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

[Shapiro, Fred]

I think some people responding to my posting have been implying that the 1861 citation must be misdated, and that is clearly not correct.  But I think Jon Lighter is correct that the term "first lady" was not fully lexicalized in 1861.  In the Louisville citation, the term may very well have had the meaning of "woman who is recognized as the leading female figure in a nation or other sphere" rather than specifically referring to the wife of a U.S. president.  Therefore the OED should probably place this citation in square brackets.

Fred Shapiro



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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Friday, December 2, 2022 11:11 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "First Lady" (OED Sense 2)

Dan Goncharoff  wrote:
> I've seen websites referring to Mary Lincoln visiting Long Branch in 1871,
> but nothing referring to visits of any important people in 1861.

There appears to be some contemporaneous evidence in "The New York Times".

Newspaper: New York Times
Article: THE GREAT REBELLION: Interesting News from the National Capital.
Date: August 5, 1861
https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F1861%2F08%2F05%2Farchives%2Fthe-great-rebellion-interesting-news-from-the-national-capital.html&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C9cda883e0c2f49e796a708dad4e48807%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638056375262641298%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2B6M%2BkQy4wCZbVawQOIvhn5bhAWQfROWHY7mqnnGbEF4%3D&reserved=0

[Begin excerpt]
Mrs. LINCOLN and her family will leave Washington on Thursday, on a
visit to Long Branch. The increasing hospitalities of the White House,
continued through the Summer, on account of the war, preclude the
usual residence at the Old Soldiers' Home during the hot weather, but
Mrs. LINCOLN finds it absolutely necessary to her health that she
should enjoy a release from her arduous responsibilities in the more
invigorating air of the sea shore.
[End excerpt]

The website of the “New Jersey Monthly” indicates that Mary Todd
Lincoln stayed at  “the grandest hotel in town, the Mansion House” in
1861.

Newspaper: New Jersey Monthly
Date: February 4, 2008
Article: Shore Lore: Hail to the Beach
Author: Kevin Coyne
https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnjmonthly.com%2Farticles%2Fjersey-shore%2Fshore-lore-hail-to-the-beach-2%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C9cda883e0c2f49e796a708dad4e48807%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638056375262641298%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=yHLdrdMX8qFdyFRhLmqSVxTEfbeC0Wbh4zBDKYWBmUU%3D&reserved=0

[Begin excerpt]
In August 1861, just after the Union Army was routed at Bull Run in
the first big Civil War battle, the new First Lady deemed it
“absolutely necessary to her health that she should enjoy a release
from her arduous responsibilities in the more invigorating air of the
sea shore,” the New York Times reported.

Long Branch, she decided, would provide the cure. It was a fashionable
resort—a rival to Newport and Cape May and a destination for Parisian
dress designers scouting the latest American styles—and Mary Todd
Lincoln’s visit would give it lasting presidential cachet.

She stayed at the grandest hotel in town, the Mansion House, whose
gingerbread piazzas stretched along the beach like an elongated
version of the steamboats that brought many of the vacationers.
[End excerpt]

Sadly, the Mansion House burned down, and the rebuilt structure was
torn down in 1910.
https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hmdb.org%2Fm.asp%3Fm%3D46931&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C9cda883e0c2f49e796a708dad4e48807%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638056375262641298%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=1mWje53NUPI7Uvlm%2F9ezObtUTqjncE4Zut3h94VrsDQ%3D&reserved=0

[Begin excerpt]
The Mansion House was considered to be the finest hotel of its day. On
August 22, 1861, the wife of Abraham Lincoln visited Long Branch and
stayed at the Mansion House.
. . .
The hotel burned in 1884, was rebuilt, and was torn down in 1910 to
make way for a new pier.
[End excerpt]

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