Gertrude Meredith was born on February 2, 1839, in Pennsylvania to William M. Meredith and Sarah Keppele. Her father was a lawyer who served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Zachary Taylor. By 1860, the family owned $8,000 of real estate and $110,000 of personal property by 1860. Gertrude grew up and attended school in Philadelphia. She married James C. Biddle there on December 27, 1862, and they had at least two children: Catherine, born around 1865; and Sarah, born around 1866. The family lived in Philadelphia, and her husband worked as a “drug merchant” and “manufacturer of cotton.” By 1870, they owned $12,000 of real estate and $700 of personal property. James died in Philadelphia on November 2, 1898. In 1900, she was living with her daughters and two servants, and that year’s census recorded her as a “Gentlewoman.” She died in Cape May, New Jersey, on September 17, 1905.

SOURCES