Adèle Cutts Douglas (New York Times)
Obituary
Mrs. Robert Williams.
Mrs. Robert Williams, who married Stephen A. Douglas in the zenith of his political career, and who was one of the most brilliant figures in Washing ton society life since the days of Dolly Madison, died at her residence in Washington Thursday night. She was a Miss Adele Cutts, a daughter of James Madison Cutts, once Controller of the Treasury. She married Stephen A. Douglas, and accompanied him in his famous political campaign about the country just prior to the civil war. On his death she lived the life of a recluse until she met Adjutant Gen. Williams and was married to him.
“Mrs. Robert Williams,” New York Times, January 28, 1899, p. 7: 4.
Adèle Cutts Douglas (American National Biography)
Scholarship
In November 1856, following Buchanan's election as president, Adèle and Douglas's marriage was solemnized by a Roman Catholic priest in what was widely reported as the social event of the season in the national capital. Their wedding trip to New York (to visit Douglas's mother) and Chicago was marked by public suppers and receptions, at which every detail of Adèle's dress and appearance was recorded in the press. "It is difficult to say," wrote one observer, "whether the genius of the husband or the beauty of the wife attracts the most homage" (Harper's Weekly, 26 Dec. 1857).
To many the couple appeared an unlikely match. A widower with two small sons, Douglas was twenty-two years older than Adèle and lacked the refinement for which she was known. Since his first wife's death in 1853, Douglas had shunned society, allowed his whiskers to grow, and assumed a decidedly shabby appearance. Marriage to Adèle worked a remarkable change. He shaved his whiskers and trimmed his hair, cut down on his drinking, and appeared in a new, neat-fitting suit. From a frequenter of "crossroads taverns and city oyster saloons" Douglas had been transformed "into quite a genial and courtly aristocrat" (New York Herald, 20 Dec. 1856).
To many the couple appeared an unlikely match. A widower with two small sons, Douglas was twenty-two years older than Adèle and lacked the refinement for which she was known. Since his first wife's death in 1853, Douglas had shunned society, allowed his whiskers to grow, and assumed a decidedly shabby appearance. Marriage to Adèle worked a remarkable change. He shaved his whiskers and trimmed his hair, cut down on his drinking, and appeared in a new, neat-fitting suit. From a frequenter of "crossroads taverns and city oyster saloons" Douglas had been transformed "into quite a genial and courtly aristocrat" (New York Herald, 20 Dec. 1856).
Robert W. Johannsen, "Douglas, Adèle Cutts," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-01275.html.
