He told his campaign managers to “tell the truth” – a mantra that he would always follow. And the truth was this: some years earlier, he had been acquainted with a widowed seamstress named Maria Halpin. Casual with her favors, Mrs. Halpin was also acquainted with several of Cleveland’s friends. When there was to be a child, Grover Cleveland volunteered to accept responsibility. While he was never sure of his paternity, he was the only bachelor amongst Maria’s intimates and did not wish to have his married friends embarrassed. He was also in a position to afford financial assistance – and even tried to set Mrs. Halpin up in a dressmaking business. Despite Cleveland’s monetary assistance, she proved to be an unfit mother, and when the boy was still small, Cleveland had him placed in suitable foster care. Some say he grew up to be a professional man; some say he died when he was a child. Nothing has ever been ascertained fully.