August 6, 1914: Ellen Wilson, wife of President Woodrow Wilson, dies. She remains the last First Lady of the United States to die "in office."
Ellen Louise Axson was born on May 15, 1860 in Savannah, Georgia. She was the child of a Presbyterian minister, as was Woodrow Wilson, whom she married on June 24, 1885. The ceremony was performed by 2 men: Woodrow's father and Ellen's grandfather, also a minister. The couple went on to have 3 daughters: Margaret in 1886, Jessie in 1887, and Eleanor in 1889.
Although Woodrow studied at Princeton University, and taught at Bryn Mawr College, Wesleyan University and Princeton, and served as President of Princeton and Governor of New Jersey, he was a Southerner through and through. As it turned out, so were both of the women he ended up marrying. Ellen Wilson's father, despite being a man of God, owned slaves. She was so Southern, she went to visit relatives in Gainesville, Georgia when her 1st two births approached, because she insisted that her children "must not be born as Yankees." She did not get her wish the 3rd time: Eleanor was born in Middletown, Connecticut, where Wesleyan is.
In spite of her Southernness, and her husband's re-segregation of federal government jobs, Mrs. Wilson took up the cause of improving housing in the national capital's largely black slums. She visited dilapidated alleys, and brought them to the attention of debutantes and Congressmen.
Unfortunately, both she and her husband were sicker than they let on. He had a stroke in 1906, and suffered from arteriosclerosis for the rest of his life. And she developed Bright's disease. This is a kidney disorder, treatable today, but, at the time, a death sentence within 5 years.
It caused the deaths of President Chester Arthur, and Alice Roosevelt, the 1st wife of President Theodore Roosevelt. Also Vice President James S. Sherman, Speaker of the House Thomas B. Reed, Canadian founding father George-Étienne Cartier, photographer Matthew Brady, department store founders R.H. Macy and R.W. Sears, poet Emily Dickinson, and father of genetics Gregor Mendel.
By a macabre coincidence, Catherine Eddowes, one of the victims of Jack the Ripper, was found to have it, meaning she might not have lived much longer, anyway; and so did Thomas Bowyer, who found the body of the Ripper's last victim, Mary Jane Kelly. The disease would later kill civil rights activist Booker T. Washington, circus impresario Al Ringling, baseball star Ross Youngs, and "Birdman of Alcatraz" Robert Stroud.
World War I came at the beginning of August 1914, and while the United States was not yet directly involved, it still had an effect on the country: The New York Stock Exchange closed. And the country had a President who was emotionally paralyzed by the fact that his wife was dying.
Ellen passed away on August 6, and Woodrow fell into a deep depression. He didn't snap out of it until he met Edith Galt, whom he married on December 18, 1915.
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August 6, 1914 was a Thursday. There were 3 major leagues in baseball that season. There were no games played in the American League that day. In the National League:
* The New York Giants lost to the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at the Polo Grounds. Bert Humphries outpitched Christy Mathewson.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-2 at Ebbets Field.
* The Boston Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4 in 10 innings at the 3rd and last version of the South End Grounds in Boston. Five days later, the Braves played their last game there, after 44 seasons. They played the rest of their home schedule groundsharing with the Red Sox at Fenway Park, including the World Series. Late in the 1915 season, they left Fenway for the new Braves Field.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia.
In the Federal League:
* The Brooklyn Tip-Tops beat the Kansas City Packers, 2-0 at Washington Park in Brooklyn.
* The Baltimore Terrapins beat the Chicago Whales, 5-2 at Terrapin Park in Baltimore.
* The Buffalo Blues swept a doubleheader from the Indianapolis Hoosiers, 4-1 and 4-3 at Federal League Park in Buffalo.
* And the Pittsburgh Rebels beat the St. Louis Terriers, 6-5 at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh.
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