Mary King Waddington

Chateau and country life in France. By Mary King Waddington

Mary Alsop King Waddington (April 28, 1833 - June 30, 1923) was an American author. She particularly wrote about her life as the wife of a French diplomat. Early life: Mary was born in New York City, New York on April 28, 1839 the daughter of Charles King (1789-1867), an American academic, politician, newspaper editor and the ninth president of Columbia College (now Columbia University) and his second wife, Henrietta Liston Low (1799-1882). Her paternal granddaughter was U. S. Senator Rufus King (1755-1827), the Federalist candidate for both Vice President (1804 and 1808) and President of the United States (1816). Her maternal grandfather was Nicholas Low (1739-1826), a New York merchant and developer. Career: Mary moved to France with her family in 1871, where she met her eventual husband. During World War I, she helped raise funds for soldiers and refugees. Mary was the author of Letter of a Diplomat's wife (1902), Italian letters of a Diplomat's wife (1904), Chateau and Country Life in France (1909), and My First Years as a Frenchwoman (1914). She also wrote magazine articles, including a paper on International Marriages in Scribner's Magazine in October 1907