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285:, in 1908, newspapers carried photos of Bryan's two grandchildren, and noted that the candidate "was never happier than when bouncing on his knees Ruth and Bryan Leavitt." Following the divorce, Bryan assumed custody of the grandchildren. The following year, Ruth married Major Reginald A. Owen, a
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But the big society wedding never transpired. Bryan opposed the match, because of the difference in ages of the couple, as well as the fact that Ruth had just begun college. The couple married, in a small civil ceremony – described by the newspapers as 'informal' – attended by Bryan's
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officer, whom she met while studying voice in
Germany. Following his ex-wife's remarriage, painter Leavitt told reporters that the nuptials – and his ex-wife's presence overseas with her husband – meant that Leavitt would make an attempt to gain custody of his two children. But those
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270:, where Leavitt set himself up in a studio devoted to his portraiture. But the union was apparently rocky from the start, and within six years Leavitt had departed for Paris to paint, and his wife sued for divorce on the grounds of non-support. William Bryan, a devout
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The wedding to Capt. Rohde, a gentleman-in-waiting to the Danish king, ended Ruth Bryan Owen's ambassadorial career, as it automatically made her a Danish citizen, and thus unable to serve as an
American diplomat. Nevertheless, she campaigned for her friend
366:. Leavitt's death from heart disease was reported in "Deaths Registered in the Town of Winthrop, 1946–1951, pg. 32 as August 8, 1951 in Winthrop, Mass. He was buried in Island Cemetery, Newport, Rhode Island, according to the same document.
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to pursue his art. He was subsequently divorced by his wife, and his two children were raised by their politician grandfather. Leavitt's two children became the subject of a heated custody battle chronicled in the newspapers of the day.
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for the wedding, which was held in the Bryan home at
Lincoln. "In accordance with Miss Bryan's wishes and those of her parents," noted The Oswego Daily Times, "the wedding appointments will be void of any attempt at elaboration."
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173:, where William Homer Leavitt, having studied art in Paris, returned and set himself up as a society portrait painter. He was much in demand, and among the many well-known figures he painted was United States
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During the time of the two-year separation, in 1908, The New York Times reported on a bizarre break-in at the couple's former joint home in Denver, where the home was ransacked and its contents destroyed.
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By the time of the divorce filing, the couple had lived separately for two years. During that time, the gifted Ruth Bryan
Leavitt was filing stories as a journalist, including one story entitled
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Leavitt's son John Bryan
Leavitt later dropped the name Leavitt, and became an actor known as John Bryan. He died in New York City on January 2, 1943. His sister Ruth married investment banker
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struck up a friendship. On
September 17, 1903, the couple announced their plans to marry the next month, meaning the politician's daughter would leave her freshly started career at the
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Making Waves: Female
Activists in Twentieth-century Florida, Jack E. Davis, Kari A. Frederickson, Raymond Arsenault, Gary Mormino, Published by University Press of Florida, 2003
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parents, the members of Ruth's college sorority and the widow of the college president and minister who had married
William J. Bryan and his wife. Leavitt's mother traveled to
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William Homer
Leavitt eventually returned to America from Paris and married as his second wife Gertrude (Leeper) Leavitt, daughter of the Rev. Dr. G. Leeper of
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to note that "artist
Leavitt has won distinction in his work and has a host of friends in intellectual circles." That same year, 1903, Leavitt went west to
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Ruth Bryan Owen lived abroad for several years during her English husband's postings, until she returned to America, where she ran for
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Famous American Women: A Biographical Dictionary from Colonial Times to the Present, Robert McHenry, Courier Dover Publications, 1983
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She also took to the campaign trail during her father's third Presidential campaign in 1908 to act as his traveling secretary.
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The couple had two children, Ruth and Bryan Leavitt, who were favorites of grandfather William Jennings Bryan. At the
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Annual Report of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library, 1927, Published by the Trustees, Boston, Mass., 1927
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which appeared in the Illustrated Sunday Magazine of the Daily Picayune, New Orleans, La., on October 11, 1908.
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after his early death. She was the first Congresswoman elected from Florida, served as the first woman on the
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on April 15, 1914. Leavitt continued to paint and in February 1927 delivered a lecture at the
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attempts were, apparently, in vain, and the two Leavitt children remained with Bryan.
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chapel at the suggestion of President and Mrs. Roosevelt, was her son-in-law
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noted that "Preparations Under Way to Make It an Elaborate Society Event."
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Following the abbreviated ceremony, Leavitt and his wife departed for the
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Ruth Bryan's Engagement Announced, The New York Times, September 18, 1903
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Bryan's Daughter Sues for Divorce, The New York Times, January 23, 1909
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Mrs. Gertrude Leavitt, Obituary, The New York Times, April 16, 1914
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The best man at Ruth Owen's wedding to the Danish officer, held at
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The Leavitt-Bryan Wedding, The New York Times, September 23, 1903
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Newport Artist Injured, The New York Times, September 11, 1901
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Miss Ruth Bryan Married, The New York Times, October 4, 1903
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The News of Newport, The New York Times, September 12, 1901
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Two years later Leavitt's career had taken off, causing
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Leavitt Wants Children, The New York Times, May 5, 1910
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Madam Minister's No. 3, TIME magazine, July 20, 1936
144:(April 23, 1868 – August 8, 1951) was an American
617:Names Make News, TIME Magazine, November 24, 1930
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639:Good Hunting, TIME magazine, November 18, 1935
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518:Daughter in Bryan's Place, July 11, 1909
314:. While the United States Ambassador to
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738:People from Scituate, Massachusetts
497:In Damascus with Ruth Bryan Leavitt
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217:University of Nebraska
209:William Jennings Bryan
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150:William Jennings Bryan
682:William Homer Leavitt
568:Presidential campaign
357:Boston Public Library
323:Franklin D. Roosevelt
268:Newport, Rhode Island
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171:Newport, Rhode Island
161:Early life and career
142:William Homer Leavitt
23:William Homer Leavitt
684:at Wikimedia Commons
128: 1903;
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222:The New York Times
201:The New York Times
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68:(1951-08-08)
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363:John Ruskin
337:, in 1954.
82:Nationality
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461:Everywhere
370:References
331:Copenhagen
312:Ambassador
260:East Coast
252:Ruth Bryan
213:Ruth Bryan
47:1868-04-23
583:Hyde Park
320:President
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