Lucy Hayes Herron Explained

Lucy Hayes Herron
Birth Date:8 November 1877
Birth Place:Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Death Place:Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Nationality:American
Other Names:Lucy Hayes Herron Laughlin, Lucy Hayes Herron Lippitt

Lucy Hayes Herron Laughlin Lippitt (November 8, 1877 – July 27, 1961) was an American socialite and amateur golfer.

Early life

Herron was born in 1877 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of John Williamson Herron, a lawyer, and Harriet Anne Collins Herron. Her older sister, Helen Herron Taft, was the wife of President William Howard Taft and first lady of the United States.[1] Lucy was baptized in the White House and named for Lucy Webb Hayes, wife of her father’s close friend President Rutherford B. Hayes.[2] [3] Some sources give her birth date as 1878 or 1879 (including her tombstone), but she was "born shortly after the election of Mr. Hayes" and named for the new first lady, which places her birth and baptism in 1877.[4]

Her maternal grandfather Ela Collins was a Congressman in the 1820s, as was an uncle, William Collins. Another uncle, Isaac Clinton Collins, was an Ohio state legislator and a judge.

Golf

Herron was a serious amateur golfer and a member of the Cincinnati Golf Club. Because she was from Ohio, she was considered a "Western" golfer: "Miss Herron, who is strong on the putting green, is another one of the formidable golfers, who, of both sexes, the West is sending out to test Eastern skill to its utmost," commented one publication at the time.[5] Her swing was described as "beautiful" "quick, machine-like" by colleagues.[6] In 1897, she finished third in the U.S. Women's Amateur.[7] In 1899, she won the Women's Golf Association Trophy in Philadelphia.[8] She reached the finals of the 1901 U.S. Women's Amateur, held at Baltusrol Golf Club, where Genevieve Hecker defeated her.[9] [10] [11] The golfer Frances C. Griscom listed her among the top women golfers in the United States.[12]

Personal life

Herron's first husband was steel company executive Thomas McKennan Laughlin, the brother of ambassador Irwin B. Laughlin. They married in 1903,[13] [14] and she was widowed in 1910, when he committed suicide.[15] They had two sons, William K. Laughlin and Thomas Irwin Laughlin. In 1911, she was rumored to be engaged to Archibald Butt, an aide to President Taft. She denied the rumors, they did not marry, and he died in 1912 on the Titanic.[16] [17]

She married her second husband, Senator Henry Frederick Lippitt, a widower, in 1915.[18] With Lippitt, she had another son, Frederick Lippitt, who became a congressman, and a daughter, Mary Ann Lippitt, a pilot during World War II and later owner of an aviation company in Rhode Island. She was widowed again when Lippitt died in 1933.[19] She died in 1961, in Providence, Rhode Island.[20] She had a reported estate of eight million dollars, and left significant gifts to Rhode Island children's, medical, and cultural charities.[21] Neither of her Lippitt children married; but both were major benefactors of Brown University, which jointly awarded them the President's Medal for their contributions.[22] She is buried with her second husband and younger children at Swan Point Cemetery in Providence.

Her notable nephews and nieces included Robert A. Taft, Helen Taft Manning, and Charles Phelps Taft II.[23]

Notes and References

  1. News: Mrs. Taft's Father Dead . August 5, 1912 . News-Journal . July 14, 2019 . 2 . Newspapers.com.
  2. Book: Anderson, Greta . Ohio's Remarkable Women: Daughters, Wives, Sisters, and Mothers Who Shaped History . 2015-11-01 . Rowman & Littlefield . 9781493016754 . 83.
  3. Book: Waldrup, Carole Chandler . Wives of the American Presidents . 2nd . 2016-04-06 . McFarland . 9781476605166 . 124–125.
  4. Book: Taft, Helen Herron . Recollections of Full Years . Lucy Hayes Herron. . 1914 . Dodd, Mead . 6.
  5. November 1901 . Women Golf Champions . Outing . 39 . 240–241.
  6. Book: Ruth . Underhill . Beatrix . Hoyt . The Book of Sport . Leonard & Company . 1903 . 36.
  7. News: Women Will Play Golf . October 11, 1898 . Star-Gazette . July 14, 2019 . 6 . Newspapers.com.
  8. Book: Spalding's Official Golf Guide . Lucy Herron golf. . 1900 . American Sports Publishing Company . 96.
  9. Web site: U.S. Women's Amateur . Baltusrol Golf Club . 2019-07-13.
  10. News: Miss Hecker is Champion; She Triumphs Over Miss Herron by Five Up and Three to Play . October 13, 1901 . The New York Times.
  11. November 1, 1901 . The American Women's Championship . Golf Illustrated . 10 . 88–89.
  12. Griscom . Frances C. . December 1902 . American and English Women as Golfers . Outing . 41 . 377–378 .
  13. Book: Rich, Gaius Barrett . Sexennial Record of the Class of 1897, Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University . 1903 . Dorman Lithographing Company . 39–40.
  14. News: Untitled news item . December 28, 1902 . The Pittsburgh Press . July 14, 2019 . 10 . Newspapers.com.
  15. News: Thomas K. Laughlin Took His Own Life . March 13, 1910 . The New York Times . July 13, 2019 . 1 . NewspaperArchive.com.
  16. News: Taft's Aid Will Soon Be His Brother-in-Law . May 24, 1911 . San Francisco Call . July 13, 2019 . 1 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  17. News: Taft's Sister-in-Law Says She's Not Engaged . May 27, 1911 . Journal Gazette . July 14, 2019 . 1 . Newspapers.com.
  18. News: Senator Lippitt and his Bride . April 28, 1915 . Reading Times . July 14, 2019 . 5 . Newspapers.com.
  19. News: Ex-Senator Lippitt Dies at Providence . December 29, 1933 . The Boston Globe . July 14, 2019 . 19 . Newspapers.com.
  20. News: Mrs. Lucy H. Lippitt . July 28, 1961 . The News-Messenger . July 14, 2019 . 2 . Newspapers.com.
  21. News: Senator's Widow Leaves $8 Million . August 4, 1961 . The Boston Globe . July 14, 2019 . 32 . Newspapers.com.
  22. Web site: Brown University Portrait Collection . Brown University Office of the Curator . 2019-07-13.
  23. News: Mrs. Lucy Lippitt, Aunt of Councilman . July 28, 1961 . The Cincinnati Enquirer . July 14, 2019 . 16 . Newspapers.com.