Helen Woodrow Bones

Helen Woodrow Bones (October 31, 1874 – June 4, 1951) was Woodrow Wilson's first cousin and also, from her childhood, a friend of Wilson's first wife, Ellen. Bones moved to the White House as Ellen Wilson's private secretary after Wilson's 1912 election as US President. After Ellen Wilson's death in 1914, Bones served as a "surrogate First Lady" in the Wilson White House until his second marriage sixteen months later.

Early life Helen Woodrow Bones was born October 31, 1874, in Rome, Georgia. Her father, James William Bones, was a Presbyterian minister, and her mother, Marion Woodrow, was the sister of Woodrow Wilson's mother Jessie.

Helen and her family were also close friends with the family of Ellen Axson (later Ellen Wilson), whose father was pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Rome, Georgia.

White House years alt=Photograph of (left to right) Helen Woodrow Bones, Cary T. Grayson, and Eleanor Wilson, later Eleanor Wilson McAdoo. Left to right: Helen Woodrow Bones, Cary T. Grayson, and Eleanor Wilson Helen Woodrow Bones moved into the White House in 1913 where her first job as Ellen Wilson's private secretary was to organize tickets for inauguration events. According to Wilson's daughter Eleanor: Ellen Wilson's health began to deteriorate in early 1914, and Bones took on additional hostess duties in the White House, which continued after Ellen's death in August of that year. Bones shared the role of "surrogate First Lady" with the Wilsons' daughter Margaret, her primary job being to support the grieving widower. Within months, Bones's health also began to deteriorate under the pressure of Wilson's grief and her own. For therapy, the President's doctor suggested that she take up walking and recommended as her companion an elegant widowed socialite and businesswoman named Edith Galt. Wilson married Edith on December 18, 1915, 16 months after the death of his first wife.

Bones remained part of the Wilson household during the 1916 presidential election and the Wilsons' return to the White House. She took an active role in volunteer work during World War I along with Edith.

Later life In early 1919, Bones moved out of the White House to resume her career as a book publishing editor in New York City. She remained on friendly terms with the Wilson family and was invited by Edith Wilson in 1924 to take part with the family in Woodrow Wilson's funeral. After retiring, she moved back to her childhood home in Rome, Georgia, where she died on June 4, 1951.