Grace Fletcher

Grace (Fletcher) Webster (1781–1828) was the first wife of Daniel Webster. She was with him as he started his law career in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and then sought to improve their lives by settling in Boston on Beacon Hill. Daniel, a successful attorney and statesman, was often away from his family for months at a time. Webster raised her five children, two of whom died in their childhood. She was particularly skilled at hosting both small, intimate dinner parties as well as large dinner receptions, like the one for Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. Early life Born on January 16, 1781, at Hopkinton, New Hampshire, Grace was the daughter of Rev. Elijah Fletcher and Rebecca Chamberlain. She had two sisters—Bridget and Rebecca—and a brother Timothy. After Elijah's death, Rebecca married Rev. Christopher Paige. She was educated in Atkinson, New Hampshire at the Atkinson Academy. She was a schoolteacher in towns near her birthplace, Boscawen and Salisbury. She was very religious, intelligent, and had a calm, dignified composure. While attending a church in Salisbury, Grace met Daniel Webster. She told her sister that she saw someone "who looked like he might be somebody." Daniel and Grace became friends, and they began writing letters to each other by 1804. To court her, Grace required Daniel to join the church. He joined the Salisbury Congregational Church on August 8, 1807. The marriage became imminent after Daniel moved to Portsmouth and he earned sufficient income to support them. Marriage and children