Elihu Root’s Family
One of Hamilton’s most prominent alumnus was Elihu Root. A well known man who had an illustrious career as a diplomat and politician. In addition to his own fame, his daughter Edith Root draws the spotlight as an example of a rich and prominent young lady who wed at the height of the late Victorian era.
Elihu and Clara Wales Root had three children: Edward, Elihu Jr., and Edith. The only Root daughter was born in 1878 into the family who lived in New York City while Elihu gained fame as a corporate lawyer.
On July 30, 1907,
The New York Times
announced the engagement of Edith Root to Lieut. Ulysses S. Grant, III. The article said that the engagement had been known to friends for some months, but they had not intended to make the announcement until early fall. The secret leaked out, and Lieut. Grant “today gracefully acknowledged the truth of it, but said that it would probably be in the fall.”
At this time her father, Elihu, was Secretary of State under President Theodore Roosevelt. The paper noted that Edith was with her parents and brothers in their country home at Clinton and that they have no plans to return to Washington until late August.
Edith was educated in Dobbs Ferry, New York, in Westchester County, and made her debut in society in New York “several years ago” according
The New York Times
article. The paper described her as a “cultivated girl of the conservative type, and an accomplished linguist.”
She was her father’s frequent companion in his rides about Washington, and she was said to be a “good horsewoman, both in the saddle and as a whip.”
Edith Root was known to entertain “constantly through the winter house parties from among the exclusive ranks of New York society.” It was clear that, Edith was a young lady of leisure and at the top of the social world in both New York and Washington.
Edith’s future husband, Lieut. Grant, also had quite an impressive biography. He was the son of Major General Frederick D. Grant, who was in command at Governors Island in New York City. Lieut. Grant attended military school in Austria while his father was the American Minister to the Austrian Court and was a schoolmate thereof the later Khedive of Egypt, Abbas Hilmi. Lieut. Grant, three years younger than Edith, graduated from Columbia University in 1898 and immediately joined his father in Puerto Rico, where he saw his first warfare.
Lieut. Grant entered West Point on an appointment from President William McKinley after getting a request from his grandfather General and 18th President, Ulysses S. Grant. Lieut. Grant graduated from West Point in 1902, sixth in his class, and was deployed to the Philippines for three years.
Back on the topic of the engagement and wedding,
The New York Times
ran another article on November 26, 1907, which said that the couple wished to have their marriage celebrated with “ostentatious simplicity.” However this was not likely to be fulfilled as two-thirds of the 400 guests were from official society. Edith and her mother, Clara, were at home with a few invited friends the day before the wedding when the wedding gifts were on view for the last time prior to being packed away. The first private view was “when the President and Mrs. Roosevelt were shown the wonderful array of silver, glass, and works of art, which is second in number and value to the collection received less than two years ago by the President’s daughter on her marriage to Mr. Longworth.”
The wedding took place at the home of the bride’s parents, 1500 Rhode Island Avenue in Washington D.C., at 4 o’clock in the company of one of the largest as well as the most distinguished gatherings brought together, according to the Times. A military band performed nuptial music and an ex-Chaplain from West Point led the service.
The Times
provided a very detailed description of the entire affair. Describing the floral decor as, “beautiful, consisting chiefly of white chrysanthemums in the hall and the first drawing room, with bride roses and gardenias predominating in the second drawing room, which was the scene of the ceremony.” Adding, “here a bower of the choicest tropical greens occupied the south recess, which was converted into a temporary chancel. Hundreds of bride roses were used here.”
Shortly before 4:00 PM, the six ushers formed an aisle of broad white ribbons from the stairway to the altar. The ushers were the two brothers of the bride, Elihu Root, Jr., and Edward W. Root, who led the way, followed by Gustav Schwab of New York and Edward B. MacLean of Washington, Lieut. Robert Ralston, and Lieut. Marion Howze.
The grand wedding for Edith Root and Lieut. Ulysses S. Grant, III, allowed the upper crust of society to gather in Washington and to keep in contact. The Roots epitomized wealth and status of the late Gilded Age to the general population. The Root family was intertwined with Hamilton College from the 1830s to Roots’ death in 1937, and today, the Root Glen and Root Hall keep the family name known to the public and the College community.
