Savannah native James Moore Wayne served in the United States House of Representatives and on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1835 to 1867. A Princeton University graduate, Justice Wayne rose to prominence in Georgia in the early 1800s, establishing himself as a local politician with cosmopolitan views. Juliette Gordon Low’s Grandfather, William Washington Gordon I was one of Wayne’s law clerks and later married his niece Sarah Stites. Nominated to the Court by President Andrew Jackson, he shared the president's strong federalist politics and often took an expansive view of federal power in his judicial opinions. Wayne built the house now known as the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace and he lived in it until he moved to Washington, DC.

The Gordon family entertained William H. Taft, America’s 27th President, twice (1909 and 1912) in their home, the Wayne-Gordon House. Taft and William Washington Gordon II were both Yale University alumni. Taft graduated from Yale in 1878, 2nd in his class. Taft preferred law to politics and was appointed a Federal circuit court judge at the age of 34. He aspired to be a member of the Supreme Court, but his wife, Helen Herron Taft, held other ambitions for him and he ultimately became the United States President between 1909 and 1913. Taft went on to serve as the 10th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and was the only President to hold both positions.

The Gordon family letters about President Taft’s visits focus primarily on the legendary meals he consumed at their table. His inscription in the family guest book, November 5, 1909 states, “With delightful recollections of Savannah hospitality and with hope of returning when the real commander in chief is in the party.” The President was referring to his hostess, Nelly Gordon. The menu for the Taft breakfast of 1909 included fresh grapefruit, cereals which he declined, shrimp and hominy, grilled partridge, potted partridge, broiled venison, waffles with butter and maple syrup, and hot rolls. Interested in knowing more about President Taft? Visit the William Howard Taft National Historic Site.

This controversial general of the Union Army during the Civil War was a longtime friend of the Kinzie family. In 1864, Sherman succeeded U. S. Grant as the Union commander in the western theater of the war. He proceeded to lead his troops to the capture of the city of Atlanta, a military success that contributed to the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln. Sherman's subsequent March to the Sea, through Georgia and the Carolinas, further undermined the Confederacy, ultimately contributing to the Confederate army surrender in 1865. Upon arriving in Savannah in the winter of 1864, the citizens were ready to surrender and Sherman gave the city to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift.

Soon after, he visited his old friend Nelly Gordon to take her letters and packages from Chicago. He also brought the two older girls, Nelly and Daisy, a gift of rock sugar candy, the first sugar the girls had ever eaten. Later in life when delivering speeches on the lecture circuit, he often recounted a funny anecdote about the 4-year-old Daisy Gordon. After eating her sugar, she sat on his lap and began to curiously inspect his head. When he asked what she was doing, she told him she had heard him called that ”old Devil Sherman” and she wanted to see his horns. This story never failed to get him a laugh. For more information about General Sherman, visit the Fairfield Heritage Association.

After meeting the hero of the Boer War, Daisy Low commented in her diary, “He believes that I might make more of my life and he has ideas, which, if I follow them, a more useful sphere of work might open up before me in the future.” His influence channeled her indefatigable energy into her life’s great work, the Girl Scouts of the USA and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

The founder of the Boy Scouts, Robert Baden-Powell published Scouting for Boys in 1908, a work which ultimately changes the lives of millions of boys around the world. Drawing on his personal experiences, he invited young men to take charge of their own lives and be responsible for their destiny. He ultimately dedicated himself to using scouting as a way to teach peace and to encourage understanding between peoples. Baden-Powell, his wife Olave and Daisy were life-long friends and united in their commitment to the world-wide movement.

Anne Hyde Choate, Juliette Gordon Low’s goddaughter, grew up at Hyde Hall her father’s ancestral home in Cooperstown, NY. Daisy was a devoted godmother and the two developed a very close relationship. In 1915, Daisy visited Anne in Pleasantville, N.Y. to recruit her to organize local Girl Scouts. As a young wife and mother, Anne was reluctant to get involved. Daisy assured her that all she would have to do was hand out some awards and things. Then Daisy continued in her inimitable way, “If you don’t do this, I’ll give you something REALLY hard to do.”

Anne entered into the movement wholeheartedly as a Council member, troop leader, and trainer. In 1920, she succeeded Juliette Gordon Low as the National President. She was a founding member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. In 1927, she became the first Great Brown Owl for the newly formed Girl Scout Brownies. After Juliette Low’s death in 1927, she was instrumental in the establishment of the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund which still supports many international programs for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. On the world front, she was particularly interested in Our Chalet, the World Center in Adelboden, Switzerland.

Anne Hyde Choate’s sense of history and appreciation for the past led her to be one of the prime instigators in the acquisition of the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace. She saw this as a fitting memorial to her beloved godmother. When the house was purchased, the decision was made for it to be designated as a national Girl Scout program center and an historic house museum open to everyone. In 1965, in honor of her work for the organization, Girl Scouts USA established the Anne Hyde Choate Endowment Fund for the preservation and maintenance of the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace.

Born in Waterloo, Iowa, the future Lou Henry Hoover learned to love the outdoors from her father. Speaking of her parents she wrote, “They would not want me to stay meekly at home.”The day after her marriage in 1899, the bride left for China, the first of an unending series of global journeys that would carry her to the furthest corners of civilization. Throughout her life, Lou was very much her husband’s partner in everything he did, whether pursuing the history of mining, caring for Americans stranded in Europe by World War I, feeding desperate Belgium or convincing her countrymen to voluntarily reduce their food consumption during the war.

When the great Depression cast a shadow over her husband’s presidency, Lou hired secretaries to channel assistance to the victims of hard times, after first concealing her own involvement. She also accompanied the President on his unsuccessful 1932 reelection campaign. At the end she still managed a smile for reporters. “See, we are carrying on", she said. And so she was.

At a time when most women were expected to confine their activities to the home, Lou Henry Hoover took the world for her stage. In her youth she aspired to become a geologist, because this outdoor occupation would enable her to pursue the study of rock formations she had grown to love on hikes with her father. After graduating from college with a teaching certificate, she entered Stanford University in 1894 and completed her course of study in geology (becoming the first woman in Stanford’s geology department).

In 1917, Lou was personally recruited by Juliette Gordon Low and for the rest of her life; Mrs. Hoover served continuously as a Girl Scout National board member or officer. Through her involvement in the organization, she adopted more than a million girls in green and brown uniforms, eager to introduce them to the outdoor world she had encountered as a 10-year-old tomboy on the Cedar River.

In 1929, she raised over half a million dollars to help realize a five-year plan of organizational development. She is also credited with facilitating the first national sale of Girl Scout cookies during her second term as president.

Lou Henry Hoover was a highly effective spokesperson and role model for young women. Said one observer: “Mrs. Hoover is just the type of person one would expect young girls to adore. She has a charm of manner that immediately attracts one.” She certainly attracted many young women to Girl Scouting. In 1927, there were some 168,000 Girl Scouts in America. By the time of her death in 1944, their ranks had swelled to 1,035,000.

Information for this biography came from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum.

Recruited by Juliette Gordon Low as an early organizer and later elected National President of the Girl Scouts of the USA, Birdsall Otis Edey (Mrs. Frederick Edey) became active in Girl Scouting in 1919. She held many different positions over the years including the first editor of the Girl Scout Leader Magazine, National President (1930-1935) and Girl Scout National Commissioner until her death in 1940. She was a talented poet and had several volumes of poetry published. At 25, she wrote and produced an operetta entitled "The Pirate of the Great South Bay” which was performed by her friends.

She wrote the following tribute to Juliette Low in 1933:

To Juliette Low
More than a score of years ago a torch was lit, a beacon whose glow shone for the joy of youth. And you, sensing its brilliancy, beneath your roof kindled a kindred flame that girlhood in your land should live within its light, and with your hand you tended it and kept its whiteness pure; prayed that its bright promise might endure, and walked yourself uprightly in its gleam. And we, who have had faith in this your dream, are come to give account of our brief stewardship. Thousands of girls share your ideals today. Thousands of women walk with them your lighted way. With lives enriched and broadened from its treasury and glad hearts consecrated to your memory.

 

Back to Top