[Ads-l] Antedating of "First Lady" (OED Sense 2)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

1861 does seem like an early date, but the Encyclopaedia Britannica
entry suggests that Long Branch was a summer coastal resort before
1861.

Website: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Topic: Long Branch, New Jersey, United States
https://www.britannica.com/place/Long-Branch-New-Jersey

[Begin excerpt]
Long Branch, city, Monmouth county, eastern New Jersey, U.S. It lies
along the Atlantic Ocean, 50 miles (80 km) south of New York City.
Settled in 1668 on land purchased from the Delaware Indians, it was
named for its location on the Long Branch of the South Shrewsbury
River. Its development as a summer coastal resort began in the 1780s.
By the 1830s gambling and horse racing brought an influx of visitors
into Long Branch. During the Gilded Age (1870s and ’80s) it was
frequented by many notables, including Lillie Langtry, Lillian
Russell, and “Diamond Jim” Brady. It became the summer capital of U.S.
Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, James A. Garfield, and Woodrow Wilson.
[End excerpt]

Wikipedia has a wood cut illustration by Winslow Homer of a social
scene at Long Beach in 1869.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Beach_at_Long_Branch_-_Winslow_Homer_-_overall.jpg

On Fri, Dec 2, 2022 at 9:25 PM Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 1861 also feels early for a visit to Long Branch, NJ, which didn't exist
> until 1867, and wasn't really a place to visit as early as 1861.
>
> On Fri, Dec 2, 2022, 9:07 AM James Landau <
> 00000c13e57d49b8-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > On  Thu, 1 Dec 2022 23:40:06 Zone + 0000  "Shapiro, Fred" <
> > fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU> posted: >>First Lady (OED, 2., 1870)
> > >>1861 _Courier-Journal_ (Louisville) 27 Aug. 4/1 (Newspapers.com)  We are
> > expecting Mrs. Lincoln here this week on her way to Long Branch. ... Our
> > first lady will not suffer in the world's eye, because she is kind and
> > courteous.
> > >>Fred Shapiro
> >
> > The Courier-Journal did not come into existence until 1868, when the
> > Louisville Morning Courer and the Louisville Morning Journal were merged.
> > As a native of Louisville, I do not recognize the place name "Long Branch".
> > Numerous sources say that President Buchanan's niece Harriet Lane was
> > "First Lady" for her bachelor uncle, who was President from 1857 to 1861/.
> > James Landau
> > jjjrlandau at netscape.com
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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