The photo below shows Nellie Grant, the only daughter of the 18th U.S. President, Ulysses S. Grant, and her husband, Algernon Charles Frederick Sartoris. The couple got married on May 21, 1874, and had a lavish wedding ceremony at the White House. The young couple (Nellie was 18 years old and Algernon, 22). The couple moved to England shortly after and had four children together.
Unfortunately, by 1889, Nellie was granted a divorce after Sartoris had clearly proved to have an irremediable drinking problem that spiraled out of control. Nellie went back to the U.S. and took the kids with her. She remarried in 1912.
Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, who served as the 16th U.S. President, was one of the most influential men in American history. During his term, he led the country through the American Civil War, abolished slavery, preserved the Union, and strengthened the nation's economy and the federal government. Lincoln married Mary Todd on November 4, 1842, in a small, private ceremony with 30 guests. On the morning of November 3, one day before the wedding, Abraham had stopped at their Reverend's home and said "I want to get hitched tonight", to which the Reverend agreed.
As he left the home, he bumped into former Governor of Illinois, Ninian Edwards and told him about the plans. Edwards, who was Mary Todd's guardian, said the ceremony should be held at their home. And since there were prior engagements that night, Lincoln and Todd got married the very next day, on November 4, at the Edwards' residence. Mary, true to her simple nature, wore a white muslin dress and no veil or flowers in her hair. The two would have a happy marriage until Abraham's tragic assassination in 1865.
Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman
Ronald Reagan was a famous Hollywood actor before becoming the 40th President of the United States. And before Nancy Reagan became First Lady, Reagan was married to fellow actress, Jane Wyman, for 9 years. The couple tied the knot on January 26, 1940, as depicted in the photo below, in their wedding ceremony in California.
True to form, the couple looks glamorous in the photo above, as was expected from Hollywood actors, especially during the Golden Age. Reagan and Wyman had three children; Maureen, Michael, and Christine.
Patti Davis and Paul Grilley
Patti Davis is the oldest child of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, and older sister to Ron Reagan. She has two older siblings, Maureen and Michael, from Reagan's previous marriage to Jane Wyman. In the photo below, we see Patti Davis next to husband, Paul Grilley, who was a yoga instructor at the time, on their wedding day in 1984, in Los Angeles California. Accompanying them are proud parents, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, and the Grilleys. It was a small, private, 17-minute ceremony at the Bel Air Hotel.
Sadly, the couple divorced in 1990. Patti Davis worked as an actress and a model during her younger years and went on to pursue a career in writing. She has written for The New York Times, Newsweek and Time, and has even penned a screenplay that later became a Hallmark movie.
Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel
Robert F. Kennedy was the seventh of nine children to successful businessman, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and socialite Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. And brother of famous U.S. President, John F. Kennedy. The Kennedys were one of the most influential Irish American families in the 1930s and would go on to become U.S. political and historical legacy. Robert served as both U.S. Attorney General, and United States Senator. In the photo below he is captured with his wife, Ethel Skakel, on their wedding day, on June 17, 1950, leaving the church in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Like most of his family, Robert Kennedy was a strong advocate of human rights and social justice. A socialite from Chicago, Illinois, Ethel Skakel was also an American human rights advocate. The couple was married for 18 years and had 11 children together. Shortly after being elected U.S. Senator, Robert was killed on June 5, 1968.