Kate Chase Sprague, Visiting Camp

[JPK Huson 1863]

Do not wish to become too wordy, posting this- I suppose most know who Kate Chase was, the beautiful, much sought-after, socialite daughter of wealthy Salmon Chase, Lincoln's treasury secretary. Carl Schurtz, another politician, left us this on Kate,

" She was about eighteen years old, tall and slender and exceedingly well formed. . . . Her little nose, somewhat audaciously tipped up, could perhaps not have passed muster with a severe critic, but it fitted pleasingly into her face with its large, languid, but at the same time vivacious hazel eyes, shaded by long dark lashes and arched over by proud eyebrows. The fine forehead was framed in waving, gold-brown hair. She had something imperial in the pose of the head, and all her movements possessed an exquisite natural charm. No wonder that she came to be admired as a great beauty and broke many hearts. After the usual commonplaces, the conversation at the breakfast table, in which Miss Kate took a lively and remarkably intelligent part, soon turned itself upon politics. "

Her disasterous marriage to Rhode Island Gove. William Sprague did not-much to curtail Kate's efforts on behalf of her father's further political ambitions. This visit to the Federal camps in 1863 was probably in pursuit of good will for him as well as the Rhode Island troops. There's a lot written on how sad her life was but since this tends to center on how awful her marriage was, I don't take it completely seriously. Kate knew her own mind, got rid of a man who treated her poorly and for all we know was very happy to have done so.

Great photo, Kate next to General Ambercrombie, 1863

 

[donna]

Annie, another great find. She does look lovely, even at camp.

 

[kholland]

Great photo and story, Annie. Schurtz must have been speaking like a politician as she turned 23 in August of '63 and married Sprague on November 12th of that year (a week before Lincoln's Gettysburg speech).

 

[Seduzal]

Pretty lady. Never seen that picture with the generals' before. Thanks for posting.

 

[Allie]

Thanks for posting! I was looking at other pictures of Kate - look how short her hair is in this one. She must have used a lot of false hair, since it would take decades to go from this to her more usual look.

 

[Philip Leigh]

Do not wish to become too wordy, posting this- I suppose most know who Kate Chase was, the beautiful, much sought-after, socialite daughter of wealthy Salmon Chase, Lincoln's treasury secretary. Carl Schurtz, another politician, left us this on Kate,

Kate knew her own mind, got rid of a man who treated her poorly and for all we know was very happy to have done so.

Kate did not treat her husband very well either. For starters, she married him chiefly, if not exclusively, for his money.*

Although she denied it, there is good reason to believe that Ms. Sprague carried on a multi-year extramarital affair with New York senator Roscoe Conkling. According to biographer John Oller "By early 1879 their affair was the worst-kept secret in Washington."**

Additionally in his biography of Salmon P. Chase, John Niven reports that when Kate was pregnant with her second child the paternity of the child was a "subject of speculation."***

* Thomas and Marva Belden, So Fell the Angels (122)
** American Queen (178)
***Salmon P. Chase (443)

 

[hanna260]

Have you all ladies (and gentlemen!) read Team of Rivals, which actually focuses on Kate quite a bit? These are all wonderful pictures of a gorgeous lady. She was absolutely devoted to her father, who in turn doted on her- she was quite the hostess and Mr. Chase was exceedingly awkward- Team of Rivals makes a point that the man would always, without fail fumble a joke. Fanny Seward gushed about her parties, and she was for a while, the most sought after person in DC.

And I don't know if she married him for his money- at least initially. After all the affair with Conkling was in 1879, quite a long time for the whole thing to go sour. Also, she had a lot of options and her father and family wasn't exactly knocking at the poor house!

 

[Philip Leigh]

I don't know if she married him for his money. She had a lot of options and her father and family wasn't exactly knocking at the poor house!

Actually, Salmon P. Chase was almost perpetually short of money, partly because his political ambitions tempted him to live beyond his means.

 

[Patrick H]

These are very nice photos. I particularly like the third one, which appears to be shot at the youngest age, too. I'm sorry to admit I know nothing of this lady. Browsing through the posts above, it appears that she must have been a pretty free thinker for her day.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Well, I never, ever make up my mind about these personalities of the day until reading a good bit about them myself- Mary Lincoln's bios are still poisoned 150 years later by ' research ' done inside the work of one of her self appointed ' biographers' who was actually her assassin, William Herndon. The guy didn't even know her- a hanger-on societally but claimed to, to the point of giving lectures around the country ( paid ) where he just smeared her reputation. His book on her is chock-full of made-up nonsense and for some reason accepted as a source on her to this day. It's crazy.

I haven't read the book on Kate but if it's 100% anti-Kate, going to lengths to destroy her legacy I'm guessing it'll make me crazy No one had no redeeming qualities- and Kate sure had a lot of positive qualities regardless. I'd also wonder why on earth all these years later anyone would undertake an entire book ensuring we'd all think poorly of her. That seems as crazy as anything. And kind of mean, when these folks are no longer here to defend themselves, I mean, why?

 

[Philip Leigh]

Well, I never, ever make up my mind about these personalities of the day until reading a good bit about them myself- Mary Lincoln's bios are still poisoned 150 years later by ' research ' done inside the work of one of her self appointed ' biographers' who was actually her assassin, William Herndon. The guy didn't even know her- a hanger-on societally but claimed to, to the point of giving lectures around the country ( paid ) where he just smeared her reputation. His book on her is chock-full of made-up nonsense and for some reason accepted as a source on her to this day. It's crazy.

I haven't read the book on Kate but if it's 100% anti-Kate, going to lengths to destroy her legacy I'm guessing it'll make me crazy No one had no redeeming qualities- and Kate sure had a lot of positive qualities regardless. I'd also wonder why on earth all these years later anyone would undertake an entire book ensuring we'd all think poorly of her. That seems as crazy as anything. And kind of mean, when these folks are no longer here to defend themselves, I mean, why?

I cited three books, not one. But if you want a fourth there's Peg Lamphier's.

Only Oller's book is new. Lamphier's is 12 years old. The Belden's wrote theirs in the 1950s, and it's even more cocupiscent than Oller's.

 

[Northern Light]

JPK, for the same reason all those magazines that "grace" the supermarket check-outs are published. People love to read or hear about the lives of famous people, the nastier the better, with all the gory details of their lives splashed out for other people to drool over. A part of human nature, I guess, but not a very nice part.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Thanks for posting! I was looking at other pictures of Kate - look how short her hair is in this one. She must have used a lot of false hair, since it would take decades to go from this to her more usual look.

View attachment 60694

Sorry Allie, for some reason did not see that yesterday- I think I remember someone in another thread saying that photo of Kate was taken after a bad illness? Wish I could remember. Yes, and had no clue forever and ever they had fake hair 150 years ago- that came up in yet another thread. Duh. They would have had to for the reasons you said- hadn't occurred to me. Ha!

JPK, for the same reason all those magazines that "grace" the supermarket check-outs are published. People love to read or hear about the lives of famous people, the nastier the better, with all the gory details of their lives splashed out for other people to drool over. A part of human nature, I guess, but not a very nice part.

Yes, it's quite easy for Kate's life to sound awful. I'm guessing Salmon is tossed in there through sordid agenda- guess which one? Would Chase Bank have chosen him as a namesake if he were known to be dreadful with his personal finances? He was a rabid, solid abolitionist and a life-long advocate for the rights of African Americans- fought for our fellow citizens tooth and nail. You make a lot of enemies that way, he was left of Lincoln and it showed. He also had such an awful, tragic personal life that between his philanthropy and his tragic personal life I'm really surprised anyone went after the guy with a pen. Three wives died, three! One in childbirth, the first, 2 of TB, I think out of 5 children only 2 survived Kate was one. Like I said, trying to paint Salmon Chase in a negative light takes some doing- and more nastiness than most people can pull off.

Kate and he were close, good thing- Kate's marriage was a little doomed. Her biggest mistake was not seeing William bore all the signs of an indulged wealthy boy, and had a vile, vile temper. Kate Chase Sprague was the victim of domestic abuse- the real thing. I wasn't there so I do not know how she handled it- how does anyone? His drinking became worse, not better after the marriage, he had what seemed to be a gigantic ego ( had himself convinced because he managed to live through a battle he poorly managed he was a Great Leader- it didn't help. ) which required constant feeding. Kate could have married a number of the uber-wealthy men dotting Washington society at the time, History cannot claim she married Sprague for his money, that is supposition. He was certainly the polar opposite of her father, may have intrigued her. Seemed needy, their letter writing pre-wedding is fairly one-sided, maybe she liked that, too, someone to ' take care of' appealed to Kate.

And yes, she began living apart from William. No one likes to get into the domestic violence scenes which drove this woman away- it's far easier to paint a picture of a morally questionable female forever on the watch for an affair. To me, glossing over Sprague's part in the marriage's collapse is to negate the importance of domestic violence all together- as if it just, plain doesn't matter, it HAD to be something Kate did, let's go find it. Kate seems to have begun a connection with another man- but if she did he didn't hang around- that's the part which would make me doubt how big it was, or important. And it's also far too easy to have not included Spragues frequent infidelity in the break up of the marriage, Not that it ok for one so it's ok for the other it's just that a lot of this stuff has Kate looking like she's some manipulative, awful female and somehow William's off the hook. He was a heavy drinker with a vile temper, an abuser who belittled Kate and had mistresses because he felt it his due. Not a nice guy- Kate's story drawn without William's is idiotic and incredibly unfair.

You must be correct, Northern Light- it's the only thing which would account for it. I'm sorry if we do get backlash for defending a female who isn't here to defend herself- but oh well. Research is funny. It's made up of facts. Then you glue those facts together to tell the Story of History. The thing is, it's like Mr Potato Head, if the facts aren't glued together the right way, History ends up with a foot where an ear should be and a pair of lips on his little, potato booty.

 

[Northern Light]

Sorry Allie, for some reason did not see that yesterday- I think I remember someone in another thread saying that photo of Kate was taken after a bad illness? Wish I could remember. Yes, and had no clue forever and ever they had fake hair 150 years ago- that came up in yet another thread. Duh. They would have had to for the reasons you said- hadn't occurred to me. Ha!



Yes, it's quite easy for Kate's life to sound awful. I'm guessing Salmon is tossed in there through sordid agenda- guess which one? Would Chase Bank have chosen him as a namesake if he were known to be dreadful with his personal finances? He was a rabid, solid abolitionist and a life-long advocate for the rights of African Americans- fought for our fellow citizens tooth and nail. You make a lot of enemies that way, he was left of Lincoln and it showed. He also had such an awful, tragic personal life that between his philanthropy and his tragic personal life I'm really surprised anyone went after the guy with a pen. Three wives died, three! One in childbirth, the first, 2 of TB, I think out of 5 children only 2 survived Kate was one. Like I said, trying to paint Salmon Chase in a negative light takes some doing- and more nastiness than most people can pull off.

Kate and he were close, good thing- Kate's marriage was a little doomed. Her biggest mistake was not seeing William bore all the signs of an indulged wealthy boy, and had a vile, vile temper. Kate Chase Sprague was the victim of domestic abuse- the real thing. I wasn't there so I do not know how she handled it- how does anyone? His drinking became worse, not better after the marriage, he had what seemed to be a gigantic ego ( had himself convinced because he managed to live through a battle he poorly managed he was a Great Leader- it didn't help. ) which required constant feeding. Kate could have married a number of the uber-wealthy men dotting Washington society at the time, History cannot claim she married Sprague for his money, that is supposition. He was certainly the polar opposite of her father, may have intrigued her. Seemed needy, their letter writing pre-wedding is fairly one-sided, maybe she liked that, too, someone to ' take care of' appealed to Kate.

And yes, she began living apart from William. No one likes to get into the domestic violence scenes which drove this woman away- it's far easier to paint a picture of a morally questionable female forever on the watch for an affair. To me, glossing over Sprague's part in the marriage's collapse is to negate the importance of domestic violence all together- as if it just, plain doesn't matter, it HAD to be something Kate did, let's go find it. Kate seems to have begun a connection with another man- but if she did he didn't hang around- that's the part which would make me doubt how big it was, or important. And it's also far too easy to have not included Spragues frequent infidelity in the break up of the marriage, Not that it ok for one so it's ok for the other it's just that a lot of this stuff has Kate looking like she's some manipulative, awful female and somehow William's off the hook. He was a heavy drinker with a vile temper, an abuser who belittled Kate and had mistresses because he felt it his due. Not a nice guy- Kate's story drawn without William's is idiotic and incredibly unfair.

You must be correct, Northern Light- it's the only thing which would account for it. I'm sorry if we do get backlash for defending a female who isn't here to defend herself- but oh well. Research is funny. It's made up of facts. Then you glue those facts together to tell the Story of History. The thing is, it's like Mr Potato Head, if the facts aren't glued together the right way, History ends up with a foot where an ear should be and a pair of lips on his little, potato booty.

I laughed really hard at this, because Mr. Potato Head was one of my favourite toys, back in the day when you used real potatoes.

 

[Philip Leigh]

"JPK Huson 1863, post: 1062227, member: 6168"

Yes, it's quite easy for Kate's life to sound awful. I'm guessing Salmon is tossed in there through sordid agenda- guess which one? Would Chase Bank have chosen him as a namesake if he were known to be dreadful with his personal finances?

Well, in truth most any competent Chase bio will explain that he was almost always short of money. The Nevins bio cited above is one example.

Moreover, it appears that Chase took bribes from Jay Cooke who was the leading underwriter of federal bonds used to finance the Civil War. Ellis Oberholtzer, who was the biographer selected by Jay Cooke's children shortly after the financier's death wrote:

Throughout the year 1862, at Chase's solicitation, Cooke was investing various sums of money for the secretary, with a view to obtaining for him the largest possible income on his fortune. Every few weeks he received checks, which represented the proceeds of various speculations in railway and industrial stocks conducted with a practical banker's acumen plus a very generous regard for a friend's best pecuniary interests.


Thomas and Marva Belden explain:

Chase was not troubled by the singular manner by which Jay Cooke was [earning profits for him.] Cooke lent him capital, made the investments for him, within a few weeks reported a large return, and sent him a check. Chase did not appear even mildly curious to find out whether or not this ritual was a genteel fiction to disguise periodic gifts.

Kate Chase Sprague was the victim of domestic abuse- the real thing.

Please cite your source.

While William was an alcoholic for a time (like Grant he overcame it) and had a violent incident with Conkling, I am interested to see a source documenting that he actually abused Kate physically.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Well, in truth most any competent Chase bio will explain that he was almost always short of money. The Nevins bio cited above is one example.

Moreover, it appears that Chase took bribes from Jay Cooke who was the leading underwriter of federal bonds used to finance the Civil War. Ellis Oberholtzer, who was the biographer selected by Jay Cooke's children shortly after the financier's death wrote:

Throughout the year 1862, at Chase's solicitation, Cooke was investing various sums of money for the secretary, with a view to obtaining for him the largest possible income on his fortune. Every few weeks he received checks, which represented the proceeds of various speculations in railway and industrial stocks conducted with a practical banker's acumen plus a very generous regard for a friend's best pecuniary interests.


Thomas and Marva Belden explain:

Chase was not troubled by the singular manner by which Jay Cooke was [earning profits for him.] Cooke lent him capital, made the investments for him, within a few weeks reported a large return, and sent him a check. Chase did not appear even mildly curious to find out whether or not this ritual was a genteel fiction to disguise periodic gifts.



Please cite your source.

While William was an alcoholic for a time (like Grant he overcame it) and had a violent incident with Conkling, I am interested to see a source documenting that he actually abused Kate physically.

Well you won't see a thing from me. This thread seems to have turned into an op for bashing a woman who has been gone from this earth for more years than we've been alive. Not a fan of turning over rocks in search of snails nor slime, or advertising others' misfortunes. There is ample documentation that Kate was a victim of domestic abuse but you've just shredded my last nerve asking me to provide it, in a word, NO- 150 years ago or no, domestic abuse was no laughing matter and tougher to ' prove' than 2015. No female should have to prove it- and I sure as heck am not getting into some stupid p***ing match on the topic of a wife abuser. It's been a long, hard road inclusive of a lot of dead women. I knew two. Whatever your personal deal is with poor Kate this conversation is officially over, doubts being raised on whether or not she was a victim. Not playing. Get snarky if you like, won't be back to read it.

It's a great photo of Kate Chase Sprague and some gentlemen. Be one.

 

[Gencor]

Kate did not treat her husband very well either. For starters, she married him chiefly, if not exclusively, for his money.*

Although she denied it, there is good reason to believe that Ms. Sprague carried on a multi-year extramarital affair with New York senator Roscoe Conkling. According to biographer John Oller "By early 1879 their affair was the worst-kept secret in Washington."**

Additionally in his biography of Salmon P. Chase, John Niven reports that when Kate was pregnant with her second child the paternity of the child was a "subject of speculation."***

* Thomas and Marva Belden, So Fell the Angels (122)
** American Queen (178)
***Salmon P. Chase (443)

There is actually more gossip than truth to the fact that Kate married Sprague for his money. In fact, she did not. In her own personal diary, she states exactly why she married Sprague. She adored him! On the night before her wedding, on her knees, she prayed to be the best wife to her new husband and declared that he was her fate. Sprague, however, had other motives for marrying the daughter of Salmon Chase. That, however, is never written about. He had tried to get Salmon Chase to issue him permits to get his cotton out of south during the war and Salmon turned him down. It seems that Sprague had concocted a scheme to get his cotton out of the south and managed to pin it on a man named Hoyt and his cousin Byron Sprague. He knew that if they were all exposed, it would be very difficult for anyone to prosecute the son-in-law of Salmon Chase for treason! Sprague was a nasty little man with money and when that went, he really wasn't much. A great deal of gossip was made of Kate Chase and it was even said that she was more ambitious than her father but that was not true. Salmon Chase hid behind his daughter to appear more modest than he really was.

 

[Gencor]

In answer to Sprague's accusations about Ethel not being his child, he was always accusing Kate of affairs that she wasn't having. He liked to accuse her. It turned him on. Sprague was an alcoholic. He had drunken sex with Mary Viall on the beach and was even arrested. She wrote a horror story of a book accusing Kate of marrying Sprague for his money but then she thought that Sprague loved her too much to marry her, although she was pregnant and had his love child. She free loved Sprague until he used her up, throughout his entire marriage to Kate. And she wasn't the only one. Sprague was never faithful to Kate in his marriage to her but as most narcissistic personalities, Sprague always saw himself as the victim. This guy was a perpetual roller coaster of insane ups and downs. Kate became his excuse for every failure in his life. If you read Kate's divorce suit and then you read Sprague's it is a virtual cause and effect of the situation. When Ethel Sprague was born, she resembled Sprague as much as his son, Willie and later, Sprague would brag on Ethel and remark of the resemblance. She grew into a lovely young woman that he deserted when she was just a little girl, along with her other two sisters. He never raised them and years later when Portia, his youngest just wanted to meet him and know him, he turned her down. In fact, if it wouldn't have been for his second wife, and her obsession with his perpetual faltering public image, he would have never gone to meet his daughter's, Portia and Kitty that day in Washington.

 

[Gencor]

Sp

Well, in truth most any competent Chase bio will explain that he was almost always short of money. The Nevins bio cited above is one example.

Moreover, it appears that Chase took bribes from Jay Cooke who was the leading underwriter of federal bonds used to finance the Civil War. Ellis Oberholtzer, who was the biographer selected by Jay Cooke's children shortly after the financier's death wrote:

Throughout the year 1862, at Chase's solicitation, Cooke was investing various sums of money for the secretary, with a view to obtaining for him the largest possible income on his fortune. Every few weeks he received checks, which represented the proceeds of various speculations in railway and industrial stocks conducted with a practical banker's acumen plus a very generous regard for a friend's best pecuniary interests.


Thomas and Marva Belden explain:

Chase was not troubled by the singular manner by which Jay Cooke was [earning profits for him.] Cooke lent him capital, made the investments for him, within a few weeks reported a large return, and sent him a check. Chase did not appear even mildly curious to find out whether or not this ritual was a genteel fiction to disguise periodic gifts.



Please cite your source.

While William was an alcoholic for a time (like Grant he overcame it) and had a violent incident with Conkling, I am interested to see a source documenting that he actually abused Kate physically.

Sprague never overcame his alcoholism. He wanted to run for Governor of RI and he lied and made the statement that he took the temperance vow. Sprague was never sober that is why he didn't go on the stump and only gave very few interviews during that short election. Kate is the source for what you are looking for. She states in many different venue's that her husband abused her physically. She makes it clear in her divorce that he would come upon her in the night and once he even tried to throw her out of a second story window in their home at Canonchet. Their son Willie was a witness. In fact, Kate once said that is why she felt that Kitty was born "retarded." The conception was violent. Sprague had raped her in a drunken rage. He had just come from one of his usual haunts and even the usual women who would do him didn't want him. Sprague was known to drink so much that he would pass out and have to be picked up by his man and carried to his bed. He would fast all day and then for days he would stay drunk and follow Kate around the house spewing curses at her and calling her vial names. The servants would watch her step out of his way while he would follow behind her in relentless pursuit to badger her. He would then pass out and they would leave him where he slept. When President Lincoln and Mrs. Lincoln gave a dinner and reception at the White House for Salmon Chase to honor him as the new Supreme Court Justice, Sprague arrived so drunk and slurring his speech that he passed out in a chair and Justice Chase prevailed on Mrs. Lincoln to have her men remove him to his carriage outside and taken to his house. Sprague was a sloppy drunk! That never changed. His life, after Kate was a huge disaster covered up by a relentlessly greedy wife and an even more greedy sister-in-law. Sprague was a drunken failure who spent the rest of his pathetic life trying to get back the fortune he lost because he was a drunken fool who refused to save his family business because he didn't want his wife, Kate, to get anymore of his money. Sprague ran a family business but he was not a family man. He was a little man with a little mind who drank and whored his fortunes away. As much as he would have wanted to blame Kate for his misfortunes, he brought them all upon himself because he was too drunk to pay attention to his business and too stupid in front of the Senate when he called out every institution known to business and the people who supported all of his expansions. Sprague even called out his own soldiers and called them cowards! He made his own enemies and in the end, when he needed these very enemies, they let him fall on his face. He caused his own downfall. Kate was his excuse, but she was not the reason.

 

[chellers]

Sp



Sprague never overcame his alcoholism. He wanted to run for Governor of RI and he lied and made the statement that he took the temperance vow. Sprague was never sober that is why he didn't go on the stump and only gave very few interviews during that short election. Kate is the source for what you are looking for. She states in many different venue's that her husband abused her physically. She makes it clear in her divorce that he would come upon her in the night and once he even tried to throw her out of a second story window in their home at Canonchet. Their son Willie was a witness. In fact, Kate once said that is why she felt that Kitty was born "retarded." The conception was violent. Sprague had raped her in a drunken rage. He had just come from one of his usual haunts and even the usual women who would do him didn't want him. Sprague was known to drink so much that he would pass out and have to be picked up by his man and carried to his bed. He would fast all day and then for days he would stay drunk and follow Kate around the house spewing curses at her and calling her vial names. The servants would watch her step out of his way while he would follow behind her in relentless pursuit to badger her. He would then pass out and they would leave him where he slept. When President Lincoln and Mrs. Lincoln gave a dinner and reception at the White House for Salmon Chase to honor him as the new Supreme Court Justice, Sprague arrived so drunk and slurring his speech that he passed out in a chair and Justice Chase prevailed on Mrs. Lincoln to have her men remove him to his carriage outside and taken to his house. Sprague was a sloppy drunk! That never changed. His life, after Kate was a huge disaster covered up by a relentlessly greedy wife and an even more greedy sister-in-law. Sprague was a drunken failure who spent the rest of his pathetic life trying to get back the fortune he lost because he was a drunken fool who refused to save his family business because he didn't want his wife, Kate, to get anymore of his money. Sprague ran a family business but he was not a family man. He was a little man with a little mind who drank and whored his fortunes away. As much as he would have wanted to blame Kate for his misfortunes, he brought them all upon himself because he was too drunk to pay attention to his business and too stupid in front of the Senate when he called out every institution known to business and the people who supported all of his expansions. Sprague even called out his own soldiers and called them cowards! He made his own enemies and in the end, when he needed these very enemies, they let him fall on his face. He caused his own downfall. Kate was his excuse, but she was not the reason.

Greetings:
Please cite your source(s) for the statements you've posted as other members will be interested.
Thank you.

Chellers
Moderator