James Buchanan, Presidential Library & Museum, Wheatland, PA.,7/10/2014

After breakfast today, July 10, 2014 Joyce, Lisa and I drove out to Wheatland, Pennsylvania to tour the James Buchanan Presidential Library and Museum. He was the 15th president of the United State. It is an outstanding facility considering its age.and the grounds are beautiful beyond description. There are a vast variety of trees and plantings. Many of the trees are at least 5 feet in diameter and must be close to 200 feet tall. The tours through the house are  guided  which are excellent but first a little about our 15th president. He was born April 23, 1791 in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania in his father's log cabin trading post an area that was on the edge of civilization. The Allegheny  mountains were a barrier to the west at that time.  His father did well in the trading post and they moved to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania and opened a dry goods store. James did well in school and went on to graduate from Dickinson College which was nearby. After graduation he became an attorney and settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He became interested in politics. He served in the Pennsylvania State Legislature and the U. S. Congress. He also was an Ambassador to Russia and Great Britain. I addition he received an appointment as Secretary of State. Buchanan had the misfortune to be president at a time when he faced an issue that was virtually impossible to solve. The issue -- States Rights. The issue of states having the right to own slaves. When he did things that the South liked he only alienated to North. He left office strongly supporting the Union and Lincoln's policies and was happy to leave Washington and return to Lancaster. Many blame him for starting the Civil War. The statement that he made to President Lincoln as Lincoln took office best sums up his feelings. He said, " If you are as happy, dear sir, on entering this house as I am on leaving it and returning home, you are the happiest man in the country." 

As indicated earlier Buchanan following graduation from college moved to Lancaster and became an attorney. He loved the area. Wheatland where his Presidential Library and Museum is located was built in 1828 by a wealthy Lancaster banker and received the name " Wheatland "  because it was surrounded by fields of wheat. In 1848, the house was purchased by Secretary of State James Buchanan as a country estate. He loved the quiet and serenity of the place as compared to the hustle and bustle of public life but this quite was not to last long. His library which is pictured later was destined to become the focal point or area of much political activity during his presidential campaigns in 1852 and 1856.

President Buchanan died June 1, 1868 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

The house and the four acres that surround it was purchased in 1936 and restored by the James Buchanan Foundation. It today instills the sense that you are in a house occupied by a wealthy country gentleman. The house is large with many rooms and had a large staff that was needed to serve as many as 25 guest. The rooms are large when compared to standards for that day but were necessary because of his extensive social and political activities. His niece Harriet Lane entertained playing the piano.

Author A. Cranston Jones in describing Wheatland said, " The great charm of visiting Wheatland is that so much of the tang and aroma of this pastoral existence can be sensed. So magnificently are the rooms maintained, with their Lancaster hostesses in period crinolines, that one almost  expects to catch sight of Miss Hetty tidying up the polar, Harriet Lane once again adjusting her shirt before her fingers ripple the first chords on the Chickering grand, or find the elegant and reserved President Buchanan himself standing at the head of the table, ceremoniously greeting each guest in turn. "

One of the interesting items about Buchanan is that he was a bachelor so his niece and ward served as the White House hostess ( you might say first lady ) for him. She was a very attractive lady and became the belle of Washington. Her mother died when she was nine years old and her father died a couple of years later. so she and her sister became wards of Buchanan who was a U. S. Senator at the time. He moved them from various schools to further their education. Eventually he had her transferred to a school in Washington,D. C. so she could be closer to him. The school often complained to him that he was interfering with her education by taking her out of school so much to be with him. He wanted her to help during the social seasons in Washington. As she matured she became an important helper for Buchanan. She became his confident and advisor on many matters and in fact ran the social functions in the White House. She often traveled with him on overseas trips and it was regularly seen that she sat in on meeting he had with personages of foreign governments. She became a favorite of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and became very close to the Queen. Queen Victoria often referred to her as " dear miss Lane ". In the White House she worked closely with her first cousin James Buchanan " Buck " Henry who had also been raised by Buchanan. It is reported that she was very flirtatious  and many men both in the United States and overseas made approaches to her but she did not take any of them seriously. It seems that Buchanan had always drilled into her the idea that she should not become serious about any man until she was sure he was able to sustain and support her financially. After he left the White House and moved back to Wheatland she became seriously involved with Henry Elliott Johnston who she had known ( I believe ) from her teen age years. She was reluctant  to move forward with this relationship because of Buchanan's failing health but he insisted so she was married to Johnston 11 Jan., 1866. She was 35 years old when she married and bore two boys.  In a relatively short period of time she lost her sister, both boys and her husband. She was a very interesting woman and Mercersburg, Pennsylvania has historical sites about her as well as President Buchanan.

This Building Houses The Entrance For The Buchanan Presidential Library And Museum. There Is A Small Book Store. A Short Film About Buchanan. An Art Gallery And Of Course Where You Sign Up For The Guided Tour.

Presidential Library & Museum Sign

 Tour Guide Dressed In Period Dress. She Was An Excellent Guide Who Was Knowledgeable And In Some Instances Acted Out The Part. Today She Was Working With An Apprentice Guide Who Led Us Through Certain Rooms, In The Photographs You Will See The Apprentice Dressed In A Blue Dress. She Explained That They Only Wear Two Small Hoops 
In The Dress Rather Than The Larger Ones. She Said With The Larger Hoops You Had To Squat To Pick Something Up Rather Than Bend Over. If You Bent Over The Hoops Raised And You Exposed Your Whole Back Side.

 Carriage House And Outdoor Bathroom

Another Outside Building For Storage

 Outdoor Bathroom

Inside Outdoor Bath Room. Note The Different Size Holes And The Varying Heights Of The Seats. At These Older Homes I Have Seen Many Outdoor Bathrooms But None As 
Elaborate As This One.

Carriage House Today Was Not Open For Viewing

Carriage House Sign

Corn Milling Stone

Corn Milling Stone

 James Buchanan Home, Back Entrance  This Is Where The Tours Start.

 Beautiful Front Yard Of Buchanan Home

 Front Entrance Of Buchanan Home

 Front Entrance Of Buchanan Home

 Front Entrance Of Buchanan Home

 Looking From Front Of House Back Toward The Street

One Of Several Huge Sycamore Tree

 Front Entrance

 Apprentice Tour Guide Talks To Us In The Entry Way

 Our Tour Group In Entry Way And We Met A Few People Who Had Entered The House Without A Guide And This Caused A Few Awkward Moments.

 Dining Room Area With Joyce And Lisa Looking At The Table. The Apprentice Guide Tells Us About It While The Senior Guide Escorted The People Mentioned In The Above Photograph Out Of The Building.

China Cabinet

 China Cabinet

Table In The Dining Room

Monogram  China ( I Believe This Was Harriet's China )

Monogram China 

President James Buchanan

Another Dining Area Off The Main Dining Room. Note The Fireplace

Enlargement Of Dining Table. Buchanan Entertained A Lot So The House Had Several 
Rooms Such As This Where He Could Receive Guests. It Was Often The Practice For Just Social Visits To Sit Around A Table Such As This And Read Poetry. Items Of Poetry Lie On 
The Table Now. 

Couch In Sitting Area

 You Can See That The Room Was Well Lite With Several Windows. In Cold Weather These Windows Also Caused A Lot Of Loss Of Heat So They Had The Very Heavy Drapes You See To Help Hold The Heat In The House.

 Another Couch

Overhead Light Fixture

Side Table ( I Believe This Is James Buchanan " Buck " Henry )

Old Rendering On How This Room Might Have Been Used With The Men Smoking, 
Reading And Talking.

 Buchanan Desk

Buchanan Desk

Buchanan Presidential Desk

 Chickering Grand Piano Played By Harriet Lane Buchanan's Niece and Hostess

Old Writing Desk

Harriet Lane Johnston President Buchanan's Niece

 Elaborate Fireplace, Mirror And Wall Paper Adorn This Room

Buchanan's Library Which Contain Much That Has Been Written About Him. Much Political Discussions Took Place In This Room

Buchanan Was A Mason. He Was Initiated December 11, 1816 In Lodge Number 43, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He Became Worshipful Master of Lodge Number 43, 1822 - 1823 And In 1824 He Was Appointed District Deputy Grand Master For The Counties Of Lancaster, York And Lebanon.

Bookcases In Buchanan's Library

Apprentice Guide Tells Us About This Room

Bedroom 

Bedroom  Note The Doll

Wash Basin

 Fire Place In Bed Room

 This Is A Close Up Of The Doll Shown Above. Many Ladies In This Time Period Had Adult Like Dolls

Another Bedroom

You Can See The Circular Bathtub Between Joyce And Lisa 

 Chair With Hole For Indoor Bathroom To Be Used In The Middle Of The Night.  I Am Sure 
You Can Understand How This Worked Without Me Having To Explain It.

Interesting Shaped Bathtub

 Buchanan Bedroom

 Furniture In Buchanan's Bedroom

 Another Writing/Work Desk

Apprentice Tour Guide Explains Details Of This Room

Book Case Off Buchanan's Bedroom. One Of Our Tour Members Is Pictured Here.

Wash Basin

 Metal Bathtub With Running Water

Another Wash Basin

Another Bedroom. It Was Explained That President Buchanan Had Many Visitors And They And Their Family Often Would Stay The Night So The House Had Many Bedrooms.

Chest In The Kitchen 

 Display Table In The Kitchen

Lisa Looks At The Dumb Waiter On The Left And A Wall Cabinet Directly In Front Of Her.

This was a very interesting tour. The guide advised that the house it decorated at Christmas time and is most beautiful. I may just have to make it back over there to see that and see the Christmas show at Sight & Sound Theater.

Grandpa Bill