Letitia Green Stevenson (January 8, 1843 – December 25, 1913) was the wife of

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Adlai E. Stevenson I, and thus

second lady of the United States The second gentleman or second lady of the United States (SGOTUS or SLOTUS respectively) is the informal title held by the spouse of the vice president of the United States, concurrent with the vice president's term of office. Coined in contrast ...

from 1893 to 1897.

Biography

Early life

Letitia Green was born on January 8, 1843. She was the daughter of Presbyterian Reverend Lewis W. Green (1806–1863), who was the head of

Centre College Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky. It is an undergraduate college with an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students. Centre was officially chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819. The college is a ...

in Danville, Kentucky, and Mary Peachy Fry, a descendant of surveyor and adventurer Joshua Fry. She was educated at the Walnut Hill Female Institute in Lexington, Kentucky, and a school near Gramercy Park in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Upon the outbreak of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

in 1861, she returned to Lexington. After her father died the next year, Green moved with her mother north to

Chenoa, Illinois Chenoa is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2020 census. The city is located at the intersections of Interstate 55, Historic Route 66, and U.S. Route 24. Founded in 1854 by Mathew T. Scott, Chen ...

, where her sister, Julia Green Scott, lived. There, she met and courted Adlai Ewing Stevenson, a graduate of Centre College. The pair wed at Julia's house on December 22, 1866. The Stevensons moved into a house in nearby Bloomington in 1869, shortly after the birth of their first child,

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

, so named for her father. They carefully planned their family in an era before this was common or publicly accepted. Letitia maintained the household in the frequent absence of her husband. Daughter Mary, nicknamed "Bessie", was sickly as a child and eventually succumbed to

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

in 1895. Lewis was also frequently hospitalized due to complications from an injury sustained while hunting. Stevenson traveled with her son to sanitariums across the region. Eventually, Stevenson's responsibilities waned as Lewis married and daughters Julia and Letitia left for boarding school. After a political appointment in 1884 led to a move to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, Stevenson became engrossed in the emerging

women's rights movement Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

. When Adlai was nominated for

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

in 1892, Letitia campaigned on his behalf. Already used to public speaking through her leadership of Bloomington women's clubs, Stevenson spoke on her husband's behalf, especially in opposition to the

Lodge Bill The Lodge Bill of 1890, also referred to as the Federal Elections Bill or by critics as the Lodge Force Bill, was a proposed bill to ensure the security of elections for U.S. Representatives. It was drafted and proposed by Representative Henry Ca ...

. She also typically wrote an acknowledgment letter to local media after campaigning in a city. Lewis Stevenson became the Illinois secretary of state and father of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Governor and 1952 and 1956 Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson. Their great-grandson, Adlai Ewing Stevenson III, was a U.S. senator from Illinois from 1970 to 1981 and an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Illinois in 1982 and 1986. She suffered from severe rheumatism and migraine headaches that often forced her to wear leg braces. Nonetheless, she was described as a "keen observer and judge of people, and a charming hostess"". She helped establish the Daughters of the American Revolution to try to heal the divisions between North and South after the Civil War and succeeded Mrs.

Caroline Harrison Caroline Lavinia Harrison (; October 10, 1832 – October 25, 1892) was an American music teacher and the first lady of the United States from 1889 until her death. She was married to President Benjamin Harrison, and she was the second first la ...

as President General.

Death

She died at home on Christmas Day aged 70 in 1913.

References

External links

Letitia Green Stevenson
—

McLean County Museum of History The McLean County Museum of History is an AAM accreditedList of Accredited Museums institution located in Bloomington, Illinois. It is the principal asset of the McLean County Historical Society, an Illinois nonprofit organization, which was fou ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Letitia 1843 births 1913 deaths People from Bloomington, Illinois Second ladies of the United States Spouses of Illinois politicians Daughters_of_the_American_Revolution_people Stevenson family