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VOL.XXII
SOUTHERN WENJN MR TIME.
Old Household Memories of the Confederacy.
By Mrs. Jefferson Davis.
For The Constitution.
It often seems, owing to changing condi
tions, and circumstances, that if the story
of our generation is to be saved from obliv
ion, the only way is to “perpetuate testi
mony,’’ as lawyers do in great eases where
i a
a it V-
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I llh®
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u■; I j.... _ Ofefw
ESTDENT AND MRS. DAVIS AT THE TIME OF THE CONFEDERACY.
i'-ea<ly standing on the thres- <
' before they fall si-
' of their I
>, f'olonA t ’’
\ J.try offered
. of those xvomen of
_.. ATion xvho labored, sulf'red and prayed
together during the xvar between the slates.
In the old time iu the south our men had
i>ii idea —perhaps an erroneous one— that
eviay xvoman should be sequestered xxithin
her doulestic sphere.
Exvry southern xvoman shivered at the
sight of her name in a newspaper, even if
Iter virtues had been made manifest by
••uh gy. To her it xvas notoriety, not nota
bility .
Her husband, in a measure, felt, that his
wife xvas trodden under the feet of tnen.
and his prixmey violated xvhen his xviie did
anythng to elicit comment rom the public;
bo ’did not fear criticism being written upon
her. for with the perpetrator of this ho toll
able to deal in a summary manner.
Date of Southern XX omen’s interest in
I'otit ics.
From the time of the "John Brown raid
the women of the south xvere interested
painfully and deeply in the political ex
ritemeut xvhieh xvas surging over the coun
try. , ,
Far outnumbered as our people tn the
planting districts wore by the negro popula
tion ami dwelling on desolated I'laniations
with txvo white men to or 20'1 jjegroes.
the necessity of keeping “abolition tracts"
out of the negroes' hands was imperativo.
Hoxv to do this, xvhen the posloliic, s am!
postroads xvould be manned Iw men who
were “free soiiers." i. <*., aboliiiomsts, xvas
the har<l problem presented to the people of
the south.
There were many newspapers ami poliii
eal magazines taken in almost every sonth
eru household, ami the men. anxious am!
absorbed in the progress of events, read
them to and with the women of the family,
ami both attempted to arrive at an inde
pendent judgment am! understanding of out
rights under the eons, itu’ion, the infraction
of them, also the ilangers to xvhieh the wo
men of the south xvould lie exposed in case
of war, ami all shrunk, xvhile tin y could not
escape from their gruesome conclusions.
Many xvomen thought there would be no
xvar, because they believed in the saeredness
of the constitution, that, to the people of
the south, was an act of the covenant xvhieh
to touch would be sacrilege. Others noted
the depression of their husbands ami heard
sighs ami warnings from the head of the
house which filled them with lhe most dread
ful forebmli gs.
The women of the south did not shrink
• » ■ ■ and pai ful
economies; they also appreciated that their
own U'l <<t • I’tX IIS to he < h.-e' flll is os-
sible to bid farewell to the men of their
family who must go to the front. p<*rliaps
never to return; sometimes hope buoyed
them up, and they looked mi the sunny
side ami believed that their dear ones
xvould be spared because their cause xvas
righteous.
They did shrink, however, affrighted from
fi.. _ f I. ii*:r I' f' liote* wi'h a
multitude of ignorant negroes who might
be instigated to rebellion, xvithout physi
cians to attend their children or priests to
bury them if they died. These horrors op
pressed them.
Many a xvoman. buckling on her husband’s
swor<l. asked him to show her how to
shoot, a pistol, adding, “not that I am afraid
. I ' . }»;' in I ■ f no< I." ■ ■
next problem xvas how to handle that pistol,
xvhieh was an object of almost as great
■dread as would be the foe it xvas to re
pel.
ill' 1 Nfvrrnes.
All southern xvomen ackuoxvlelge with
pride the good conduct of the rank and file
of negroes on the breaking out of the war.
They generaEy remained true to the fami
lies left in their charge, and protected the
women and children to the best of their
ability. In short, their course was a power
ful testimonial io the liie-loug kind and
in<r exorcist* of their maulers' poxver over
However, the crops failed frequently; tin*
negroes grexx< '.<> partake more or b- sos tin
excitement xvhi'di pervaded the whole conn
trv, and this interfered with the needful
routine of their labor. Then, again, the
xvork horses xvere levied upon for the use
of the government. Titus were the means
of cultivation narroxved. The falloxx- land
grew impassable xvith weeds; the fences
and levees fell; the fields xvhieh had waved
(Copyright, 1893, by V. Jefferson Davis.)
with corn and the cotton blossoms became
a tangle of vines ami bushes, "unprofit
ably gay with the blue flowers of the de
structive morning glory, the execrated tie
vine.”
Moreover, all largo balances of cash lay
I out of reach, invested, so that there xvas lit
tle xvherewith to buy from the neighboring
towns or cities: and as the prosperity of
iunt w centers i.eri- dept .d. . upon tin* grain
;“<*iml cotton sent in from the plantations,
xvant. come upon all.
The very poor suffered in the absence of
their breadwinimrs. Necessarily those bet
ter provided for gave of their surplus, and
xvhen they became sorely pressed themselves
they shared whatever could be spared by
their families; ns the poorer classes express
ed it, they “had a. divide.”
Hmv tl>e Women Faced the Situation.
When this peine forte et dtire began to af
flict the xvomen, their powers of endurance
xvere at once demonstrated to the xvorld.
The harbors xvere closed by tin* blockade.
No sum lies of clothing could be imported.
The time came when the stock of cloth,
shoes, medicines, mahiuery—indeed, of al
most everything neessary to civilized peo
ple—xvas nearly exhausted. The south had
proved agriculture to be the most profitable
employment, and had never fostered manu
factures; besides, her operative classes xvvre
not suited t<> the care of machinery.
Noxv the people found themselves con
fronted with new problems xvhieh they must
learn to solve. All these needs must be
supplied by the women.
The store each family possessed them
selves, of quinine and such other drugs as
xvere needful for the diseases of a warm
climate, xvas gradually relinquished for the
use of the soldiers. Replenishment xvas im
possbh*. Quiume had been proclaimed by
the blockailers “contrabrand of xvar.”
The xvomen turned undaunted to the in
di ' l.nl ■ I. -111-fl. '■e<!;i-:|. [ tei-m* ions of
xvilloxx’ bark, of dewberry root, orange lloxv
:i!'d I .-11"*, r *d"eiu>c ' t i. :i:io nlher
“tisanes” took the place of the drugs.
One heart broken xvoman wrote to her
husband: “Twenty grains of quinine would
have saved our two children: they were to >
nauseated to drink the bitter xvilloxx- tea
and they are now at rest and I have no
otie to xvork for but you. Do you think of
coming. I am well and strong and am not;
dismayed. J think day and night of your
sorrow. I hax-e their little graves near me.”
H«»w Clothing T»’as < <>r»*rived.
The sheep xvere sheared; the wool was
cleaned, carded and spun in the house.
Bnnill 'oonr. were set up :tnd the x'arn
adjusted under the eye of the practical
v -:i ■er ; ; i- being the misfess generally;
all the clothes for tin* plantation, as well
rif-' -
/a-m wa ■ - JI/
Si®
("lIT.D'tl’.X OF THE DAVIS FAMILY.
From a Photograph at the Time of the < '<>u I’ederacy.
as some clothes to exchange for other com
modities xvere woven for lhe xvinter use.
In xvinter the cotton clothes xvere made
for summer. Pretty homespun checks,
brown, black, blue or red and xvhite xvere
manufactured lor the ladies and children’s
ATLANTA, GA., TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 1893.
frocks. The ladies spun the wool and
knitted the stockings and socks their chil
dren and husbands wore, also many of the
soldiers.
When the longing for the silk stockings,
habitually used, pressed upon refined women,
the old pieces of biack silk were picked to a
“frazzle” and spun to make stockings and
gloves for themselves and their daughters.
Said one, putting out her nattily-clad slen
der little feet, "1 could not bear to wear
coarse stockings—my husband takes such
pride in my small feet.”
Towels and sheets were spun from cotton
to replace tile house linen which had been
cut into bandages, or scraped into lint, tor
tin- surgeons in the field. One handsome
young woman, the daughter of an ex-minis
ter to Spain, rises before me out. of the haze
of by-gone years, stepping lightly to and fro.
winding bandages on the spindle of her
wheel and talking pleasantly to her visitors,
while her patriotic mother sat by, cutting
up the table linen which she had treasured
for forty years. The daughter showed great
callous knots on her shapely hands made by
scraping lint and mentioned them with an
expression of gratitude to the God that she
could procure material for so much work.
A general officer’s wife called to see the
wife of the president ami brought her. as
the most acceptable present, a paper pattern
of a glove, like those sin' herself wore,
beautifully embroidered and exactly fitted
to her delicate hands. This paper pattern
is still extant, ami very precious to the re
cipient; it was very useful in providing the
the president’s whole family with present
able gloves made from the sleeves and
breast of an old confederate uniform, ami
the cast-off black cloth garments of the gen
tlemen of the family.
Ladies plaited exquisite straw hats and
bonnets, and learned every brand except
that of Leghorn; the birds of the country
furnished feathers for their adornment.
Ingenious Luxuries.
Whore now companies or battalions or
ganized for wthich flags wen- needed, the
sisters and sweethearts of the men sacri
ficed their best silk frocks to make the flags:
with cunning embroidery they emblazoned
them in such royal stylo that
they are wondrously beautiful in
this day of renaissance. Is
it astonishing that our men wrapped these
flags about their bodies and like the stern
Scotch father, who gave another and
another son “for Eaehim,” died one after
the other to preserve them from capture!
'The Clippings left by the army tailors,
pieces of gray and black cloth five or six
inches across, were pieced together and then
cut into jackets for the soldier’s children.
Very acceptable these “Joseph’s coats”
proved to those who could boast no better
covering.
Such rags as could be utilized in no other
way were wound in balls and woven into
carpets which did duty in place of those
long since cut up for horse and saddle
blankets, and these home-made carpets
were contributed later as the need of them
arose.
Bits of clippings of the best gowns were
sowed neatly over the worn out house slip
pers of the women and they straightway
became dandy little congeners of lhe gown,
and were dainty to look upon, as well as ole (
jeets of pride to their owners.
Flannel was very scarce and cost sls or
S2O a yard; lint underwear was knitted
of homespun wool and was quite as com
fortable as the woven. Dyes were made of
the juices of plants. The raw silk wound
from cocoons was dyed and twisted into
very smooth thread. The finest and most,
even flax thread, nearly as strong as wire
and quite as smooth and fine as sewing silk,
was made in Virginia, and even now there
is none so good in the market.
Hoc V e DigUted Our Houses.
Lamp wicks are plaited by hand and the
oil •'.•< iii.-o . ut< <»t retuse pork; sometimes
wild myrtle berries were stewed until they
•: pile green wax. which made
beautiful and aromatic candles. The oil
" i-'i’ nt- erved also t<ir illumi. aii ;g
purposes. When none of these wore to be
had, the resinous pine—“fat pine”—was
<"!t. into -''lm 1< rs :tml buried one at a
time, while lhe overworked women sat
around the flickering light and sewed un
til late in the night.
I <>nee saw five soldiers' wives making
clothes by this light, and xvhile they
xvorked they talked over the chances of
their “men” coming home alive. “I don’t
expect mine,” said one, “but God knows I
do not want to complain. Since my baby
died he hasn’t any occasion to come." By
“occasion” she meant inducement.
Im • all i’o'-" l-'boro occupations,
the children had to be clothed, generally
without the assistance of a sowing ma
chine- they must, be watched, fed, taught
aml disciplined. Night schools were es
tablished in the basements of the churches,
where lhe ragged children were taught by
the young ladies.
Great barrels of soap were made of the
refuse of the hogs killed for family ami
plantation use. Was toilet soap required,
the need was supplied each time that a
home-cured ham was boiled for family
use, ami the old fashioned sweet flowers
and herbs of the garden furnished the per
fume.
The principal food in every house was ;
pork or corned beef. This meat was cured
under the supervision of the ladies of the I
family, and hams, sausages and “spare
ribs” were prepared in the most dainty
manner.
Pork, sugar, sorghum molasses, corn
i meal, foxvls, eggs, butter —everything pro
■ duct'd on the plantation—were exchanged
, xvith grocers for other commodities. Any
j surplus of cotton, buttons and such like
I drapers’ stores .were exchanged iu the
same way.
Few sauces were invented to add zest to
our poor fare, and some of these have been
accepted by lhe world of gourmets. Wine
was made of elderberries, bitter oranges or
wild cherries.
hir Coffee and Tea.
Tn order that the wounded might have
tea ami coffee, “substitutes” were made
for home use of sassafras leaves, balm or
sage, and even orange leaves were stoped
in hot water, sweetened with sorghum
molasses.
For coffee parched sweet potato shavings,
parched corn or wheat and parched carrots
xvere used.
Al! the coffee, tea. white or brown sugar
ami every other scarce luxury was sent to
the soldiers. “Real coffee and sure enough
tea” xvere for the sick and xvounded —
not for people in health.
Heading Mutter unit Starvation Parties.
The strong tension upon the nerves of the
women xvas not relieved by pleasant new
books or magazines. The nexvspapers xvere
annuals of ardent; endeavor, some triumphs,
but also of sorrow, wounds and death.
During tin' xvar the first volume of “Les
Miserables” was smuggled into the confed
eracy- The educated women eagerly read
it between stitches. The more ignorant
men and xvomen read the title and one at
least said, “Now I xvonder xvho has took to
xvriting about Lee's miserables! We knoxvcil
they xvan’t comfortable, but what's the use
of tollin' it everywhere!”
All work and no play began to tell upon
our nervously organized xvomen. Some of
them turned for relief, when any of the
soldiers were home, to reunions called, from
the absence of any refreshment save cold
water, “starvation parties.”
Our Hospital Nurses.
The hospital nurses xvere largely xvomen,
and mostly ladies.
What they did, is recorded in the “book of
life,” but mortal pen xvould fail to depict
their loving service amidst the horrors of
military hospitals near the battlefields. The
food xvas generally prepared by private
families; delicate breads, strong broths,
or ounces of precious “real tea and coffee,”
were daily taken in baskets, and the sooth
ing voices of the nurses could be heard
xvhispering hopes of victory at home, or
murmuring comforting texts from the script
ure, xxitile the sufferers xvere fed, or cooling
lotions poured upon the dressing of their
xvounds.
I wish it xvere possible to give the names
of these devoted xvomen xx'ho ministered
to the xvounded, soothed the dying and re
ceived the little tokens and last messages
for their absent families. The list xvould be
too long here, but their names are household
words in every southern home—and, "xvdien
shall their glory fade?”
Siow llet'ea Waa Bourn.
lloxx- can justice be rendered to the xvives
nun i iiiii ii mu ■ imiii piiiiiimi -
, I
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' Ho Jill i liliO'e;"
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■I ' e- '
MRS. V. JEFFERSON DAVIS.
From a Recent. Photograph by itavix & Sanford.
of the common soldiers? On these xvomen
fell the burden of deprivation unheard of.
In silence they soxx’ed and reaped the land,
clothed and tended their children, buried
them xvhen they sank under want and ex
posure. or themselves laid down in solitude
and died. . .
It xvas the exception xx’hen tin* men m the
field knew the trials to which tneir wives
xvere subjected. The xvomen were vocal in
hope, silent in despair. The wives of the
common soldiers labored and sorrowed with
out the expectation of earthly honor or
eclat. For if the men of their house
hold perished in battle ii as only "colleetix'o
glory" acquired for tin* army, lor their
cause, not for themselves; a nameless grave
their share.
When the last sad days of the struggle
drew nigh and every heart xxas cast down,
the xvomen xvere the most cheerful.
When the young and old non combatants
were summoned to man the trenches there
were no tears and repinings. Such prepar
ations as were practicable for the eomtort
of the aged and infirm citizen-guards were
quietly made and the men were dispatched
with as much cheer as trembling lips could
summon.
At last, when General Lee's half-starved
army must be withdrawn from before the
overwhelming force of the enemy, he sent
an officer to inform Mr. Davis of the fact .
The message was delivered iu St. I’aul s
church during morning service, where the
president had gone to pray for his people.
The congregation divined tin* purport, of
the dispatch, and though they expected,
as the outcome of it, that their homes
would be burned and the city laid waste,
there was no public plea for protection.
The women gathered about Mr. Davis and
said: "Leave us to our fate if you can save
the country. Perhaps sometime you may
win Richmond back, but if not. we know
you have done your best, and you must, not
grieve over us.”
In this spirit our women met. defeat, star
vation and lobar, humiliation and all the
heart-rending conditions of "reconstruc
tion . ”
The placid, gray-haired matrons of to
day have covered with decorous pride the
scars of that hard struggle, but they are
no less veteran conquerors in a mortal con
flict in which every noble aspiration and
liuman effort was called forth, and answer
ed with a cheerful “ad sum.”
V. JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Beauvoir House, Miss.
A WHITE HOUSE BABY.
Til i: FJ Its TOF ITS KI A 1> F<>IFIF CD
IN WASHINGTON.
Mis. Wilcox, Born in Jackson’s Time, Is in
the Departments—Site Remembers
Playing in LaFayette Square.
Washington, Apr” 21.—1 f Baby Ruth
should be blessed with a little brother or
sister xvhile she xvas in the white house, and
Mrs. Cleveland's friends have been hop
ing for the development of this possibility
in the first year of the Cleveland admin
istration —Mrs. Cleveland could not find a
more appropriate godmother tor the latest
xvhite house baby than the first xvhite house
baby who is noxv* living in 'A ashington.
She its a clerk in the sixth auditor s office
a bureau of the treasury department, but
really a part of the system of the postoffice
department. Mrs. Wilcox is her name
now; Donelson, the name xvhieh she in
herited from her father and mother. She is
a pleasant faced xvoman of fifty-seven years.
If she had the almost invariable feminine
hesitancy about disclosing her age, Mrs.
Wilcox would have to escape from the em
barrassments of her place in xvhite house
history; for the date of her birth is a mat
ter of record and she is so thoroughly iden
tified xvith the Jackson administration that
it. would need only a brief computation for
the most ignorant to number her years.
But though Mrs. Wilcox did say in pleas
antry that she thought it very indelicate
for anyone to discuss her age, she has no
serious wish to ignore the records of Father
Timo.
1 called on Mrs. Wilcox recently at her
pleasant home on O street in the fashionable
uorthvVcst section of the city.
"1 have been interviexved dozens of
times,” she said when I asked her at the
department to tell me xvhat she remem
bered of her childhood. “1 hesitated, for
getting that Mrs. Wilcox has been the first
xvhite house baby for more than half a cen
tury. But When she spoke of an inter
view of fifteen years ago as one of the
most recent of her nexvspaper experiences,
I breathed more freely. One could hard
ly expect to be the (Jolumbv.s of a xvhite
house baby-and especially the first white
house baby; but one xvould not want to
tread too closely on the heels of the last
discoverer.
Mrs. Wilcox lives xvith her daughter in
a comfortable three-story house very
near Dupont circle. It is much more com
fortable than the simple salary of any gov-
eminent clerk would support; but Mrs. Wil
cox is not wholly dependent on her salary
of $1.(100.
I asked her could she remember any in
cidents that had been told to her that were
connected with the time of her birth. She
said she could not. “But 1 remember,”
she said, “a story my mother used to toll
me connected with the trip of the presiden
tial party to Washington for Jackson’s
first inauguration. -All along the route the
crowds had been very large and enthusias
tic. But at Wheeling they were unusually
largo and General Jackson shook
hands so many times that the next day he
had to have his arm in a sling. When the
party was within a short distance of the
city, it was met. by a large crowd of»/*iti
zens who had conn* out to escort it into
town. If there was an inaugural ball
President Jackson did not attend it because
be h::d lost his wife tile Whiter before the
inauguration. It was about ti fear after
the inauguration of President Jackson that
I was born. My mother occupied ti e room
in which Mrs. Harrison died. She was
quite good looking then and when she wts
spoken of it was always as the beautiful
Mrs. Donelson.
“The event of my christening,” continued
Airs. Wilcox, "from the .stories that have
been told me, was quite a social one. In
vitations wi'l'" seat lo both the houses of
congress: and the government officials and
the leading society people of Washington
xvere also invited. The christening was per
formed in the east room by ’’"v. Mr. <lal
agher, a Presbyterian minis Ir. the chris
tening party standing fronting the windoxvs
that f:i<’o the Potomac river. President
Jackson and Mr. Van Buren, then secretary
of state, xvere my god-fathers. I was to
be held by Mr. Van Buren: but xvhen the
time cam -1 made such a Cuss that Uncle
Jackson had to take me. My mother told
me that I behaved very nicely, and when
they sprinkled water on me. i laughed
and acted as though I thought they xvere
playing xvith nut”
i asaed Mrs. Wilcox xvhat she could re
member of the appearance of the xvhite
house and about the social customs of"
those days. “Well.” she replied, “1 can’t
remember much. I do remember, though,
that there used to he a great many recep
tions and dinners. There were, as a rule,
two dinners a xveek and once a xveek a
grand reception. President Jackson xvas
very lavish in his entertainment. The only
thing that I can remember about the white
PRICE 5 CENTS
house is the viexv from the south xvindows
of the east room facing the river. In those
days there xvere a great many more ships
in the river than there are noxv and I
liked very much to look from these xvindows
it the river and the ships. Whenever I xvas
cross or crying I xvould be brought to these
xvindows and 1 xvould be quieted at once.
I thought LaFayette square, xvith its trees
ami flowers ami green grass, very pretty
and 1 enjoyed going over there every morn
ing xvith my nurse and playmates to play
mumble-the-peg; and every morning xvhen
I got up I xvould look anxiously out of the
window to see if it was a clear day. The
family xvere very proud of me and at the
receptions Uncle Jackson would alxvays
present me to his friends xvith ‘And this is
our little girl that came to us in the xvhite
house.’ I grew x-ery tired of this, and one
day before the reception I asked uncla
not to introduce me in that .way, but. to
tell them that I had been head'of my class
for six xveeks. This seemed to please him
very much—so much that he repeated xvhat
I had said to the company, xvhieh made me
all the more vexed.
“When the building of the treasury de
partment was begun,” continued Mrs. Wil
cox, "you knoxv President Jackson laid
the corner stone. Before it was laid he xx’aa
asked to put; something of his into the
box that is alxvays laid xvith a corner
stone. He came to me and remarking that
I xvas his most precious treasure, cut off
one of my little curls ajid put it in the
box. President Jackson xvas always th»k
ing of some xvay by xvhieh to amuse and
surprise me. One Christinas morning,
coming downstairs xvith a large doll in
my arms, I met uncle, xvho told me that
Santa Claus had made a mistake and left
some of my things under his pillow. I fol
lowed him into his room, and there, under
his pillow, xvere a number of small pres
ents for me.
“Not. long after this an incident hap
pened that shoxved hoxv sincere President
Jackson was in his devotion to those as
sociated xvith him. I think that the story
has never been told. He had as his body
servant a negro slave xvho bad once saved
his life on the battlefield. One day this
slave xvas taken sick; the doctor was sum
moned and pronounced the case one of
smallpox, and said that the man xvould
have to be removed. But uncle said that
that xvould not do: as he xvas in an unin
habited part of the house he could just a%
well stay there. The doctor replied that
if ho stayed at the xvhite house some one
would have to be in his room constantly
to administer medicine to the sick man, /
and added that if some one could be, iiy
the room that night and watch him care?
fully he might he brought out of dang/
by the morning. President Jackson y
that he xvould do it; and he did do it/
though the doctor strongly reluonsy
xvith him. In the morning the mag
better and he xvas soon well again."
I asked Mrs. Grant liow many babie' -
had been born in the xvhite house. “ T •
the first baby,” she said, “Ivt
only one. Julia Grant, F-
Grant, xvas born dm ,: ‘
i us *. >•
lint xvi. . u’i Vfi r -h ■ .
rorld. but after seeing m,
Iciirs I" every c< h i ix alec gi.i'L .
siu . o, t. a .i n s offered i.
house ba.iv, arm tn’ey ..rib,-rs tc, .
hav«' treated me very nice',,'!"'!' free <le
son xvas very kind to me, * “-'i'.'.'
“I have a great, many relics 'd’L
sons xvhieh are very interesting aft® Jack
valuable. xvhieh I used to keep at -as
but so many of the people xvho called on<tf,
asked to see them, that it gave me a grea '
deal of trouble ami labor taking them out'
and putting them back in the places xvhere
they belonged. So at last 1 decided that 1
xvould put them in the national museum.
They are there noxv in a glass ease and
have been there since last October. I have
a picture which I prize very highly, and
xvhieh I did not send xvith the collection.
It is a. small painting on xvood of DeWitt
(.'Union and his family. Clinton's xvife xvas
a Cuban, was said to have resembled my
mother, and their child very much like me.
Therefore I thought a great deal of this
picture. One Christmas, xvhen I was about
six years old, and shortly before I left the
xvhite house. Uncle Jackson asked me what
I xvould like. 1 told him that picture that
alxvays stood on one corner of his mantel
piece. He gave it to rue, and since then it
has never left me. I alxvays carry it xvith
me whenever I travel, and it. has been all
over Europe and the United States xvith
me. That picture of my mother (showing
me a life-size painting above the mantel in
her parlor) looks very much like Mary,
queen of Scots. Taking the peculiar dress
of the time of Mary axvay from her picture,
that of her and my mother xx’ould be almost
identical.
Mrs. Wilcox xvent into the department
service fifteen years ago. She '.vas ap
pointed at the instance of General Grant.
She had been married in 1852 to Colonel
AVilcox, a representative in congress from
Mississippi. He xvas a wealthy planter and
owned 300 slaves. He represented Missis
sippi in the thirty-second congress and
little later he moved to
Texas and represented that state
iji the house of representatives
in the thirty-fourth congress. Afterwards
he was iu the congress of the confederate
states. He xvould have been sent to the
United States senate after the xvar if he had
lived. He died in 1805. The xvar had
sxvept away most of his property, and after
some years. Mrs. Wilcox found it necessary
to enter the department service. Presi
dent Grant, xvho had her appointed to her
department position. was almost like a
father to her, Mrs. Wilcox said.
The Jackson relics in the National Mu
seum, many of xvhieh were contributed by
Mrs. Wilcox, occupy a ease by themselves.
Most conspicuous among them is a huge
tortoise-shell comb, presented to Airs. Jack
son by the ladies of New Orleans, and xvorn
by her at a ball given in honor pf General
LaFayette. at Nashville, iu 1825. As the
fashions of that day are again coming into
X’ogue, possibly the ladies who read this
story xvill understand how Mrs. Jackson
managed to sustain this huge decoration on
her head. It is about eight inches high and
nearly a foot xvide. At each end was carved
a harp, and in the center xvas painted a
portrait of President Jackson. This was
one of Mrs. Wilcox's mementoes of the
Jackson family, inherited front her mother.
Another conspicuous relic is a scimitar
nresented to General Jackson by the sultan
of Turkev, said to have belonged at one
time to ’Mahomet. There is a military
coat worn by General Jackson at the
battle of New'Orleans. Then there is the
xx'atch which hi* wore in that battle. It. is
a chronometer of ordinary size, open-faced,
in a ease of gold. The dial also is of gold.
Then there is a veil, a yard square, em
broidered xvith the name “Jackson,’ pre
sented to Mrs. Jackson by the ladies of
Cincinnati xvith the request that she wear
it at Jackson's inauguration. As she died
before the inauguration, it xvas never worn.
The most unique of these relics is a lock
of General Jackson's hair. It is but a scan
tv lock, for there are only eight or ten
hairs in it and they are almost white. They
lie on a little velvet cushion, tied together
with a thread. _ George G. Bain.
Robespierre Can’t Deny It Now.
From The Independent.
The story is told of Robespierre that at one
time xvhen nt the height of his power a lady
called upon him, beseeching him to snare her
husband’s life. He scornfully refused. As
she turned away she happened to tread upon
the paw of bls pet dog. He turned upon her:
“Madam, have you no humanity!”
