Gilded Age Collections

(Description ID: 594245)

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

Mildred McLean Hazen Dewey

GA-52

Introduction
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content
Inventory

Introduction
The memoir of Mildred McLean Hazen Dewey was acquired by the Hayes Presidential Center in 1990.

Biographical Sketch
Mildred McLean Hazen Dewey was the daughter of Washington and Mary Darneal McLean. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1850. Washington McLean was the owner of the Cincinnati Enquirer and was a prominent figure in the Democratic Party. Mildred McLean married General William B. Hazen, a career soldier of Civil War and Indian War fame, in 1871. They had a daughter who died in infancy and a son who died at the age of twenty-two in 1898. General Hazen died in 1887. Mildred Hazen became a fixture of Washington, D.C., society and married Admiral George Dewey in 1899. Mrs. Dewey died February 21, 1931.

Scope and Content
The bulk of this collection is a handwritten memoir by Mrs. Dewey in 1896. It is 144 pages long and recounts her childhood and marriage to General Hazen. The memoir ends in mid-sentence while recounting incidents of the 1870s. Her memoir includes observations of other nationally-known nineteenth century figures including William T. Sherman, William Belknap, Kate Chase Sprague, Ulysses Grant, and James G. Blaine.

Inventory
Ac. 5142
1/4 linear ft.

Folder 1 - Memoir (handwritten) 1896
Folder 2 - In Memoriam: Washington McLean December 8, 1890,
                    Gibson Bros. Printers and Bookbinders: Washington, D.C.
Folder 3 - Photographs:
                    John McLean Hazen ca. 10 years old.
                            Cabinet card by G. W. Davis, 925 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C.
                    Mildred McLean Hazen Dewey ca. 50 years old.
                            6 x 11 albumen print. Lambert & Son, Folkestone & Dover