Harriet (Stanwood) Blaine (1827-1903)
Mrs Harriet (Stanwood) Blaine
She was born in Augusta, Maine, the daughter of a prosperous wool merchant. Becoming a schoolteacher, she taught at Millersburgh, Kentucky, where she met her husband-to-be, James G. Blaine, to whom she was married secretly in 1850 and officially in 1851 at Pittsburgh. They first lived in Philadelphia until her family bought Blaine a controlling interest in the Kennebec Journal and they moved back to Augusta. Harriet was a devoted wife throughout her husband's choppy political career and she was known for her, "sage advice and generous hospitality". She is best remembered for her correspondence which The New York Times found, "remarkable for their beauty of expression, cleverness and originality". They were edited and published as a book in 1908, entitled, "Letters of Mrs. James G. Blaine". Harriet and James had seven children, including three daughters: Mrs Alice Coppinger; Mrs Margaret Damrosch; and, Mrs Harriet Beale.
