Harriet’s art collection started this museum, and you can still see some of her pieces on display.
West Virginia
Greenbrier Presidents’ Cottage, White Sulphur Springs
Like the presidents before him, President Buchanan (and I assume Harriet) visited the presidents’ cottage as part of the Greenbrier Resort, which you can visit today!
To Learn More
Books to Read:
For such a trailblazing and important woman, not many books have been written about Harriet. Links are Amazon affiliate links. Be sure to see my Bookshop.org list for all of the books related to my Booking It Through History: First Ladies project.
Nonfiction:
Harriet Lane, America’s First Lady by Milton Stern
This nonfiction history book tells Harriet’s story in a compelling and adoring way. Stern is truly fascinated with his subject! He even includes the full text of Harriet’s will. This is the best way to learn more about her.
Fiction:
Harriet Lane: The Original “First Lady” of Washington by Bob O’Connor
This author is also enamored with Harriet, creating a historical fiction biography that delves into her mischievous nature. Not really fiction other than the conjecture on what was said, it keeps close to the actual history of her life until she left the White House.
TV Show
C-SPAN First Ladies: Influence and Image
Websites
White House Historical Association
- Ornament: The 1998 American Bald Eagle and Shield ornament represents the romantic garlands and wreaths that Harriet used to decorate the WH. It has an eagle and shield insignia that appeared on the White House glasses at the time.
Harriet Lane was a dazzling White House hostess but is not as well remembered since she wasn’t a wife of a president and since her uncle’s presidency is considered politically the worst in our nation’s history. However the philanthropic legacy she left is one that should be celebrated!
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