Ellen Louise Wilson

Ellen Axson Wilson (May 15, 1860–August 6, 1914), first wife of Woodrow Wilson, was First Lady of the United States from 1913 until her death. Born Ellen Louise Axson in Savannah, Georgia, the daughter of the Reverend Samuel Edward Axson, a Presbyterian minister, and Margaret Jane (née Hoyt) Axson, Ellen was a lady of refined tastes with a fondness for art, music and literature. Thomas Woodrow Wilson first saw her when he was about six and she on... more

Ellen Axson Wilson (May 15, 1860–August 6, 1914), first wife of Woodrow Wilson, was First Lady of the United States from 1913 until her death. Born Ellen Louise Axson in Savannah, Georgia, the daughter of the Reverend Samuel Edward Axson, a Presbyterian minister, and Margaret Jane (née Hoyt) Axson, Ellen was a lady of refined tastes with a fondness for art, music and literature. Thomas Woodrow Wilson first saw her when he was about six and she only a baby. In April 1883, Woodrow visited his cousin Jesse Woodrow Wilson in Rome, Georgia and met Ellen again -- she was now keeping house for her widowed father. He thought, "what splendid laughing eyes!". They were engaged five months later but postponed the wedding, while he did postgraduate work at Johns Hopkins University and she nursed her ailing father. Wilson, aged 28, married Ellen, aged 25, on June 24, 1885 at the home of the bride's paternal grandfather in Savannah, Georgia. The wedding was performed jointly by his father, the... less