Lucy Hayes turns 193 next month. She was married to President Rutherford Hayes and was First Lady 1877-1881.
At her urging, the president had all bottles of wine and liquor thrown out of the White House. Guests were served water, or lemonade. America called her Lemonade Lucy.
The water came from a real tap. Under Lucy’s supervision, for the first time the White House got running water. Added benefit: toilets that could be flushed.
Lucy Webb Hayes was a descendent of the Van der Bosch family of Oss in Brabant. They had been a couple since Rutherford was 19, and she only 14. She died in 1889, at the age of 57.
