One of the challenges in writing biography is the ability to confirm your sources. What that means "in translation" is that some information that a writer uncovers during research may not make it into the final draft, because there is no way to verify the material.
This is the case with some of the information that I learned about Frances Cleveland - most of which came from family members who were willing to talk with me about her, with the understanding that it would be off the record.
My daughter wrote a kind and fair assessment of the book, Frank, and she echoed observations that I have heard from others and that a blogger from England noted in her review of the book. What else did Frances do following her marriage to Thomas Preston? Did she do more than engage in a variety of volunteer work?
Well, the answer to that question is 'yes and no.' Frances' volunteer activities framed the basis for her entire life. She was driven by an internal sense of duty that drove most of her activities. I believe that sense of duty was initially planted by her commitment to the Presbyterian church, of which she was a lifelong member, reinforced by the tutelage of Wells College's "lady principal" (i.e., dean), Helen Fairchild Smith, and supported by Grover Cleveland, who had the same type of internal compass (Cleveland's last words are reported to have been: "I tried so hard to do right.").
Duty also dictated her role as a matriarch in the lives of her four surviving children, and she stayed engaged in their lives, and in the lives of her grandchildren, until her death. Here's a snapshot of some vignettes that were not included in the book:
Son, Richard, divorced his first wife, Ellen, because her alcoholism had become more than he could cope with. Frances, concerned about the maternal influence of the three children from that marriage, made a point of having them spend time with her during the summer months at her home in Tamworth, New Hampshire. Ann Cleveland, the eldest of Richard's children, was close friends with her cousin, Marion Cleveland, the daughter of the youngest of Frances and Grover's offspring, Francis Grover Cleveland. Throughout her life, Frances insisted on strict observance of the Sabbath. However, one Sunday evening, Ann decided that she would go bowling with Marion. The next morning, "Granny," as Frances was affectionately called, summoned Ann to her office. "Where did you go last night?" Frances demanded of her granddaughter. Ann replied that she had gone bowling with her cousin, Marion. "What am I supposed to say to Mrs. Findley?" (Frances' close friend who also had a home in Tamworth). Ann wanted to know why her going bowling with Marion would be a problem; after all, 'Granny' wasn't chastising Marion. "Marion's allowed to go bowling on Sundays," Frances explained. "She's in the theater."
Frances loved the theater, and she was once quoted as saying she could spend every night there, if she had the chance. During the latter years of her life, she sold tickets for her son Francis Grover's summer theater, located in Tamworth, and Thomas Preston served as the usher. By the 1930s, very few people recognized the white haired woman who cheerfully sold tickets as a former first lady, and she said that she liked the anonymity, because it allowed her to listen to honest comments about the performance, that she would then pass on to her son.
One of the unresolved questions of Frances' life was the sexuality of her second husband, Thomas Preston. A bachelor until he married Frances when he was 52 years old, there are some hints that Preston may have been a homosexual. Some of his behaviors point to the possibility: his manner of dress and his interests; the frequency with which the couple went their separate ways for extended periods of time; his extended bachelorhood.
The other side of the relationship is that it is very clear that there was companionship between the couple. As pointed out in the book, Preston traveled all over the world with Frances, something Grover Cleveland never would have done. He played the piano at their Tamworth home on Sunday evenings for an in-home worship service and hymn-singing (Frances was reported to have had a beautiful soprano voice), and, as noted above, he served as an usher for Francis Grover's summer theater. The "jury is out" on his sexual orientation, but the commitment the two had to each other appears to be real.
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