Dr. Robert Greenhow

Dr. Robert Greenhow, later the husband of noted spy Rose Greenhow, survived the Richmond Theatre fire of 1811 along with his father; his mother was killed in the blaze.

Mother's name sometimes incorrectly given as "Ann WIllis".

The story goes that the whole family was attending the Richmond Theater on December 26, 1811, and that when the fire broke out, Mrs. Greenhow handed her infant son to her husband, begging him to save the child. Mr. Greenhow made it out with the child; his wife did not survive.

In the 1830s, Rose O'Neal met Robert Greenhow Jr., a prominent doctor, lawyer, and linguist from Virginia. Their courtship was well received by Washington society, including famed society matron Dolley Madison. In 1833, Rose's sister Ellen O'Neal married Dolley's nephew James Madison Cutts. In 1856 their daughter Adele Cutts married the widower Stephen A. Douglas, the senator from Illinois.

In 1835, Rose married Dr. Robert Greenhow Jr. with Dolley's blessing, and by the 1850s had long been an established socialite in the capital.

Robert and Rose's courtship lasted 4 years. On a lovely May (26) morning in 1835 he took her to the old family parish church at Rockville and they were married. Officiating minister: Rev. Dr. Matthews, pastor of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Washington.

Robert Greenhow worked at the U.S. Department of State. Robert's half-sister, Mary Greenhow Lee, would visit him and Rose and the two women became close friends.

The Greenhows had four daughters: Florence, Gertrude, Leila and Rose.[3] Their youngest child was named Rose O'Neal Greenhow (her middle name being her mother's maiden), and was nicknamed "Little Rose".

Due to Robert's work with the State Department, the family moved with him to Mexico City in 1850 and then to San Francisco, California. In 1852 Rose returned East with her children, a journey of months, giving birth to her last daughter in 1853. Robert died in an accident in San Francisco in 1854. Being a widow did not disrupt Rose Greenhow's popularity in the capital. A short time later, their oldest child Florence married Seymour Treadwell Moore, a West Point graduate, career army officer and Mexican War veteran. They moved west to Ohio.

• Updated from Find A Grave Memorial by SmartCopy: Aug 1 2015, 18:19:39 UTC