The life of James Buchanan
Home
Pre-Presidentcy
While President
The Hostess
Post Presidency
Just the Facts
Quotes
Pictures
Harriet Lane was born in 1830 in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. The youngest daughter of James Buchanan's sister, Jane, and husband, Elliot Tole Lane, Harriet was eleven when she became an orphan. James Buchanan was her guardian, and unofficially became her adopted father. Harriet moved in with her Uncle James in his downtown Lancaster townhouse. Harriet attended boarding schools in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and in Charlestown, West Virginia. She completed her education at the Georgetown Visitation Convent near Washington, DC, graduating with honors. In 1849, Harriet moved with her Uncle and his household from downtown Lancaster to his newly acquired Wheatland estate, where, Harriet was given the task of purchasing many of the furnishings for the mansion house.
In 1853, James Buchanan was appointed by President Pierce to be the ambassador to the Court of St. James in London, where Harriet joined him. While in England, she immersed herself in the social whirl, including frequent dinners at Buckingham Palace with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She developed a cordial and friendly relationship with the Queen.
When James Buchanan became President, Harriet served as his First Lady. While First Lady, Harriet promoted philanthropic causes including hospital and prison reform, and the plight of the American Indian. She also supported the arts and instituted concert evenings at the White House. The highlight of Harriet's term was the 1860 visit of the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, to Washington.
While vacationing in Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania she met her future husband, Henry Elliot Johnston, a lawyer from a well-to-do Baltimore family . With the blessings of her uncle, Harriet and Henry were married in the parlor at Wheatland on January 11, 1866. After her marriage, Harriet moved to Baltimore where her first son, James Buchanan Johnston, was born.
After Buchanan's death, Harriet inherited Wheatland, which she maintained as a summer residence. In 1870, her second son, Henry Elliot Johnston II, was born. On March 25, 1881, the eldest son died of rheumatic fever at the age of 14. On October 30, 1882, her 13 year old son, Henry, died of the same illness. Following the death of their two sons, the Johnstons founded the Harriet Lane Home for Invalid Children in Baltimore, with the sole purpose of caring for children with chronic diseases. This first American pediatrics institution is now the teaching and research pediatrics center of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Tragedy struck Harriet again on May 5, 1884, when her husband died suddenly of pneumonia. Following the loss of her family, Harriet sold both Wheatland and her Baltimore home, and moved to a townhouse in Washington, DC. She would spend her remaining years involved in the philanthropic causes and the social circle which were close to her heart. On July 3, 1903, Harriet died of cancer while at a summer resort in Rhode Island.