MRS. JULIA B. FORAKER
A REVIEW OF HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY
By C. B. GALBREATH
In his Notes of a Busy Life, Senator
J. B. Foraker
pays the following tribute to his wife:
But among all the pleasing memories that
attach to Delaware
one remains to be mentioned that
outranks all others, considered
either separately or collectively. It
was there I met, courted and
became engaged to Miss Julia Bundy,
daughter of Hon. H. S.
Bundy, of Jackson County, Ohio, at that
time, and for a number
of terms, the Representative of his
district in Congress. She was
a student at the Ohio Wesleyan Female
College and was grad-
uated from that institution in the class
of 1868. Our marriage
followed October 4, 1870, and through
all the years that have
since followed she has been my faithful,
efficient helpmeet, shar-
ing alike my joys and sorrows, my
triumphs and defeats. No
man was ever blessed with a better wife.
When that is said all
is said, for it includes and is intended
to include all that is em-
braced in the entire range of the
rights, privileges, responsibilities
and duties of wife, mother and companion
in an American family.
Mrs. Foraker was the daughter of
Hezekiah S.
Bundy who served in the State House of
Representa-
tives and Senate of Ohio and in the
National House of
Representatives from 1865-1867,
1873-1875 and from
1893-1895.
In her remarkable book which has been
character-
ized as "one of the wittiest
volumes of social and po-
litical reminiscences that have been
published in many
years," the reader, whether or not
he personally knew
any or many of the eminent characters
who make their
(377)
378
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
exits and their entrances on the pages
of her sprightly,
entertaining and informing
autobiography, I Would
Live It Again, will read with a thrill of unflagging in-
terest this drama of social and
political events extend-
ing over a period from the opening of
the Civil War
almost down to the present time. He
will read again
and again many of these illuminating
sidelights on that
long and eventful period.
Mrs. Foraker's book was finished in
1931 when she
had reached the age of eighty-four
years. She lived
two years longer, in good health, the
full possession of
her powers and a wonderfully active
interest in the
news of the day. Her book bears
ever-evident confirma-
tion to the tribute of her husband
quoted above.
Through their remarkably active careers
their domestic
relations were very happy, and she
could write at the
close of her memoirs:
And I? Oh, I've enjoyed my long
journey. There were
storms, but when the sun shone the days
were beautiful indeed.
Now it is calm, yet the scene is not
empty; memories gleam com-
panionably. Life is like that. After
high winds and buffetings,
happily one finds oneself, at the last,
safe upon a smooth white
beach covered with lovely shells.
In her book of reminiscences which has
been so
widely reviewed, read and enjoyed, Mrs.
Foraker opens
the "Prelude" with a
reference to the famous attack of
President Theodore Roosevelt against
Senator Foraker
before the Gridiron Club in Washington,
January, 1907.
This bitter attack at the time
surprised the guests of
the club and the entire country. While
a rule of the
club prohibited the reporting of the
proceedings and
guests were in honor bound not to
publish the expres-
sions of good-natured jollity and
raillery for which its
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 379
meetings were widely known, the
distinguished men of
the nation who were present were
astounded to find
themselves in the presence of a
struggle between two
antagonists who were terribly in
earnest. To the at-
tack, Foraker made fiery and eloquent
reply in kind.
An affair so unusual and bitter was too
big to be kept
from the public.
The contest centered about the
shooting-up of
Brownsville, Texas, alleged to have
been by a Negro
battalion of United States troops
stationed at Browns-
ville, who on accusation of this
offense had been dis-
honorably discharged from the service
by the President
and whose struggle for reinstatement
Foraker was
championing. His contention was that
there was no
evidence sufficient to warrant the
dishonorable discharge
of the troops. The troops themselves
persistently de-
clared their innocence. This
unfortunate and mysteri-
ous event was the basis of this
forensic duel, with in-
conclusive but far-reaching results.
This brought to
an end all friendly relations between
President Theo-
dore Roosevelt and Senator J. B.
Foraker, and ulti-
mately to the retirement of the latter
from politics.
While perhaps a somewhat unusual, it
was a perfectly
natural introductory note to the
autobiography of the
devoted wife and spirited defender of
Joseph Benson
Foraker.
She soon passes from this
"Gridiron duel," and
other incidents and memories of an
eventful, busy and
brilliant career, to her early life in
the 'fifties as the
daughter of Honorable Hezekiah Sanford
and Caro-
line Paine Bundy. She was born in a log
house, on a
farm near Wellston, Ohio, June 17,
1847. She died at
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Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
her home in Cincinnati, July 21, 1933.
She had, there-
fore, reached the ripe age of
eighty-six years, one
month and four days.
The broad span of her years covered a
most import-
ant period in the history and growth of
our republic.
She was born into an environment
peculiarly suited to
the development of a keen and
appreciative interest in
that period. It is true that it was at
this time an un-
developed country. The house, though roomy
and com-
fortable, was on a lonely road between
Jackson, the
county-seat of a county by the same
name, and Mc-
Arthur, the county-seat of Vinton
County. Times were
dull, traffic between these two
county-seats was infre-
quent. However, there was even here a
growing inter-
est in public affairs which was brought
prominently to
her home by the fact that the father
was active in local
politics, serving as a Whig in the
lower house of the
General Assembly the year after she was
born, later
serving in the State Senate, chosen as
a presidential
elector in 1860 and voting in the
electoral college for
Abraham Lincoln. Nominations and
elections to Con-
gress followed, traffic on the
Jackson-McArthur high-
way increased, Hezekiah Bundy prospered
financially
and politically. He was hospitable and
popular and
seldom happier than when entertaining
in his home
around the dinner table and discoursing
on the issues
of the day.
From childhood his daughter was a most
attentive
listener. She grew up in a school of
practical politics
which peculiarly fitted her for her
part in the future
that early beckoned her to association
with the eminent
and powerful.
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 381
In her book we get faithful glimpses of
the times
in Ohio and the North. She tells how
her father one
December evening, under a red sunset
sky, met her on
her return from school and assisting
her to dismount
from the horse she rode, said to her,
"They have hanged
John Brown." "I grew up in
that moment," she says.
John Brown was to her a hero and a
martyr, and
slavery a monster wrong that must be
overthrown.
She saw with deep interest and emotion
the troops
drilling for the great Civil War. She
tells how crowds
of hungry soldiers came into her home
farmyard at
four o'clock one morning. While she was
watching
them depart an officer rode up to her
and gave her his
gold watch with the request, "Keep
this for me till I
come back, will you, Sissy." He
never came back.
She writes delightfully of her early
home. The two-
story house of walnut logs unhewn; the
doors with
wooden latches and hinges; the huge
fireplace; "the
puncheon floor scrubbed to dazzling and
checkered by
the blues, greens and rose of home-dyed
and -woven
rugs into something Eastern and
lovely." "If the pic-
ture runs the danger of being
brightened by time's
flight," says she, "I must be
given that handicap. Who
can tell the Bible-truth about his
youth?"
She brings very vividly to the reader
the scenes of
her youth. Here is one of her many picture-para-
graphs:
I remember Log House as clearly as
though only yesterday
I had walked out of it--out of the door
and across the spring
and through the orchard . . . the pippins falling plump!
. . .
the creak of a cider-mill somewhere . . . on to the big
honey
locust to wait for my father coming back
from Hamden with
the mail. He'll be over the hill in a minute, riding
with a slack
bridle . . . he is reading the
Cincinnati Weekly Gazette.
382
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
One of her early war-memories was
"Morgan's
Raid." Morgan did not reach the
Bundy farm, but he
came close enough to frighten terribly
the people of
Jackson County as he did of all other
counties through
which he passed.
"My first school," she tells
us, "was little, and red,
of course. and only a mile away. I
tramped there one
winter in boots, literally wading
through the mud." Next
she attended the "Big School"
three miles away, riding
on horseback. She enjoyed these early
school days and
entered heartily into all the school
games of rural Ohio
seventy-five years ago.
While she was attending school she was
gathering
a fund of practical knowledge from the
numerous visi-
tors who were entertained in her
hospitable home. Abra-
ham Lincoln was her father's friend,
but she never saw
him until his body lay in state in the
Capitol at Columbus
after his assassination. Among the
notables that she
met were Salmon P. Chase, his charming
daughter Kate,
Joshua R. Giddings, Benjamin F. Wade,
Rutherford B.
Hayes and the "two noble
Shermans." There were a
host of others of lesser note but not
of lesser interest,
as sketched by the facile pen of Mrs.
Foraker. For in-
stance, there was the Fighting Parson,
Dr. Granville
Moody, of whom she relates two
interesting and amus-
ing anecdotes.
In one of the hard fought battles of
the Civil War
when the Fighting Parson's regiment was
about to go
into action, it is reported that the
Irish Adjutant of the
regiment rode up and down along the
lines shouting,
"Give them h--l, boys, give them
h--l." The language
was a little strong for the Fighting
Parson, so he rode
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 383
behind the Adjutant shouting,
"Men, do as the Adjutant
tells you, do as the Adjutant tells
you."
The other story was told at the Bundy
home by Par-
son Moody himself. This occurred in
Washington in
1864, shortly before the renomination
of Lincoln for the
Presidency. Chase was then a candidate
for the nomi-
nation against Lincoln. He was having a
breakfast for
some of his supporters and seeing
Colonel Moody, who
was in the city on a furlough, he invited
him to be pres-
ent and tell the guests just what the
soldiers at the front
thought of Mr. Lincoln. Chase had been
told that the
soldiers were much opposed to Lincoln.
When the
guests were assembled and seated, Chase
called upon
Dr. Moody to ask the blessing. This he
proceeded to
do. He dwelt upon the soldiers' love
for Abraham
Lincoln and their faith in him. There
was nothing that
they would not do for him. The blessing
ended in a
fervent plea for the continued guidance
and leadership
of the great Emancipator. Moody forgot
to mention
the candidacy of Chase and the purpose
of the breakfast
failed, although it is reported that it
was a perfectly
good breakfast.
The excitement attending the firing
upon Fort
Sumter, Abraham Lincoln's call for
troops, and the
growing intensity of bitterness between
sections and
parties is, of course, set forth in the
opening years of
the war. Parades in political campaigns
she witnessed
with great zest and she speaks of one
particular demon-
stration in which she took part in the
summer of 1863.
"Thirty-six girls, each dressed to
represent one of the
thirty-six states * * * rode ten miles
across the country
in an open wagon drawn by sixty yoke of
oxen." She
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Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
tells how the men "dropped their
pitchforks and came
running across the fields and the women
hurried from
their farm houses, wiping their hands
on their aprons,"
to witness the procession, of which the
wagon in which
she rode was only a portion.
She finished her education at the Ohio
Wesleyan
Female College in Delaware, Ohio, from
which institu-
tion she was graduated on June 24,
1868. She has some
amusing news to relate of the tiresome
programs of
commencements of that period and the
long list of rules
for the regulation of the conduct of
the young women
who attended female colleges. At
Delaware an especial
occasion for the numerous rules was due
to the fact that
a university attended by young men was
in the same
town. Here she met young Captain
Foraker who was
in school again after the close of the
war. Young men
and women will for years to come find a
special interest
in the meeting of these two who were
afterward married.
She relates how Foraker used to say
that he never
could quite forgive his father-in-law
Bundy for shed-
ding tears on the occasion of their
marriage. "Particu-
larly," said her husband to her,
"when you are doing so
well." She states that that was her own view of the
matter and that she agreed with her
husband. And well
she had done and fortunate was she to
live the long and
busy life with her husband--judge,
governor and United
States senator--and at the end of her
career to say
frankly and eagerly I Would Live It
Again.
In her book she is original in many
ways, especially
in the choosing of subjects for the
different chapters.
One bears the title "Pressed
Brick" and we wonder what
might be found in this chapter. Upon
reading we learn
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 385
that she has reference to the house
that she and her
family occupied in Foraker's first term
as Governor of
Ohio. It had previously been the
residence of Governor
Hoadly. Outwardly it was a handsome
building, but
she declares, "The most
inconvenient abode that a large
family of small means ever struggled
with. It was the
first house in Columbus built of the
then elegant 'pressed
brick'; each brick, brought from
Philadelphia, came
wrapped in tissue paper." They
lived in three different
houses in Foraker's two terms as
Governor of Ohio.
She draws attention to the fact that
Foraker's first
defeat for the governorship in 1883 did
not cause him
any loss of popularity in the
State. In his campaign
with Hoadly he left a good impression
and made a host
of friends throughout Ohio. He was
honored by elec-
tion as delegate-at-large to the
National Republican Con-
vention in 1884, and placed the name of
Senator John
Sherman in nomination for the Presidency.
This gave
him a wider acquaintance and heightened
his popularity.
He campaigned with James G. Blaine in
that year. They
had formed a friendship that lasted
through the suc-
ceeding years of the life of Blaine. It
was in this year,
early in October, that Blaine visited
Cincinnati and made
a number of speeches, including one to
the Young Men's
Blaine Club that that city recently
organized. It was to
this club that Blaine, called from his
rest at two o'clock
in the morning, made the following
brief but rather re-
markable speech that has not found its
way into many
of the lives of the "Plumed
Knight":
Young Men . . . The giants of Mythology
typified the
strength of young men. In the
enlightened era of the Christian
dispensation young men were called to
the work because they
Vol. XLII--25
386 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
were strong. Today the strength of the
Republican party is in
the young men of the country, of whom it
possesses a vast
majority.
The young man is always good for two
votes, his own and
the one he brings. No party in the
history of this country was
ever beaten that had the sympathy and support of the
young men
of the country.
And it has been the chief gratification
of a tour which I have
made from the great commercial
metropolis to your beautiful
city, that everywhere I have found the
young men on our side.
You are in the morning of life. The day
is before you and
your strength is equal to it. You will have the
fashioning of
the Republic--of its strength, its prestige, its glory,
its destiny
--long after the generation to which I belong shall
have passed
away. See that your hands, clean, pure and strong,
shall bear
up the ark of the covenant.
I bid you good morning. Let us turn
together to the duties
of a new day, with its responsibilities, and I hope
with its
rewards.1
Mrs. Foraker has given us this
impressive statement
of the spell left by this impromptu
speech.
Who that heard him can ever forget the
speech Blaine made
from the Burnet house that September
night in 1884? Moon-
light and Blaine's silvery voice! People
were bewitched by
Blaine; it was almost uncanny.
It was at the convention of 1884 that
Senator For-
aker met Marcus A. Hanna. They were soon warm
personal and political friends. Their
personal relations
held until the death of Hanna, but they
later became
political antagonists when William McKinley won the
favor of Hanna in his effort to reach
the Presidency.
It was then that Hanna became willing
that a position
just a little lower than the Presidency
should go to For-
aker, whose aid he wished to hold in
the advancement
of the political fortunes of McKinley.
In spite of this
rivalry Mrs. Foraker has a rather
pleasing chapter on
1 Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, October
3, 1884.
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 387
the relations of her husband to Hanna
which she con-
cludes as follows:
But in spite of any and all official
differences, Hanna and
Foraker never ceased to be friends. And
when Foraker faced
the dark skies of 1908 he said that
there was one faithful hand-
clasp that he missed -- Hanna's.
A man with a good deal of the boy in
him, who would take
endless pains to please a child, was
sorry when other people were
in trouble, liked dispensing happiness
under his own roof -- and
widely elsewhere with his left hand --
and who wore his love for
his family most humanly on his sleeve.
That Mark Hanna was not remotely related
to a man of the
same name who was so pilloried in
caricature that he became a
legend of corruption in his lifetime. In
the old Foraker-Governor
period with which I am immediately
concerned the Hanna that
I knew was still just the Happy Boss
whose favorites had a way
of winning.
Her interesting sketches of Blaine and
Benjamin
Harrison, while justly appreciative of
the distinguished
ability of both men, are illustrative
of the unusual popu-
larity of the former and the lack of
that quality in the
latter. She tells of a visit Foraker
made to the Presi-
dent and Secretary of State. Blaine was
most affable.
He had read in the papers of the
serious illness of the
father of Foraker. Grasping the latter
warmly by the
hand, he drew him aside into a private
room and said:
Tell me about your father. Do you know
that I have always
thought of him as a tall, spare man? I
never thought of him as
a man who would have a stroke.
This touched Foraker in a tender point;
he was very
fond of his father. Blaine insisted
that Foraker should
use his carriage for the transaction of
any business he
had in mind while in Washington; then
discussed poli-
tical matters in Ohio and showed his
wonderful famil-
iarity with conditions in that State
and his readiness to
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Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
recall the names of persons in their
section. At the con-
clusion of the conversation with a warm
hand-clasp he
bade Foraker goodby with the remark,
"Do you know
I have a feeling, a very strong
feeling, that your father
is going to pull through."
Governor Foraker then went to the White
House to
pay his respects to the President and
found "Harrison
very much himself." He said to the
Governor, "I've
got all these papers to look
after" pointing to his desk,
"and I am going fishing at two
o'clock." He then snapped
his watch. Mrs. Foraker states that the
President was
not unfriendly to her husband, but the
attitude of the
two men toward him simply illustrated
their way of re-
ceiving the Governor of Ohio. She said
when Foraker
returned to their room after the
contact with the Presi-
dent he acted as if he had had a chill.
In speaking of
Blaine, she stated that his ability to
attract and hold
friends was due very largely to the
fact that he really felt
what he said and "did care."
There are interesting comments on the
"event-
strewn 'eighties," with
"young Modern Life showing
the top of its head over the
horizon"; the Panama
Canal; the Koch germ; the Brooklyn
Bridge; the harbor
goddess that the French gave us; the
first electric rail-
way; the Haymarket riots; the
Charleston earthquake;
the Chinese flood; the bursting of a
dam at Johnstown,
Pennsylvania; the death of Conkling and
other stirring
events of the period.
Successful celebrations are a pleasing
memory to
those who witness or have a part in
them.
In 1888 the first permanent settlement
of Ohio at
Marietta was most appropriately
celebrated. The Gov-
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 389
ernor of Ohio and his family were
assigned a residence
in that city where they lived more than
one week, as-
sisting, directing and entertaining.
Upon the shoulders
of Mrs. Foraker rested much of the
responsibility for
the successful celebration which lasted
for seven days.
There have been other celebrations
highly spectacular
in Ohio, including the triumph of
George Rogers Clark
at the Indian village of Piqua in 1931,
which was at-
tended by more than 60,000 people, but
when we read
Mrs. Foraker's account of the
celebration at Marietta
which was sustained for an entire week,
we wonder if
there has been anything in subsequent
years that quite
equalled it. Possibly the celebration
of Washington's
journey on the Ohio one year ago
through a period of
ten days was a close approach to it.
The personal notes
that give life to Mrs. Foraker's
account of three celebra-
tions will make these chapters of her
book entertaining
to readers through many years to come.
In a chapter of
her book in which she describes the
spectacular and
never-to-be-forgotten reunion of the
veterans of the
Civil War in Columbus in 1888, when
Foraker was
Governor of Ohio, under the title
"It Will Never Happen
Again," the reader is held with
the wonderful part that
the wife of a soldier governor could
have in the enter-
tainment of the thousands who descended
upon the capi-
tal city of Ohio in this eventful year.
Many of the
leaders in that conflict were still
living and many in-
cidents connected with their presence
and entertainment
appear on every page of her account.
The period covered by the two terms of
Foraker in
the office of Governor abounded in
celebrations. Under
the chapter "Parade" Mrs.
Foraker includes a delight-
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Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
ful account of the celebration of the
first inaugural of
George Washington April 30, 1889. As
one reads her
description of this he naturally raises
the question
whether there was anything in the
celebration of the
bicentennial of the birth of Washington
one year ago
that in any way eclipsed it. Women will
be delighted
with the picture that she has left of
the inaugural ball
and the descendants of Revolutionary
families who took
part in it.
Closely following the celebration came
the nomina-
tion of her husband for a third term in
the governor-
ship. She felt instinctively that this
was a mistake.
She states that the nomination made her
perfectly sick.
He was a dark horse in the convention
against his will.
The factional division that had grown
up in the Repub-
lican party, together with opposition
to a third term,
led to the defeat of Foraker and the
election of James
E. Campbell.
The year 1895 was fortunate for Foraker
and his
following in Ohio. His friend Asa S.
Bushnell was
nominated for Governor, he himself was
endorsed for
United States Senator, and William
McKinley for the
Presidency. This program united all
factions in the
State and led to an easy victory in the
autumn. In the
year following Foraker was chosen
United States Sen-
ator and William McKinley was nominated
and elected
to the Presidency. In the succession of
successful con-
ventions and elections Mrs. Foraker was
happily active.
With the inauguration of President
McKinley and the
entrance of Foraker upon the duties as
United States
Senator was inaugurated a series of new
experiences
for Mrs. Foraker who soon became one of
the popular
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 391
entertainers of the national capital.
As she observes in
her book, even before women had the
right to vote they
exerted much influence in
Washington. Opinions on
matters of state were sometimes settled
in the conversa-
tions about the banquet table.
The speech of Senator Foraker on the
Cuban situa-
tion brought him at once to the
favorable attention of
a large majority of his
fellow-senators. With the rap-
idly growing popular opinion throughout
the country in
favor of intervention, Foraker grew in
favor of the
masses and became a power in the United
States Senate.
He was a dominating force in the
formulation and
adoption of the resolutions declaring
war against Spain.
Mrs. Foraker's chapter on Admiral
Dewey, his achieve-
ment in Manila Bay, his subsequent
immense popular-
ity and his loss of favor through no
fault of his own, is
an illustration of the fickleness of
public opinion.
Here is in part her tribute to the
Admiral:
Of all the public men I ever met,
Admiral Dewey was the
simplest, the most genuine, the most
completely innocent of
political canniness and worldly guile.
He was bewildered by the
nation's emotional state over him . . .
He was just as much
puzzled by the public's fickleness, as
by its favor. If people
meant at all so lightly as that it were
better to have let him
alone. "I was just a sailor doing
my duty," he said to me. When
he made over to his wife the Washington
house presented to him
by the nation, the hue and cry that
followed left him dazed. He
understood criticism of his action no
more than he understood
why he was taken up with immense
enthusiasm as a presidential
candidate and then coldly dropped. At a
time when the Dewey
reaction had set in I remember Mrs.
Dewey showing me a room
in their house at K and Sixteenth street
which was filled from
floor to ceiling with magnificent gifts
from the Admiral's ad-
mirers. One struck me as somewhat
ironical. This was a large
jar, quite five feet high, made of
ten-cent pieces contributed by
the children all over the United States.
"In God we trust."
Yes of course -- but look out for the
fickle public!
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Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
"If our treatment of the hero of
Manila lacked
charm," she adds "so did the
measures President Roose-
velt employed to retire General Miles.
The general had
a long and honorable record before the
Spanish-Ameri-
can war; he added to it thereby his
masterly handling
of troops and suppplies. Until Mr.
Roosevelt became
President, General Miles was regarded
as the hero of
heroes among military men, but the
general happened to
express himself unfavorably about one
of Mr. Roose-
velt's army appointments; for that the
President repri-
manded him before a room full of people
at the White
House as sharply as if General Miles
had been a private
on inspection. All Washington was
excited over this
episode."
The chapter entitled "A Lady and a
Red Hat" pre-
sents the story of Mr. and Mrs. Bellamy
Storer, the
ambitions of the latter, the factional
difference between
Storer and Foraker, the desire of
President McKinley
to honor Storer without offending
Foraker, his sugges-
tion to the latter that he might not
object to an appoint-
ment abroad for Storer, and the
observation of Foraker,
"Good, and the abroader the
better." Storer had been a
candidate for appointment in the office
of Secretary of
State and Foraker who had frequent
business with that
department did not care to have him
there. The subse-
quent embarrassment between Storer and
Roosevelt and
the recall of Storer from the foreign
service are enter-
tainingly told in this chapter.
The tragic death of McKinley which
called Mrs. For-
aker and her husband from a summer
vacation, and the
sadness that fell upon the land
following the assassina-
tion, finds its appropriate setting.
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 393
The friendship of Roosevelt and Foraker
when the
former succeeded to the Presidency,
their subsequent
drifting apart and their final break
over the Brownsville
affair is given much space. The
succession of Taft to
the Presidency on the retirement of
Roosevelt; the close
friendship of the two and the virtual
dictation of the
nomination of Taft by Roosevelt; their
later differences
in the campaign leading up to the
presidential election
of 1912, come in for spirited treatment.
One lays the
book aside with the feeling, as some
one expressed it,
at the time, that nothing is as fatal
to friendship as
close political association, and that
it was too bad that
Roosevelt and Taft who had been at one
time the Damon
and Pythias of American politics, and
had played the
part well, should have ended it with
bitter hostility and
charges and counter-charges from the
hustings that
would not have done credit to
politicians of lower pre-
tensions and which ended in the defeat
of both and the
temporary wrecking of the Republican
party.
In the concluding chapter
"Good-Bye to the Game"
Mrs. Foraker states that "Theodore
Roosevelt was not
lucky for Foraker; he was
disaster," and singular it is
that Roosevelt wrote in a letter to
Foraker:
Not only do I admire your entire courage
and straight-
forwardness (in the railway-rate
legislation I respected you a
thousand times more then I did many of
the men who voted for
the bill), but I also grew steadily more
and more to realize your
absolute Americanism and your capacity
for generosity and
disinterestedness.
This letter Roosevelt closed with a
warm invitation
to Foraker to take lunch or dinner with
him at his home
at Oyster Bay.
394
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
In a similar spirit Foraker wrote in a
volume of his
Notes which he sent to his former adversary:
Notwithstanding our differences of
opinion on some subjects,
there never has been a moment since the
beginning of our ac-
quaintance when I was not an ardent
admirer of your great
intellectual power, fervent patriotism,
and fearless courage.
Mrs. Foraker comes loyally to the
defense of her
husband against any complicity with The
Standard Oil
Company which was charged against him
and lost him
his place in the Senate.
Mrs. Foraker was the mother of two sons
and three
daughters. A special interest attaches
to the life of
Benson, the older son. He was the
frequent companion
of his father, often accompanying him
on long journeys
before he had reached his teens. He was
a handsome,
sweet-tempered lad who made friends
wherever he went.
He was in hearty sympathy with all his
father's work
and interests. When veterans of the
Civil War had
their great reunion at Columbus in
1888, young Benson
was enthusiastic and expressed an
ambition to become a
soldier. He wished to follow in the
footsteps of his
father whose military career had a
strong appeal to him.
At last his opportunity came. The
country was at war
for the liberation of Cuba, a cause to
which his father
had given conspicuous support in the
United States
Senate. Soon young Benson in the
uniform of a captain
was on his way to the theater of war;
and then came the
alarming news that he had been stricken
by the yellow
fever, a disease that was then usually
fatal. Fortu-
nately, however, he apparently
recovered. The ultimate
result Mrs. Foraker tells in the concluding
chapter of
her book:
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 395
I must speak of something repeated so
often by writers that
it has became a legend, and this, I
think, is the moment. Again
and again it has been said that Foraker,
because of his political
reverse, died of a broken heart. No, not
that. My husband's
end was hastened by an event that
touched him to depths no
worldly disappointment had the power to
reach. This was the
death of Benson, our eldest son, in
April, 1915. Benson and his
father were singularly close; since the
boy's childhood their
comradeship had been one of perfect
sympathy and delight.
Foraker's health was for years an
anxious preoccupation; but
always he was buoyed by his happy belief
that "Benson would
be here," to see his father off, to
take his place at the wheel.
That Benson could not stay was heartache
too great for Foraker
to bear. The political past was as
nothing.
For many reasons it is fortunate that
she wrote I
Would Live It Again. Her
book reveals much that
could not be found elsewhere and it
abounds in portraits
of prominent men of her time and of the
famous women
associated with them through the latter
part of the
nineteenth and the earlier part of the
twentieth centuries.
She is very happy indeed in her sketches
of Mrs. Ruther-
ford B. Hayes, Mrs. Caroline Scott
Harrison, Mrs. Ida
McKinley and Mrs. Edith Carow
Roosevelt.
Her husband and William McKinley were
leaders of
rival factions in Ohio, but friends
throughout their lives.
No more touching and complimentary
sketch of William
McKinley and his devotion to his
invalid wife can be
found than the one contributed to this
volume by Mrs.
Joseph Benson Foraker.
A word must be said in conclusion of
her patriotic
devotion to her native state--Ohio. A
testimonial to
this occurs also in the volume that she
has left us. In
speaking of her old home in the log
farmhouse of Jack-
son County, she says:
396 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
I was born in a log farmhouse at
Wellston, Ohio, June 17,
1847. That country then was almost as
lonely as when my
mother's father, David Paine, built the
house in 1808. The prop-
erty was grant land secured from the
government. I have the
original parchment deed signed by
President Madison and still
own fifty acres around the original
log-house site.
EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS OF MRS. FORAKER'S
BOOK
From The Cincinnati Enquirer, Sunday,
March 13, 1932:
Through the years of gratified ambition
and of rejoicing in
her husband's success, and later through
the years of injustice
and defeat, always she stood like a rock
-- optimistic, cheerful
and brave -- waiting the time when she
could tell the whole story
from the vantage-ground of that distance
which softens all
things, from memory, ingratitude and
faithlessness.
To quote her own words, "My
political war is over and Time
has signed the peace; yet poignant in my
remembrance are cer-
tain things which I cannot but eternally
protest. I am a rebel --
at 84."
Vivid, witty and sparkling, this is a
book to be read with
much delight and increasing wonder at
the strength of a per-
sonality that can at 84 write with such
grace and vigor.
From The Cincinnati Post, March 22, 1932:
Political reminiscences boldly telling
the inside story, from
Mrs. Foraker's point of view, of events
which shook Washing-
ton and precipitated the classic
conflict between the President,
Theodore Roosevelt, and Senator Foraker, are climax of
the
memoirs.
It is with this phase of the story, the
Brownsville affair, the
famous "gridiron duel"; public
accusation, later refuted, that
Senator Foraker was in the pay of
Standard Oil; the loss of
friends, including William Howard Taft,
in whose support, how-
ever, Mrs. Foraker wrote, Foraker never weakened -- all
these
are high lights.
From The Christian Science Monitor, Boston,
Mass., Wednesday,
March 23, 1932:
Much of Senator Foraker's distinguished
service was ren-
dered during the administration of
Theodore Roosevelt. It is
quite obvious that the two men were
antipathetic. While they
strove to get along in peace and amity,
clashes came over all
sorts of issues. Most bitter of these
was the struggle over the
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 397
so-called Brownsville incident in 1906.
I wonder to what extent
this affair is recalled after the lapse of twenty-six
years. A
battalion of Negro troops was stationed
at Brownsville, Texas,
and naturally was unpopular in that
section. It was charged
that one night some twenty of these
soldiers rode through the
town firing their revolvers recklessly,
killing one man and injur-
ing others. The whole battalion,
including its officers, denied
having participated in the riot. But the
President, with charac-
teristic impetuosity, ordered the entire
battalion discharged with-
out honor.
Senator Foraker convinced himself that
the charges were
unfair, and made a savage fight for the
undoing of the Presi-
dent's purpose. It may be remembered
that one collateral inci-
dent was an outbreak by Roosevelt at a
Gridiron dinner, on
which occasion he violently attacked
Foraker, and shook his fist
at him, while the Ohio Senator did not
fail to use the opportunity
to talk back without too much respect
for the individual who
was at the head of the Federal
Government.
From The Washington Post, Sunday,
March 27, 1932:
To think of the beautiful and brilliant
Mrs. Foraker, social
leader, master of the art of bon mot at
84 almost seems like
heresy, yet Mrs. Foraker gayly admits it
herself and rather seems
to glory in this fact, rather than
otherwise. It has given her a
long, long vista down which to gaze at
the varied scenes which
make up social and political history of
the Capitol.
Her new book has been called
"delightfully indiscreet." Well,
what of it? Who would care to read a
discreet story of that
nature? Mrs. Foraker has a graphic,
witty style, and she does
not mince words, either. She gives us heretofore unknown
glimpses of the famous Roosevelt-Foraker
feud over Browns-
ville. It is amazing to read that her
own resentment in the
matter is for William Howard Taft.
From The Cincinnati Times Star, March
29, 1932:
Mrs. Foraker says that from the
beginning of her early life
her husband would relate to her all the
events of the day; so
she was in close touch with his work.
She read twenty daily
papers each day, marking paragraphs
which she felt would be
of interest to him. They built their own
house in Washington in
order to have offices for the secretary.
Every morning her hus-
band answered his mail before leaving
for the Capitol and Mrs.
Foraker arranged her own affairs so she
could go with him. She
was kept informed not only of State
affairs, but national and
398 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
international, since her husband was on
the Foreign Relations
Committee.
From Washington Herald, Thursday,
March 31, 1932:
"I Would Live It Again" says
Julia B. Foraker, widow of
Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, of life
-- and says it in a volume
of reminiscences which, although fresh from the
presses, is
already a best seller in Washington.
There's inspiration in this title from
the pen of a woman who
is nearing 85 and whose full and
interesting life has held many
ups and downs. Moreover, Mrs. Foraker is
by no means through
living yet. She has just been named an
alternate to the Repub-
lican national convention in Chicago and
is contemplating attend-
ing although her children are trying to
persuade her that it would
be a bit strenuous. And only a little
over a year ago she was
campaigning vigorously, speaking several
times from the same
platform with the late Speaker Nicholas
Longworth to audiences
of 1,500 people or more.
HOME AT PRESENT IS IN CINCINNATI
Mrs. Foraker's present home is in
Cincinnati. Her eldest
daughter, Mrs. Florence Matthews, lives
there, with four of Mrs.
Foraker's grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren. Another
daughter, Mrs. Victor Cushman, makes her
home in Washing-
ton, as does a daughter-in-law, Mrs.
Arthur Foraker.
In Washington, where memories of Mrs.
Foraker persist as
a beautiful woman and a brilliant
hostess, I Would Live it Again
has special appeal. But the publishers,
Harper & Bros., are
pleased with the sale which the book is
having all over the
country. And an English edition is in
prospect.
From The Sunday Star, Washington,
D. C., April 3, 1932:
A book of memoirs. Upon them no lavender
scent, no minor
plaint, no rue of self-pity, such as
frequently mark the long
personal reminiscence, and are so
natural to it.
Instead, a swift outstepping, a friendly
greeting, so immedi-
ate in effect as to suggest
recollections of last year, or other near
when. From 1868 to 1912 the story runs.
A knowing, clever, fearless woman, Julia
B. Foraker. At
home with Ohio politics, too, whether
its tides be high or low,
obscure or open. Mrs. Foraker walks back
into these two fa-
miliar areas for a revival of their
respective significances in State
or nation. Idle paths leading nowhere do
not exist in the adven-
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 399
ture at hand. Main roads are the
preoccupation of this observer,
this partaker, so keen of memory, so
discriminating of essentials.
Forthright speech is one of her best
gifts. A mind open to the
clearing up of obscurities, to the
correction of passing error is
another good count for this wayfarer out
of a past, sufficiently
near to absorb readers in its
picturesque substance.
Among innumerable high points in this
engaging adventure
is Mrs. Foraker's competently fair
delivery of Mark Hanna from
the maze of misapprehension and abuse
which entangled that only
half-revealed personality. * * *
In Washington itself, during the many
years of Senator
Foraker's incumbency, the reminiscences
widen and deepen.
First a broad survey of Capital society.
A brilliant complex.
Congress, diplomatic bodies, the Army
and Navy, scientists and
financiers, a body of cultured and
fashionable citizenry--such
the pageantry of Washington society. At
innumerable points
Mrs. Foraker pierces this with incident,
episode, personalities, to
vitalize the whole. Familiar names stand
here. Names that
draw out keen curiosity and sharp
interest. And widely heralded
events. A spirited and competent book of
memoirs of permanent
value and significance.
From The Buffalo Evening News, Saturday,
April 16, 1932:
Her description of the Foraker-Roosevelt
feud, for instance,
may not charm the ardent Roosevelt
biographers, but there is
much in history to support the position
her husband took. After
President Roosevelt's discharge, without
honor, of a battalion of
the 25th U. S. Infantry, colored,
following the shooting up of
Brownsville, Texas, Senator Joseph B.
Foraker investigated the
case, satisfied himself that the
President had acted precipitately
and thereafter championed the cause of
the colored soldiers.
With the ruthless fervor for which the
"Rough-riding" presi-
dent was noted, he broke with Foraker
for this lack of support
and thereafter social snubs were the
order of the day for the
Forakers so far as the White House was
concerned.
From The New York World Telegram, April
19, 1932:
Joseph Benson Foraker was twice Governor
of Ohio and
twice defeated for that office. He was
later the "Ohio influence"
in the United States Senate, and as a
hostess Mrs. Foraker takes
her place among the great ladies of
Washington. She tells it all
in clear prose that needs no
embellishing.
Stories of the great and near-great run
from her pen as
spontaneously as the Convention of 1896
cheered McKinley for
400 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
thirty minutes. There is not a dull page
in this sparkling auto-
biography, which is better classified as a lively
record of politics
in the Republican party, Washington and
elsewhere.
From The Cincinnati Enquirer, Saturday,
April 30, 1932:
There is no mincing of words when it
comes to the telling of
the facts involved in any of the
incidents related, and while one
of these revolved about her
distinguished husband when he had
grown to great influence and command in
national affairs, Mrs.
Foraker has succeeded without show of
bitterness in baring the
facts and factors causing her husband to
retire from political
life, and at the same time refreshes the
memory of the vindication
of his political actions.
From Good Housekeeping, August,
1932:
She is familiar with the inside stories,
social and political, of
our capital during the McKinley, Taft,
and Roosevelt adminis-
trations. It is this inside story, told
without restraint and with
sparkle, that not only makes the book
interesting but also illumi-
nates history by means of the personal
glimpses it gives of his-
torical and literary figures such as
Mark Hanna, Mark Twain,
Bret Harte, Dickens, etc. Books like
these are the source-books
of the historians of the future. For us
they are an introduction
to brilliant people and thrilling
events, social and political.
From The Sunday Times, London,
England, May 15, 1932:
If Mrs. Foraker has had to play the part
of Chorus, she has
never done it in tragic mood. She is
full of wit; she always
sees the colour of the passing
show--though she confesses that,
while the pictures in her gallery of
memory have "softened to
old prints," the portrait of Taft,
in connection with the un-
founded Standard Oil rumours about her
husband is "too cruelly
etched to change." One can recall
no autobiography by an Amer-
ican woman so delicious as that of Mrs.
Foraker, who is a born
writer.
From The New York Times Book Review, June
5, 1932:
She throws so many illuminating rays of
light on the events
of the '80s and '90s and the early 1900s
and on the people behind
the events that any student of the
period will find it worth while
to consult her book of memories. The
ordinary reader will find
it an entertaining volume, for she
evidently loved her life and
lived every moment of it with zest, and
at 84 she recounts her
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 401
vivid memories with a pen that is
vivacious, pungent, frequently
witty, and always interesting.
From The New York Herald Tribune
Books, Sunday, June 26,
1932:
One very remarkable thing about this
book is Mrs. Foraker
herself. She is eighty-four this year.
She writes as if she were
not half the age and her points of view
are singularly bright and
modern--never stuffy as reminiscences
assuredly can be. But
Julia Foraker is amused today at
yesterday, and she invites her
readers to be amused with her, or to
sympathize at times, at the
pomposities of politics and society of a
time really not so long
ago, after all.
From The Cincinnati Enquirer, Saturday,
July 22, 1933:
Mrs. Foraker, who trod the paths of
greatness as the consort
of a man high in the councils of the
nation, was not content to
bask in the glory reflected by the deeds
and memory of an illustri-
ous husband. She made herself a charming
and useful career.
The daughter of a congressman and the
wife of a man
who was twice governor and twice
senator, Mrs. Foraker was
privileged to know the intimacies and
undercurrents of national
politics. The knowledge she thus gained
she used to the ad-
vantage of her country and her party
when she came to bear
the torch once held aloft by her
husband. Her interest in civic
affairs, her work with the Daughters of
the American Revolution
and her associations with the great of
the nation during the
last half-century are revealed in her
delightful book, I Would
Live It Again.
From The Cincinnati Enquirer, Sunday,
November 6, 1932:
HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS PLAN?
Recently Mrs. Foraker, widow of Senator
Foraker and one
of Cincinnati's best-known dowagers,
wrote the following perti-
nent remarks to the editor of The
Week, a well-known and
highly regarded publication of Central
Ohio:
"Those of you who have read my
book, I Would Live It
Again, realize that I am past 85 years old.
"Some may think that I ought now to
retire to my rocking-
chair and take up my knitting. Not so!
"I would like to live to say
'good-by' to the depression, to
the speakeasy and to the racketeer.
Vol. XLII--26
402 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
"I would like to live to see the
unemployed restored to their
rightful places of usefulness and
service.
"I would like to live to see the
last of the primary system, a
noble experiment which has proved to be
a great burden to the
people and most unsatisfactory as a
method of selecting our
candidates.
"The House and Senate have today
lost the high standard
which existed formerly when selection by
state convention was
the order of the day.
"I would like to live, too, to see
governors elected for a term
of four years and not eligible to
reelection. Thus, with four
campaigns reduced to one, a governor
must then work for his
record instead of his reflection.
"I would like to see the
congressman's term extended.
"I would like to live to see the
term of our President ex-
tended to six years, eliminating
eligibility to reflection. This
would give to the President a free hand
to put forth his best
effort to serve his country, and he
would not be criticized for
playing politics.
"These are questions which confront
us today, as we mark
the weak spots in our present methods.
"These are problems to be solved by
the voter.
"We must take our politics
seriously, realizing that it is the
problem of the individual.
"Why not lessen the strain on the
physical strength as well
as the purse of both candidates and voters?
"How do you like this plan?
"Study it and help solve it!"
Mrs. Foraker has for years been
nationally prominent in
organizations which are cultural, which
are dedicated to the
memory of great Americans, such as the
George Washington
Memorial Building Association, of which
she is Chairman for
Ohio; not to mention many institutions
political and civic. That
which she has to say on such subjects as
the above may well,
therefore, be read with interest.
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 403
OBITUARY EDITORIALS
The death of Mrs. Foraker called forth
kindly no-
tices from a wide range of papers in
the United States.
We reproduce only a few expressions
from the press of
Ohio:
It is significant that when death closed
the active and inter-
esting career of Julia Bundy Foraker
there was a shock and
community sense of loss, because a
gracious figure in the city's
social life and an ardent worker in the
realm of politics and civic
affairs had been removed from the lines
of battle.
The personality and character of Julia
Bundy Foraker were
not dimmed nor overshadowed by the
brilliant career of her
husband. Their influence will be felt
long in her city, her state
and her country.
Cincinnati Enquirer, July 22, 1933.
The dash, courage and brilliancy of her
distinguished hus-
band made a record in which Mrs. Julia
Bundy Foraker found
constant pleasure. She stood by him
through it all. As she said
in her book, entitled, I would Live
It Again, she would do it
all again.
Governor and Senator Joseph Benson
Foraker never had a
more inspiring and dependable supporter
than she. From girl-
hood to her death at the age of 85 she
was in close contact with
politics and she was an uncompromising partisan.
During her
last year she found joy in helping a
movement to abolish the
direct primary system and restore the
old state party conventions.
Mrs. Foraker was a gracious woman, whose
gifts of mind
and charm of manner were of the greatest advantage to
her
husband on many occasions. With her
passing a distinguished
name is lost to the state and nation.
Ohio State Journal.
Mrs. Julia Bundy Foraker, 86, widow of
the late U. S.
Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, died at
her home, 1104 Cross
Lane, Friday.
Her interest in life was retained almost
to the hour of her
death. She refused to believe that her
illness which has kept her
in bed for the past eight weeks, could conquer her. She
con-
versed with her daughters, Mrs. Florence
Foraker Matthews and
Mrs. Victor N. Cushman (Louise Foraker,
Washington, D. C.)
404 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
talking of political and other news
events of the day. She said
once that she was sure she had
"turned the corner" to her
rugged health.
It was only a few hours before her death
that her active
mind became clouded and about three
hours before she died she
lapsed into a state of coma. With her
when she died were Mrs.
Matthews and Mrs. Cushman. A third
daughter who survives
her, Mrs. King Wainwright, of Bryn Mawr,
will arrive in Cin-
cinnati Friday.
Mrs. Foraker had always been an ardent
reader and especi-
ally liked to read the newspapers. Until
Thursday all during
her illness she never missed a single
day perusing the news of
the day and discussing it with those
about her. She had been
forbidden guests during her illness but
was permitted the news-
papers. * * *
Cincinnati Times-Star, July 21, 1933.
Though Mrs. Julia Bundy Foraker was born
and reared in
Jackson County and Cincinnati was home
to her through all her
married life, Columbus claimed her, for
it was here that the
Forakers had their official residence
while he was governor of
the state--four years of hectic
politics, in which he was rounding
out into a prominent figure in both the
state and nation. Four
times in succession her distinguished
husband was the candidate
of his party for the
governorship--defeated the first and fourth
times and successful the second and
third.
The home of the governor in the time of
the Forakers was
open to the people of Columbus, and its
occupants entered freely
into the social life of the city. Mrs.
Foraker formed many de-
lightful friendships in the capital city
which continued after they
returned to Cincinnati. Many a Columbus
matron, who does not
call herself old, heard of her death
yesterday with sincere regret
and was reminded of many pleasant
associations in the old days.
Mrs. Foraker's accomplishments in
politics came before the
day of woman's suffrage, but Mrs.
Foraker was a good politician
herself, and in addition to the help she
gave him as the mistress
of their hospitable home, she was his
reliable adviser and coun-
sellor in such matters always, as was
clearly brought out in her
recently published autobiography, I
would Live It Again. As
the wife of a truly great Ohioan she
admirably filled the place
that was hers.
Columbus Evening Dispatch.
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 405
MRS. FORAKER'S LAST VISIT TO COLUMBUS
The June issue of the Museum Echoes and
the local
papers of Columbus carried brief
accounts of Mrs. Julia
B. Foraker's visit to Columbus on May
11, 1933. She
came with her daughter Mrs. Florence
Foraker Mat-
thews to the Museum and Library
Building of the
Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society. They
reached the city about the noon hour
where they were
entertained at luncheon in the Faculty
Club room with
some friends as the guests of Mrs. C.
B. Galbreath.
They came to present personally some
rare and val-
uable gifts to the Library and the
Museum of the
Society. First of these was the
military coat worn by
Joseph Benson Foraker when he was a
captain in the
Civil War. This was probably worn by
the youthful
captain on the occasion to which
General William Te-
cumseh Sherman eloquently referred in
an address at
the reunion of the Army of the
Tennessee when Foraker
was Governor of Ohio. On that occasion
he said:
"Well I remember you, my young
friend (turning
to Governor Foraker) or boy, as you
came through the
pine woods that day on your horse
covered with lather
and came up like a soldier knight and
reported to me the
message from your General Slocum--a
knight errant
with steel cuirass, his lance in hand,
was a beautiful
thing, and you are his legitimate
successor--I wish you
all honor, all glory, all fame. I wish
you may rise to
the highest position this American
people can give you."
Foraker was a man of pleasing presence
and per-
sonality. His was a soldierly bearing.
In uniform he
was especially attractive. General
Sherman did not err
406 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications when he associated this dashing young soldier with the legends of knighthood and chivalry. Mrs. Foraker brought with her also to present to the Society a copy of a de luxe edition of Tributes to Abra- ham Lincoln, which was presented to her father Con- gressman Bundy by William H. Seward, a member of |
|
Lincoln's Cabinet, and Notes of a Busy Life, in two vol- umes, by her husband, J. B. Foraker. One of her last acts was to send her autograph to be included in her book I Would Live It Again. The photographs from which the portrait was made for the review of her book and the group picture for this |
Mrs. Julia B. Foraker 407
account of her visit were the last she
had taken. We
are under obligation for them to Edward
Sinclair
Thomas of the Society staff.
JULIA BUNDY FORAKER
Julia Bundy Foraker was born June 17,
1847. As
stated in this review, she was the
daughter of Hezekiah
Sanford and Caroline (Paine) Bundy. Her
book is her
autobiography. A fuller account of the
Bundy family
is found in the Biographical
Cyclopaedia and Portrait
Gallery with an Historical Sketch of
the State of Ohio,
Vol. V. pp. 1151-1152.
As has been frequently noted, her life
was rich in
contacts, associations and
opportunities to view at close
range the great and near-great. With
health and oppor-
tunity for so many years she was well
equipped to write
a book that shall extend the fame of
those who have a
place on its pages. When many of the
eminent men and
women of the times of which she writes
would have been
forgotten they will doubtless be
revived in memory, for
Mrs. Foraker's book will have generations
of readers
long after she said "good-by to
the game." When one
lays I Would Live It Again aside
he wonders why she
wrote only one book. Well might the
English reviewer
of the London Sunday Times say
"One can recall no
autobiography by an American woman so
delicious as
that of Mrs. Foraker, who is a born
writer."
After a visit to Columbus on her way to
commence-
ment of her alma mater at Delaware, she
returned to her
home in Cincinnati. Afterward she was
taken ill and
confined to her room. She continued
cheerful and hope-
ful and expressed the faith that she
would be in her
408
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
usual health again. Toward the last she
became uncon-
scious and passed peacefully away July
21, 1933.
Mrs. Foraker was, for many years,
active in a num-
ber of patriotic societies, among them
the Daughters of
the American Revolution, the Colonial
Dames of Amer-
ica, the George Washington Memorial
Association, the
Daughters of Founders and Patriots, the
National So-
ciety of New England Women, the
Daughters of 1812
and the Ohio State Chapter of the
National Society of
Colonial Daughters of America, of which
she was
Honorary Vice President General.
She is survived by three daughters,
Mrs. Victor
Cushman, Washington, D. C.; Mrs. King
Wainwright,
Philadelphia; and Mrs. Florence
Matthews, Cincinnati.
Two sons, J. Benson Foraker, Jr., and
Arthur St. Clair
Foraker, now are dead.
Mrs. Foraker is survived by seven
grandchildren:
the four children of Mrs.
Matthews--Foraker Mat-
thews, Miss Mary Randolph Matthews, now
traveling
abroad, Miss Caroline Matthews and Mrs.
Florence
Matthews Scott; the only child of Mrs.
Wainwright--J.
Foraker Wainwright of Bryn Mawr; and
two daugh-
ters of the late Arthur St. Clair
Foraker--Pauline Stone
Foraker and Julia Benson Foraker, named
for Mrs. For-
aker and the late Senator.
In the list of those surviving her
besides her daugh-
ters and her grandchildren is her
sister, Mrs. Eliza
Wells, who still lives at the scene of
her childhood and
that of Mrs. Foraker, Wellston, Ohio.
MRS. JULIA B. FORAKER
A REVIEW OF HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY
By C. B. GALBREATH
In his Notes of a Busy Life, Senator
J. B. Foraker
pays the following tribute to his wife:
But among all the pleasing memories that
attach to Delaware
one remains to be mentioned that
outranks all others, considered
either separately or collectively. It
was there I met, courted and
became engaged to Miss Julia Bundy,
daughter of Hon. H. S.
Bundy, of Jackson County, Ohio, at that
time, and for a number
of terms, the Representative of his
district in Congress. She was
a student at the Ohio Wesleyan Female
College and was grad-
uated from that institution in the class
of 1868. Our marriage
followed October 4, 1870, and through
all the years that have
since followed she has been my faithful,
efficient helpmeet, shar-
ing alike my joys and sorrows, my
triumphs and defeats. No
man was ever blessed with a better wife.
When that is said all
is said, for it includes and is intended
to include all that is em-
braced in the entire range of the
rights, privileges, responsibilities
and duties of wife, mother and companion
in an American family.
Mrs. Foraker was the daughter of
Hezekiah S.
Bundy who served in the State House of
Representa-
tives and Senate of Ohio and in the
National House of
Representatives from 1865-1867,
1873-1875 and from
1893-1895.
In her remarkable book which has been
character-
ized as "one of the wittiest
volumes of social and po-
litical reminiscences that have been
published in many
years," the reader, whether or not
he personally knew
any or many of the eminent characters
who make their
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