First Year in Congress and Marriage
On December 18, Humphrey headed east to begin his career in Congress. His plan was to stop in Indiana for the holidays before arriving in Washington after its recess. Humphrey told the Seattle Star that he would remain in the capital until he took his seat in the 58th Congress in March.
Upon his arrival in Washington, DC, he was interviewed by the Washington Post at “the Ebbitt.” He was described as “fine-looking, of polished bearing, and in the nine years of his residence on the coast has made an enviable reputation as a lawyer and citizen.” Humphrey pointed to the coincidence that Washington had previously sent two natives of Crawfordsville, IN, to represent them in the capital city as Senators, also noting that current Senator Patterson of Colorado also hailed from Crawfordsville. Humphrey talked up the “enormous and altogether unprecedented growth of Seattle” and his city’s strong support for Republican President Theodore Roosevelt in his interview.
Despite telling the Seattle Star that he intended to stay in the capital city until the new Congress began in March, Humphrey returned in mid-January 1903 where he raised the alarm about the future of the navy yard in Bremerton and a canal on Lake Washington. According to Humphrey, the navy told him that crime and degeneracy in Bremerton, which was causing discipline problems, had to be cleaned up. In addition, he heard that federal support for a canal on Lake Washington was in jeopardy because Congress perceived local support for the project as weak.
Newly elected representatives are wise to prioritize the needs of their districts and constituents before getting immersed into national issues. This seems to have been William Humphrey’s strategy. His first notable conflict was in May 1903 when Seattle and Tacoma vied for President Roosevelt’s attention on a trip to Washington state to visit the navy yard in Bremerton. Seattle and Tacoma competed over who would get the 25 slots on the ship for the President’s tour of the Puget Sound. Tacoma, supported by Representative Cushman, filled all the spots designated for local people. Seattle, supported by Humphrey, wanted 10-12 members on the escort committee. Humphrey indicated to the press that if he had to, he would take Seattle residents to the dock and make “a personal appeal to President Roosevelt to accompany him on the [Puget] sound excursion.” The dispute was not resolved in Humphrey’s and Seattle’s favor. Perhaps to mollify Humphrey, Roosevelt presented Humphrey with a signed version of a photograph of them together during a different part of trip that had been printed in the newspapers.
In July 1903, Humphrey returned to Seattle and tended to issues of local concern. On September 19, 1903, Humphrey lodged a “vigorous protest” with the commissioner of immigration over staffing in the Pacific Northwest. This was covered by both the Washington Post and the Evening Star. He alleged that immigration inspectors and stenographers from other regions were being “imported…to the exclusion of competent men, residents of the state who passed the civil service examination and sought the positions already given out.”
About a week later, Humphrey had important business with a constituent to attend to. On September 24, 1903, Humphrey married Helen (née Jackson) in Seattle, Washington, at the home of Ellis DeBruler, who had at different times been Humphrey’s law partner and his foe in the Zetler cases. Helen, nine years Humphrey’s junior, was a Seattle resident who was also born in Indiana. It is unknown whether they knew each other from childhood or met in Seattle. The Post-Intelligencer reported:
“Elaborate decorations were carried out throughout the residence. The parlor, where the marriage took place, was decorated with white bride roses. The bride wore a gown of white crepe de chine. After they married, a reception followed. Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey left for a short wedding trip, and are now guests at the Washington, where they will remain until their departure for Washington, D.C., where Mr. Humphrey will assume his duties as Congressman.”
A few days after the wedding, Senator Addison G. Foster of Washington wrote a letter of congratulations to Humphrey from Tacoma, expressing some surprise. “It seems to me that you kept your intentions very quiet, as none of your friends here were aware that you were about to obey the biblical injunction and take unto yourself a wife.” By November 9, 1903, the Humphreys were in DC and staying at the Elsmere, on H St. NW. Either their plan was to stay at the Elsmere temporarily until they found a more permanent home or the Elsmere was not suitable for the newly married couple, because by November 14, the local papers were printing their address as 1237 10th St. NW where they would remain for some time.
For decades, Helen Humphrey would be called in William Humphrey’s correspondence as “Mrs. Humphrey” and in newspapers as “Mrs. William E. Humphrey” or “Mrs. William E. Humphrey, of Washington,” her first hame considered immaterial. As we shall discuss later, Helen Humphrey became a fixture in DC political society for decades. She was frequent guest at the White House, socialized with other Congressional wives, was a founding member of the Congressional Club.
In a future segment, we’ll discuss Humphrey’s rise as a Republican member of Congress, how he was able to navigate the fracture of the party into the Roosevelt and Taft factions, and his first interactions with his future nemesis, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.