Hobart often served as White House hostess because the first lady, Ida Saxton McKinley, suffered from epilepsy and other chronic ailments.
Biography
Portrait of Hobart
Born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey, Hobart was the daughter of the prominent attorney Socrates Tuttle and his wife, Jane Winters. Her mother died soon after birth, leaving Hobart to be raised by her step-mother, Elizabeth Willer Tuttle.[1] She married Garret Hobart in Paterson on July 21, 1869, at the start of his career as a lawyer and politician. They had four children, two of whom died in childhood. The other two were Garret Jr. and Fannie, who died in 1895.
During the American women's suffrage movement, Hobart positioned herself as definitively anti-suffrage. She organized the New Jersey Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage and held regular meetings.[2]
When the McKinley family moved into the White House after President McKinley's inauguration, the Hobart family leased a mansion across the square that came to be known as the "Little Cream White House," formally the Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House.[4] Hobart would daily visit, and often stand in for, Ida McKinley with whom she shared a close friendship.[5] Mrs. McKinley's poor health during the first two years of McKinley's administration led to Hobart taking over many duties typically reserved for the First Lady. President McKinley would use a pre-arranged signal of holding a newspaper before Hobart when Mrs. McKinley was about to faint, alerting her to take over the entertainment of guests.[1]
