Editing Daniel Webster (section)

==Personal life, family, and religious views==

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|quote =
If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble to dust; but if we work on men's immortal minds, if we impress on them with high principles, the just fear of God and love for their fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something which no time can efface, and which will brighten and brighten to all eternity.
|source= '''Daniel Webster''' (''May 22, 1852'')
}}
[[File:Mrs. Daniel Webster (Grace Fletcher) - Gilbert Stuart.jpg|thumb|left|Grace Fletcher]]
In 1808, Webster married [[Grace Fletcher Webster|Grace Fletcher]], a schoolteacher and the daughter of a New Hampshire clergyman.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=86–89}} Between 1810 and 1822, Daniel and Grace had five children: Grace, [[Fletcher Webster|Daniel "Fletcher"]], Julia, Edward, and Charles. Grace and Charles died before reaching adulthood.{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=13}} Webster's wife, Grace, died in January 1828 due to a [[cancer]]ous [[tumor]],{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=285, 288–291}} and Webster suffered another loss when his brother, Ezekiel, died in April 1829.{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=305}} In December 1829, Webster married [[Caroline LeRoy]], the 32-year-old daughter of New York merchant [[Herman LeRoy]]. They remained married until Webster's death, and she lived until 1882. She and Webster had two children together, another daughter named Grace and a son named Noah Webster.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=310–311, 758}} After the death of his first wife, Webster was frequently the subject of rumors in Washington regarding his alleged promiscuity; many suspected that the painter [[Sarah Goodridge]], with whom he had a close relationship, was his mistress.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=306–309}}

Webster and his family lived in Portsmouth until 1816 when they relocated to Boston.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=144–145}} In 1831, Webster purchased a 150-acre estate (now known as the [[Thomas–Webster Estate]]) in [[Marshfield, Massachusetts]]. In the ensuing years, Webster spent much of his earnings making various improvements to his estate, and he made it his primary residence in 1837. After 1829, Webster also owned his father's home, [[Daniel Webster Family Home|the Elms]], in Franklin, New Hampshire.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=346–352}} Webster's older son, Fletcher, married a niece of Joseph Story, established a profitable law practice, served as [[Chief Clerk (United States Department of State)|chief clerk]] of the State Department, and was the only one of his siblings to outlive his father.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=452, 520}} Fletcher died at the 1862 [[Second Battle of Bull Run]] while serving as a colonel in the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] army.{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=758}} Webster's younger son, Edward, died of [[typhoid fever]] in January 1848 while serving in the Mexican-American War.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=626–627, 642}} Webster's daughter, Julia, married Samuel Augustus Appleton, but died of [[tuberculosis]] in April 1848.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=485, 643}}

Conflicting opinions have been voiced as to his religion. The [[Unitarianism|Unitarian Universalist Church]], citing ''Unitarianism in America'' from 1902, claim him as their own.<ref>{{cite book |title=Unitarianism in America |last=Cooke |first=George |year=1902|publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=1-4191-9210-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZt97oFb4EsC&q=%22daniel+webster%22+%22unitarian+universalism%22&pg=PA271 |page=271}}</ref> Another source, the 1856 biography ''The American Statesman: The Life and Character of Daniel Webster'', proclaims him an avowed orthodox Trinitarian, baptized and raised in an Orthodox [[Congregational Church]], and who died a member of the Episcopal Church.<ref>{{cite book |title=The American Statesman: The Life and Character of Daniel Webster |last=Banvard |first=Joseph |year=1856|url=https://archive.org/details/americanstatesm00banvgoog|pages=[https://archive.org/details/americanstatesm00banvgoog/page/n318 302], 303, 306|publisher=Gould and Lincoln [etc ., etc.] }}</ref> Remini writes that, though Webster occasionally attended other churches, he remained closely affiliated with the Congregational church throughout his life. In an 1807 letter to a Congregational pastor, Webster wrote, "I believe in the utter inability of any human being to work out his own Salvation, without the constant aids of the spirit of all grace... Although I have great respect for some other forms of worship, I believe the Congregational mode, on the whole, to be preferable to any other."{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=86–88}}