American Folk Figure. She was the mistress/companion of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Born to a prominent Maryland Catholic family, she had to go to work when her family fell on hard times. In 1914 she became social secretary to Eleanor Roosevelt, where she met and fell in love with FDR, who was assistant Secretary of the Navy at the time. Eleanor learned of the affair in 1918 when she found a packet of letters from Lucy in her husband's luggage. The Roosevelts decided not to divorce, and Franklin agreed never to see Lucy again. However, there is evidence that they later resumed meeting; FDR got Lucy a front row seat to his 1932 inauguration. Lucy married Winthrop Chanler Rutherfurd in 1920 and had one daughter with him; their marriage lasted until his death in 1944. She became a companion for FDR after the death of her husband, and was with him in Warm Springs when he collapsed and died in 1945, although she left before Eleanor arrived and heard the news of FDR's death on her car radio. She returned to her late husband's farm in Aiken, South Carolina, where she lived until her death.
American Folk Figure. She was the mistress/companion of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Born to a prominent Maryland Catholic family, she had to go to work when her family fell on hard times. In 1914 she became social secretary to Eleanor Roosevelt, where she met and fell in love with FDR, who was assistant Secretary of the Navy at the time. Eleanor learned of the affair in 1918 when she found a packet of letters from Lucy in her husband's luggage. The Roosevelts decided not to divorce, and Franklin agreed never to see Lucy again. However, there is evidence that they later resumed meeting; FDR got Lucy a front row seat to his 1932 inauguration. Lucy married Winthrop Chanler Rutherfurd in 1920 and had one daughter with him; their marriage lasted until his death in 1944. She became a companion for FDR after the death of her husband, and was with him in Warm Springs when he collapsed and died in 1945, although she left before Eleanor arrived and heard the news of FDR's death on her car radio. She returned to her late husband's farm in Aiken, South Carolina, where she lived until her death.
Bio by: Jennifer M.
Family Members
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See more Rutherfurd or Mercer memorials in:
- Tranquility Cemetery Rutherfurd or Mercer
- Green Township Rutherfurd or Mercer
- Sussex County Rutherfurd or Mercer
- New Jersey Rutherfurd or Mercer
- USA Rutherfurd or Mercer
- Find a Grave Rutherfurd or Mercer
Records on Ancestry
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