The Part Taken by Women in American History/The United Daughters of the Confederacy
The United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Introduction by Cornelia Branch Stone.
It is a privilege accorded me by the author of this work, to write, at her request, a brief introductory to that part of her book which recognizes the organization known as the United Daughters of the Confederacy—a body of Southern women, approximately numbering sixty thousand, and now organized in thirty-one states, the District of Columbia and city of Mexico, Republic of Mexico.
In 1894 the chapters of the Daughters of the Confederacy, which had been previously formed in many of the Southern states met in Nashville, Tennessee, and organized themselves into one general federation, the objects of which are "memorial, historical, benevolent, educational and social, namely to honor the memory of those who served and those who fell in the service of the Confederate states; to record the part taken by the women of the South, in patient endurance of hardships and patriotic devotion during the struggle, as well as their untiring effort, after the war, in the reconstruction of the South; to collect and preserve the material for a true history of the war between the states ; to protect and preserve historical places of the Confederacy; to fulfill the sacred duty of charity to the survivors of that war, and to those dependent upon them; to promote the education of the needy descendants of worthy Confederates; and to cherish the ties of friendship among the members of the association."
With such aims and purposes, the women of this organization—worthy daughters of noble sires — have cared for the living veterans, and urged upon the legislatures of the Southern states the payment of pensions and the establishment and maintenance of homes for these old heroes, and for the needy Confederate women. By their own efforts they have erected monuments throughout the South, to commemorate the heroism of the "men behind the guns," and their great leaders—among whom stand high on the scroll of fame, the name of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, J. E. B. Stuart and a host of others who have now become, in our re-united country, a common heritage, as types of American courage and valor.
Under a well-organized educational system, much valuable work is being done for the higher education of worthy sons and daughters of needy Confederates by securing scholarships in universities and colleges. Within such sacred effort, no spirit of antagonism or bitterness has entered, for the heart and soul of this organization has lived and had its being in a clearer, purer atmosphere, where loyalty and faithfulness to our common country has had full part; and the youth of our land while being taught to honor and revere these memories, are also instructed in that patriotism, which leads to the highest type of citizenship, and which will give to the service of our country faithfulness and honesty of purpose.
With such inspiration it is not surprising that the women of this organization—heirs of a rich heritage of glorious achievements, calling forth the best qualities of manhood and womanhood—should have in many cases, developed a high order of executive and administrative ability.
MRS. JEFFERSON DAVIS.
It has been said of Mrs. Varina Howell Davis, who was born May 7, 1826, that she was the key of President Davis' career, and certain it is, that while the public life of this celebrated family was in many respects one long storm, their private life was full of peace and sunshine. In the memoirs of her husband, a work of great merit which Mrs. Davis published early in the '90's, we find every evidence of her loving ministrations and their intellectual companionship, during the memorable years of his life, and her children bear testimony that she enabled him more completely to achieve that career which has made his name immortal. The war career of Mrs. Davis is historical, and a cherished memory of those who watched her unfaltering devotion in the dark days, and when overcome by misfortune met the inevitable like a true daughter of noble sires. She was indeed well descended coining from the famous Howell family, whose founder settled in New Jersey. Her grandfather, Governor Richard Howell, was a Revolutionary officer, and her father, William Burr Howell, won distinction under McDonough on Lake Champlain. Mrs. Davis' maternal grandfather, James Kempt, was an Irish gentleman who came to Virginia after the Emmet Rebellion. He was a man of much wealth and moved to Natchez, Mississippi, when Mrs. Davis' mother was an infant. Colonel Kempt organized the Natchez troops and accompanied them during the Revolution. Mrs. Davis' uncle, Franklin Howell, was killed on the "President." Her marriage to Jefferson Davis took place the 26th of February, 1845. When Jefferson Davis died there was ended a most remarkable chapter of national history and domestic devotion. His widow retired to live in absolute seclusion in their pleasant home in Beauvoir, Mississippi, having with her as close companion her daughter "Winny," affectionately known throughout the South as the "Daughter of the Confederacy."
Many anecdotes have come down to us bearing testimony to the mercy and kindness and loyal service of this "Highest Lady of the Southern Land." The following is typical: During the height of the war a minister passing through the streets of Augusta, Georgia, on his round of duty to the sick, called at the hospitals, and encountered a stranger who accosted him thus: "My friend, can you tell me if Mrs. Jeff Davis is in the city of Augusta?" "No, sir," replied the minister, "she is not." "Well, sir," replied the stranger, "you may be surprised at my asking such a question and more particularly so when I inform you that I am a discharged United States soldier, but," (and here he evinced great feeling) "that lady has performed acts of kindness to me which I can never forget. When serving in the Valley of Virginia, battling for the Union I received a severe and dangerous wound. At the same time I was taken prisoner and conveyed to Richmond, where I received such kindness and attention from Mrs. Davis that I can never forget her; and, now that I am discharged from the army, I wish to call upon her and carry my expressions of gratitude to her and offer to share with her, should she unfortunately need it, the last cent I have in the world."
Mrs. Davis died in 1906.
SALLIE CHAPMAN GORDON.
Just upon the eve of preparation by ex-Confederates a few years ago to celebrate the Fourth of July in a becoming manner and spirit, the sad news was announced of the death of the venerable Mrs. Law, known all over the South as one of the mothers of the Confederacy. She was also truly a mother in Israel in the highest Christian sense. Her life had been closely connected with that of many leading actors in the late war, in which she herself bore an essential part. She passed away June 28, 1904, at ldlewild, one of the suburbs of Memphis, nearly ninety-nine years of age.
She was born on the River Yadkin, in Wilson County, North Carolina, August 27, 1805, and at the time of her death was doubtless the oldest person in Shelby County. Her mother's maiden name was Charity King. Her father, Chapman Gordon, served in the Revolutionary War, under Generals Marion and Sumter. She came of a long-lived race of people. Her mother lived to be ninety-three years of age, and her brother, Rev. Hezekiah Herndon Gordon, who was the father of General John B. Gordon (late senator from Georgia), lived to the age of ninety-two years.
Sallie Chapman Gordon was married to Dr. John S. Law, near Eatonton, Georgia, on the 28th day of June, 1825. A few years later she became a member of the Presbyterian Church, in Forsyth, Georgia, and her name was afterward transferred to the rolls of the Second Presbyterian Church, in Memphis, of which she remained a member as long as she lived.
She became an active worker in hospitals, and when nothing more could be done in Memphis she went through the lines and rendered substantial aid and comfort to the soldiers in the field. Her services, if fully recorded, would make a book. She was so recognized that upon one occasion General Joseph F. Johnston had thirty thousand of his bronzed and tattered soldiers to pass in review in her honor at Dalton. Such a distinction was, perhaps, never accorded to any other woman in the South, not even Mrs. Jefferson Davis, or the wives of the great generals. Yet, so earnest and sincere in her work was she that she commanded the respect and reverence of men wherever she was known. After the war she strove to comfort the vanquished and encourage the down-hearted, and continued in her way to do much good work.
MRS. A. BAUM.
Mrs. Baum, late of Irwinton, Georgia, was born near Bingen, Germany. She emigrated to the United States in 1849 and came to Georgia, residing in Savannah one year, when she removed to Irwinton and there married. From 1850 till her death Irwinton was her home. She died October 30, 1910. During the trying times of 1861-1865 she was ever diligent in aiding in every way in her power the cause of the Confederacy, by donating food, clothing and medicines to the soldiers, and by caring for the needy and sick wives and children of the soldiers of her country at the front.
SARAH ANN DORSEY.
LUCY ANN COX.
On the evening of October 15th, an entertainment was given in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to raise funds to erect a monument to the memory of Mrs. Lucy Ann Cox, who, at the commencement of the war, surrendered all the comfort of her father's home, and followed the fortunes of her husband, who as a member of Company A, Thirteenth Virginia Regiment, served the South until the flag of the Southern Confederacy was furled at Appomattox. No march was too long or weather too inclement to deter this patriotic woman from doing what she considered her duty. She was with her company and regiment on their two forays into Maryland, and her ministering hand carried comfort to many a wounded and worn soldier. While Company A was the object of her untiring solicitude, no Confederate ever asked assistance from Mrs. Cox but it was cheerfully rendered.
She marched as the infantry did, seldom taking advantage of offered rides in ambulances and wagon trains. Mrs. Cox died, a few years ago. It was her latest expressed wish that she be buried with military honors, and, so far as it was possible, her wish was carried out. Her funeral took place on a bright autumn Sunday, and the entire town turned out to do homage to this noble woman.
The camps that have undertaken the erection of this monument do honor to themselves in thus commemorating the virtues of the heroine, Lucy Ann Cox.
CORNELIA BRANCH STONE.
S But it was after the war, when the contemplation of ruined homes and broad desolation was thrust upon the South, that the real test came. The men met the awful responsibility and their hideous trials with amazing courage, and to the glory of the Southern woman be it said that the women became equal sharers in courage and in work. They have never faltered and never shown any weariness. Those left penniless, who were once wealthy, took up whatever work came to hand. Not a murmur escaped their lips. They cheered each other as they strengthened the energies of the men, and they kept up their work for the Confederate soldiers and keep it up till this day. Memorial associations were organized all over the South. The two great societies of Richmond, the Hollywood, and the Oakwood, each look after thousands of graves, the names of whose occupants are unknown. But probably the most noble work for the support of charity as well as of loyal sentiment has been done through the United Daughters of the Confederacy. A foremost worker in this noble society is Mrs. Cornelia Branch Stone, for several years president of the Texas Division, and whose biography will well illustrate the strength of character and the executive ability for which the leading ladies among Southern womanhood were distinguished.
A wise counsellor, of clear judgment and indefatigable energy, remarkable administrative ability, tact, high literary attainments, loyal to duty, and a gracious and charming personality — these are the characteristics which make Mrs Cornelia Branch Stone one of the most admired and influential women of the South. She has been and is an active worker in every organization which stands for the good of the people and the uplift of mankind.
She was born in Nacogdoches, Republic of Texas, in February, 1840. Her father, Edward Thomas Branch, a native of Chesterfield County, Virginia, went to Texas in the fall of 1835. He enlisted in the army of Texas, under General Sam Houston and participated in the battle of San Jacinto, which victory decided the independence of Texas from the Republic of Mexico. He was a member of the first and second sessions of the Congress of the Republic of Texas, was district and supreme judge of that republic and was a member of the first legislature of Texas. From this distinguished father, Mrs. Stone undoubtedly inherited her keen virile mind, though her mother, Ann Wharton Cleveland, was a woman of rare culture and intellect.
At fifteen years of age Cornelia Branch was married to Henry Clay Stone, a Virginian by birth. After his death in 1887 Mrs. Stone devoted her time to the education of her only son and when he had graduated in medicine she took up her active work in the organization which she has since pursued with such distinctive success. Her first official position was president of the Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. While Mrs. Stone was president, the Texas Division increased twenty-six chapters in two years. She served as president-general of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and during that administration she kept in touch through correspondence with all the daughters and the heads of departments, writing every letter with her own hand. Any one reading her decisions and rulings while presiding over this body cannot but realize the excellency of Mrs. Stone's mind.
She was later first vice-president of the Texas Federation of Woman's Clubs, during which time she was chairman of a committee to secure an amendment to the poll tax law of the state of Texas. The effect of this was to better enforce the poll tax, one-fourth of which is paid to the school fund of Texas, and it was wholly through the efforts of Mrs. Stone that the amendment was carried, increasing the school fund by many thousands of dollars. As chairman for two years of the committee on education in the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, she contributed many papers on educational interests, secured scholarship in several colleges of Texas and recommended in her report the provision of a fund by the clubs for the maintenance of the beneficiaries of these scholarships when unable to pay board and lodging. She has held offices of trust in the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and as first vice-president has served as acting president at their convention. Although Mrs. Stone loves the cause represented by the Daughters of the Confederacy and as guiding hand for it gave her best efforts of pen and brain, she is moreover an enthusiastic Colonial Dame and patriotic member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and is known prominently among the womanhood of her state as a Daughter of the Republic of Texas. It was largely through Mrs. Stone's efforts that the name of Jefferson Davis was restored to the tablet on Cabin John's Bridge, near Washington—this great historic arch having been erected while Davis was secretary of war.
While Mrs. Stone was serving as president-general of the Daughters of the Confederacy, affliction laid a heavy hand upon her, through the loss of her only son, Doctor Harry D. Stone, a brilliant and most promising physician, who after the death of her husband had become the very. soul and joy of her life. But this did not embitter the strong woman. With her sorrow still upon her heart she took up her work with renewed zeal. When her term of office expired she was known and loved by each of her sixty thousand daughters, and as a token of their appreciation of her sterling worth she was presented with many beautiful and valuable badges, each inscribed with a legend of the esteem and honor in which she was held by the daughters.
A Wayside Home at Millen.
Only a few of the present inhabitants of Millen know that it was once famous as the location of a Confederate Wayside Home, where, during the Civil War, the soldiers were fed and cared for. The home was built by public subscription and proved a veritable boon to the soldiers, as many veterans now living can testify.
The location of the town has been changed slightly since the 6o's, for in those days the car sheds were several hundred yards farther up the Macon track, and were situated where the railroad crossing is now. The hotel owned and run by Mr. Gray was first opposite the depot, and the location is still marked by mock-orange trees and shrubbery.
The Wayside Home was on the west side of the railroad crossing and was opposite the house built in the railroad by Major Wilkins and familiarly known here as the Barrien House. The old well still marks the spot. The home was weather-boarded with rough planks running straight up and down. It had four large rooms to the front, conveniently furnished with cots, etc., for the accommodation of any soldiers who were sick or wounded and unable to continue their journey. A nurse was always on hand to attend to the wants of the sick. Back of these rooms was a large dining hall and kitchen, where the weary and hungry boys in gray could minister to the wants of the inner man, and right royally they performed this pleasant duty, for the table was always bountifully supplied with good things, donated by the patriotic women of Burke County, who gladly emptied hearts and home upon the altar of country. This work was entirely under the auspices of the women of Burke. Mrs. Judge Jones, of Waynesboro, was the first president of the home. She was succeeded by Mrs. Ransom Lewis, who was second and last. She was quite an active factor in the work, and it is largely due to her efforts that the home attained the prominence that it did among similar institutions. Miss Annie Bailey, daughter of Captain Bailey, of Savannah, was matron of the home. She was assisted in the work by committees of three ladies, who, each in turn, spent several days at the home.
This home was to the weary and hungry Confederate soldier as an oasis in the desert, for here he found rest and plenty beneath its shelter. The social feature was not its least attraction, for when a bevy of blooming girls from our bonny Southland would visit the home, and midst feast and jest spur the boys on to renewed vigor in the cause of the South, they felt amidst such inspirations it would be worthy to die, but more glorious to live for such a land of charming women. One of our matrons with her sweet old face softened into a dreamy smile by happy reminiscences of those days of toil, care, and sorrow, where happy thoughts and pleasantries of the past crowded in and made little rifts of sunshine through the war clouds, remarked : "But with all the gloom and suffering, we girls used to have such fun with the soldiers at the home, and at such times we could even forget that our beloved South was in the throes of the most terrible war in the history of any country!"
The home was operated for two years or more and often whole regiments of soldiers came to it, and all that could be accommodated were taken in and cared for. It was destroyed by Sherman's army on their march to the sea. The car shed, depot, hotel and home all disappeared before the torch of the destroyer and only the memory, the well, and the trees remain to mark the historic spot where the heroic efforts of our Burke County women sustained the Wayside Home through two long years of the struggle.
Mrs. Amos Whitehead and others who have "crossed the river" were prominently connected with this work; in fact, every one lent a helping hand, for it was truly a labor of love, and was our Southern women's tribute to patriotism and heroism.
OCTAVIA COHEN.
Mrs. Cohen was ninety-three years old on May 30, 191 1. During the four years of the war she remained in Savannah, making it her duty to look after the needs of the Southern soldiers, who had been exchanged, and attended them in sickness, and in every way ministered to their comfort.
When Captain Cuyler, who was then ordnance officer, did not have sufficient bullets, she took the leaden weights from her windows, putting wood in their place to support the windows, and with those weights Captain Cuyler made five hundred bullets. She, with her two daughters, Fanny (Mrs. Henry Taylor) and Georgina (Mrs. Clavius Phillips) made in their home two kegs of gunpowder. She also made and collected clothes, which she sent to Jekyl Island to Captain Charles Lamar, for his men.
Mrs. Philip Phillips was in Washington with her husband, Judge Phillips, at the breaking out of the war. She was sent, under flag of truce, with two grown daughters and younger children to Fortress Monroe, from which place they returned to their home in New Orleans. Later Mrs. Phillips was imprisoned by Ben Butler on Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico for many months. She devoted time and money to the cause, giving her jewels, even selling them when she had no other money to give.
Her daughters, Fannie, now Mrs. Charles Hill, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Caroline, now Mrs. Frederic Myers, of Savannah, Georgia, though very young, helped in the care of the sick and wounded.
Miss Martha Levy gave the same support to the cause as did all the loyal women of the South.
Mrs. P. Y. Pember, eighty odd years old, residing at Pittsburgh, Pa., was at the head of the Chimborazo Hospital, Richmond, Va., and did wonderful work with little money, few necessities and volunteer nurses.
These four ladies were all daughters of Mrs. S. Y. Levy, who worked earnestly for her adopted Southland, being an Englishwoman never in America until after her marriage. She lived to be ninety-four years old, and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The following names are of women who loved the cause and who fought the battles with their men, whose hearts were torn with the bullets that mowed down the flower and chivalry of the South: Mrs. Isaac Minis, Mrs. Abram Minis, Mrs. Yates Levy, Mrs. Mordecai Myers, Mrs. Levy Myers, Mrs. Solomon Cohen, the Misses Rebecca, Fanny and Cecelia Minis, and Mrs. Theodore Minis.
LETITIA DOWDELL ROSS.
Mrs. Letitia Dowdell Ross, the newly elected president of the Alabama Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, is the daughter of the late William Crawford Dowdell, of Auburn, Alabama. Her mother was Elizabeth Thomas Dowdell, a woman prominent and influential in the foreign missionary work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and for thirty years president of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of Alabama. Mrs. Ross is a niece of the late Colonel James F. Dowdell, who commanded the Thirty-seventh Regiment, Confederate States of America, and for several years before the war was a member of Congress from the East Alabama district. She is also a first cousin of Chief Justice Dowdell, of the Supreme Court, and of the late Governor William J. Samford, of Alabama. Mrs. Ross was given the best educational advantages at home and abroad, having spent some time in Germany as a student, later becoming the wife of B. B. Ross, professor of chemistry in the Alabama Polytechnic Institute and chemist for the state of Alabama. Her husband's work has brought Mrs. Ross into close connection with educational work. She has always taken an active interest in all movements looking to the benefit of the young men of the institutions with which her husband is connected. She enters with interest and enthusiasm into the literary and social life of her home town and is greatly admired for her intelligence and her many amiable and womanly qualities. Mrs. Ross has been prominently associated with the United Daughters of the Confederacy work since the organization of the Admiral Semmes Chapter, of Auburn, and was for several terms its president. She has also held the positions of recording secretary and first vice-president in the state division and frequently has been a delegate to the general convention, United Daughters of the Confederacy. Mrs. Ross is also an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
ADALINE GARDNER.
Mrs. Gardner was born near Bingen in Germany. She emigrated to Georgia in 1849 and removed to Florida in 1853. At the commencement of the war she lived at Fernandina and shortly before its occupation by the Federals removed to Waldo, Florida. While residing at Waldo she did all she could to feed the hungry and relieve the sick and furloughed boys passing her door. In the summer of 1864 the family removed to Savannah, Georgia, where she is still living and is in her ninetieth year.
BERTHA GARDNER.
The daughter of Mrs. Adaline Gardner aided and assisted her mother during the war, from i860 to 1865, to the best of her ability, although but a young girl at the time, by feeding the hungry and nursing the sick.
SADIE CURRY AND "CLARA FISHER."
In the later years of the war a great many of the wounded soldiers were brought from east and west to Augusta, Georgia. Immediately the people from the country on both sides of the Savannah River came in and took hundreds of the poor fellows to their homes and nursed them with every possible kindness. Ten miles up the river, on the Carolina side, was the happy little village of Curryton, named for Mr. Joel Curry and his father, the venerable Lewis Curry. Here many a poor fellow from distant states was taken in most cordially and every home was a temporary hospital. Among those nursed at Mr. Curry's, whose house was always a home for the preacher, the poor man and the soldier, was Major Crowder, who suffered long from a painful and fatal wound, and a stripling boy soldier from Kentucky, Elijah Ballard, whose hip wound made him a cripple for life.
Miss Sadie Curry nursed both, night and day, as she did others, when necessary, like a sister. Her zeal never flagged, and her strength never gave way. After young Ballard, who was totally without education, became strong enough, she taught him to read and write, and when the war ended he went home prepared to be a bookkeeper. Others received like kindnesses.
But this noble girl' had from the beginning of the war made it her daily business to look after the families of the poorer soldiers in the neighborhood. She mounted her horse daily and made her round of angel visits. If she found any body sick she reported to the kind and patriotic Dr. Hugh Shaw. If any of the families lacked meal or other provisions, it was reported to her father, who would send meal from his mill or bacon from his smoke-house.
In appreciation of her heroic work, her father and her gallant brother-in-law, Major Robert Meriwether, who was in the Virginia army, now living in Brazil, bought a beautiful Tennessee riding horse and gave it to her. She named it "Clara Fisher," and many poor hearts in old Edgefield were made sad and many tears shed in the fall of 1864, when Sadie Curry and "Clara Fisher" moved to southwest Georgia.
Bless God, there were many Sadie Currys all over the South, wherever there was a call and opportunity. Miss Sadie married Dr. H. D. Hudson and later in life Rev. Dr. Rogers, of Augusta, where she died a few years ago.
VIRGINIA FAULKNER McSHERRY.
The subject of this sketch is a woman of strong and attractive personality. She is a member, on both sides, of distinguished families that gave lustre to the society of the Old Dominion, in its palmiest days. Her father was the late Hon. Charles James Faulkner, Sr., who filled many positions of honor and trust, not only in his own state, but under the government of the United States. He represented his country as minister to the court of St. Cloud, with distinguished ability, just prior to the Civil War, coming home at the commencement of the troublous times of 1861, and casting his fortunes with the South. Mrs. McSherry was born in Martinsburg, Virginia, now West Virginia, and spent the greater part of her young life, with the exception of the years she lived with her father's family, in Paris, at her ancestral home "Bodyville," until her marriage to Dr. J. Whann McSherry. Mrs. McSherry's heart was bound up in the Southern Confederacy, in the service of which, her father, her husband, her brothers, and many friends, displayed unswerving fidelity, and immediately after the cessation of hostilities, she devoted her energies to the care of the gallant soldiers, who fought so nobly for the cause they believed to be right and just. Mrs. McSherry organized a chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in her county of Berkeley, which by her energy and exceptional executive ability became a model of efficiency, in caring for the living and keeping bright the memories of the dead. When the West Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was organized, Mrs. McSherry was elected its president, which office she filled with marked ability, until called higher, and at Houston, Texas, in 1009, she was elevated to the highest office in the gift of the organization, that of president-general of the noble band of women, who compose the National Association of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and was re-elected, at Little Rock, Arkansas, at the succeeding election. Her administration of that exalted office has been eminently acceptable, impartial and just. Her conscientious discharge of her duties has won for her the enviable reputation of having been one of the very best presiding officers that this organization has ever had. She will go down in the history of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, with the plaudit, "Well done, good and faithful servant," and many are the old soldiers of the Confederacy who rise up and call her blessed. Besides being a zealous member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Mrs. MeSherry is a leader in all good Works in her community. and is regarded as a most valuable member of society.
LAURA MARTIN RUSH.
Mrs. Rose is a native Tennesseean. She was Miss Laura Martin, born at Pulanski, Tennessee. in the year 1862, daughter of William M. Martin and Lizzie Gorin Otis. Her grandfather, Mr. Thomas Martin, was born in Albemarle Couuty, Virginia, in 1799, and at the sure of ten years moved with his father, Abram Martin, to Sumner County, Tennessee. in the year 1809, when that country was still the happy hunting mound of the Red Man. His ancestors were of Welsh origin, emigrating to Virginia in the rally days. Mr. Martin as merchant, planter and banker impressed himself upon the history of Giles County, Tennessee, and left a name revered by all. He was a man of strong intellect, public spirited, and noted for his uprightness and charity. Through her mother, a beautiful and brilliant woman, Mrs. Rose claims French descent. The Gorins were descendants of the Huguenots of France, two brothers emigrating to this country and settling, in Maryland. John Gorin, her great-great-grandfather, was a revolutionary soldier, moving to Barron County, Kentucky, in 1789. Mrs. Rose was married in 1881 to Solon E. F. Rose, of Pulaski, Tennessee, son of Colonel Solon E. Rose, an eminent Tennessee lawyer. This union brought together two of Tennessee's most prominent families. She is the mother of three children, a daughter and two sons. Her daughter, Lizzie Otis Rose, died some years ago. Her sous. Martin and Solon Clifton, live with their parents at West Point, Mississippi.
Mrs. Row at the present time enjoys the distinguished honor of being the president of the Mississippi division. United Daughters of the Confederacy. Prior to her election to this high position, she was historian of the division for two years. She did good work along historical lines. She has written several papers of interest and value, namelyr, "The United Daughters of the Confederacy. Its Objects and Missions." "Arlington, Its Past and Present." "The Klu Klux Klan." giving authentic history of the origin of that famous "Klan." Her public work has been along United Daughters of the Confederacy lines, and she has thrown into it all the love and enthusiasm of her nature for her beloved Southland. She has stood for the truth of history. believing that "History is the life of a nation." and has been untiring in her efforts to present in her work the truths of the history of the Southern Confederacy, that “Storm-cradled Nation" that fell.
ANNIE H. BOCOCK.
Mrs. Annie H. Bocock, the second wife of Thomas S. Boncock, the distinguished Virginia statesman, was a worthy companion during the latter part of his distinguished career. She was the daughter of Charles James Faulkner. who was minister from the United States to Paris at the outbreak of the war. She is the mother of three children, W. P. Bocock, Mrs. Thomas Carey Johnson and Mrs. Sallie D. Reynolds. She makes her home at Richmond, Virginia; is an active worker in the Daughters of the Confederacy and in all patriotic and philanthropic work of her state and city.
MOLLIE R. M. ROSENBERY.
Mrs. Mollie R. Macgill Rosenbery, of Galveston. Texas, is prominent in the work of the Daughters of the Confederacy and a philanthropist of note in Texas and other states.
MRS. PERCY V. PENNYBACKER.
Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker, of Texas, is president of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, and author of "An Abridged History of Texas," which is use in the public schools of that state. She is a women of fine attainments, and an easy, ready speaker. She is also a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
MRS. GRANT.
Among other women who have done conspicuous work in the United Daughters of the Confederacy, we mention Mrs. Grant, who is of a distinguished Virginia family, that of Lewis. She is the wife of Chief Justice Grant of the Supreme Court of Missouri. She has done splendid work in her state along educational lines.
KATIE DAFFAN.
Miss Katie Daffan was twice state president of the Daughters of the Confederacy of Texas, and author of "Woman in History," "The Woman on the Pine Springs Road," "Texas Hero Stories," and "Verses and Fables."
ANNIE SIMPSON.
Miss Simpson was a native of Charleston, South Carolina. She was a young woman when the war between the states began. She was heart and soul with the Confederacy and devoted her time, energies and money to the help and needs of the Southern soldiers, nursing the sick and wounded in the hospitals of Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina. At the close of the war, she, with other devoted women, formed the Memorial Association and founded the Confederate Home, both of Charleston, South Carolina. She was secretary of the former, and vice-president and one of the Board of Control of the Home from its formation until her death, at the age of eighty-five, in 1905.
ALICE BAXTER
Miss Baxter was born in Athens, Georgia, and is the daughter of Andrew Baxter and Martha Williams Baxter. She was graduated with distinction from Wesleyan Female College, Macon, Georgia, which is the oldest chartered woman's college in the world. Miss Baxter's public work has been almost entirely with the Daughters of the Confederacy of Georgia. She is also a daughter of the American Revolution.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy holds a unique place in history. It is a memorial to the storm-cradled Southern Confederacy, which although a lost cause this organization is notwithstanding a strong and growing one. Its objects are historical, memorial, benevolent, social and educational. Much is accomplished on all these lines, and Miss Baxter in her work for the organization has endeavored to foster all its aims, but her greatest interest has been for the educational uplift of the Georgia people. Miss Baxter has served the organization in various capacities for more than fifteen years, a portion of the time as recording secretary, vice-president, and president of the Atlanta Chapter, at other times as corresponding secretary, vice-president and president of the state. She has for the past four years served the state as president, her term expiring with the State Convention, October 24, 1911. Miss Baxter has builded on the good foundation of her predecessors. There is a handsome $25,000 girls' dormitory attached to the State Normal School, at Athens, which was undertaken during the presidency of Mrs. James A. Rounsaville, continued during that of Miss Mildred Rutherford, and completed after Mrs. A. B. Hull was made state president.
During Mrs. Hull's administration a three-thousand-dollar fund was gathered toward the erection of a girls' dormitory in the Georgia Mountains in honor of Francis Bartow, in connection with the Rabun Gap Industrial School. During Miss Baxter's administration the plans were changed and the fund made the nucleus for a ten-thousand-dollar educational endowment fund, as a memorial to Francis Bartow. This fund is to remain in the hands of the Georgia Division, United Daughters of Confederacy, the interest to be used for education. It has now reached over seven thousand dollars.
It is rare that a woman brings to the duties of a high executive office, so clear a conscientiousness and such absolute devotion to the best that is in the work, as Miss Baxter, the present state president, United Daughters of the Confederacy, of Georgia. The work has developed and grown under her administration, and the part that will last,—the educational part,—has received an impetus and an encouragement, that cannot fail to be productive of results that will continue as long as the division lasts.
A Sketch of the Life of Mrs. Joseph B. Dibrell.
By Hon. A. A. Terrell.
Ella Peyton Dancy was born in the Reconstruction Days and reared on the banks of the Colorado at La Grange, Texas, the plantation where her father settled in 1836, and which is still owned by this youngest child of the Dancy family. She was married in her sixteenth year and has two daughters born of this marriage. Her mother inherited the homestead of her father which was built in Austin, in 1847, in the primitive days of the capital, built by the hands of her grandfather's servants. While yet a very young woman, she and her little daughters removed with her mother, Mrs. Dancy, to Austin where she then entered the University, taking special courses in literature under Mark Harvey Liddell, the noted Shakespearian scholar, who is now editing his Shakespeare under the auspices of Princeton University. She was married to Joseph B. Dibrell, member of the state senate in October, 1899, and is now the mother of John Winfield Dancy Dibrell, born four years after the marriage, now a lad of eight. She lived at Seguin, Texas, Mr. Dibrell's lifelong home until his recent appointment to the Supreme Bench of Texas, when she has again returned to the state capital at Austin, the home of her grandfather and distinguished father who was a member of Congress of the Republic of Texas.
Ella Dancy Dibrell comes of old revolutionary stock. Through her mother's line she descended from Anne Robinson Cockrell, who received distinction in the early days as a leader in establishing the church work in the French Lick where Nashville, Tennessee, is now located. Her father was John Winfield Dancy who descended from the Turners, Dancys and Colonel Masons, in Virginia, and was a direct kinsman of General Winfield Scott, for whom he was named. Being of a romantic nature, soon after leaving his home in Virginia, going to Alabama, he cast his fortune in the Golden West, then the New Republic of Texas.
Mrs. Dibrell is one of the charter members of the American History Club at Austin; member of the Altar Society of St. Davis* Church at Austin; first president of the Shakespeare Club of Austin, which consists of the University circle almost entirely; organizer of the History Club of San Antonio, the Shakespeare and Civic Improvement Club of Seguin; state president of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs; state president of the Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, during which time the Confederate Woman's Home was begun and completed. She is now Texas regent of the Confederate Museum of Richmond, Va., and Texas director of the Arlington Monument Committee to be erected at Arlington, in Washington, D. C. At one time chairman of the Civic Committee of the General Federation of Woman's Clubs. One of the directors of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Mrs. Dibrell secured the first appropriation for a memorial to Stephen F. Austin, and General Sam Houston, by placing statues of these heroes in the national Capitol at Washington and replicas in the state Capitol of Texas, the works of the noted European artist Elizabeth Ney, a grandniece of Marshall Ney, who died in the city of Austin, June 29, 1907. Two years after this artist's death, Mrs. Dibrell purchased her studio and the grounds, on the condition that the valuable property of the artist, the works contained therein would be given to the University of Texas, in accordance with the artist's desire. A debt of many thousand dollars upon the studio prevented the gift being made direct, by this artist friend in whom Mrs. Dibrell has become deeply interested, after her exile from Europe. This is now the uppermost work of Mrs. Dibrell, having formed a Fine Arts Association for the state of Texas, which will have in charge the management of this collection in connection with the board of regents of the University of Texas, and the Fine Arts Association is always to have its home in this building, and this association is given the right to develop a Fine Arts Museum without charge, as a tribute to Texas and her friend, Elizabeth Ney. It was solely through the efforts of Mrs. Dibrell that the works of Elizabeth Ney were brought into prominence in the United States.
The officers of the Fine Arts Association are: Mr. James H. McClendon, president, friend and legal counselor of the artist; vice-presidents, S. E. Mezes, president of the University of Texas, and ex-Governor Joseph D. Sayers; secretary, Mrs. Mary Mitchell; treasurer, Miss Julia Pease, daughter of ex-Governor Pease. Mrs. Dibrell is chairman of the board of directors of this institution and Judge A. W. Terrell, ex-Minister to Turkey (prominent from a political, judiciary and educational standpoint, submitted the legal transfers of the statuary for Mrs. Dibrell to the regents of the University, while he was a member of that body.) During a former administration, the Library Commission bill, which has been conceived and fostered by Mrs. J. C. Terrell, of Fort Worth, Texas, was passed by the legislature, while Mrs. Dibrell as president of the Federation rendered active support and assistance in the passage of the bill which had failed for eight years—four legislatures. Mrs. Terrell was justly accredited the honor of being made the first lady appointed in the Library Commission.
Governor Oscar B. Colquitt of the present administration has appointed Mrs. Joseph B. Dibrell and Mrs. Sayers, wife of ex-Governor Sayers, as the lady members of the State Library Commission. Mrs. Dibrell not only holds this office, but is the Texas regent of Confederate Museum, chairman of the Fine Arts Association Board of Directors, director of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Texas regent of Confederate Museum in Richmond, Va., and state secretary of the General Federation of Woman's Clubs. She was elected a member of the University of Texas "Alumni Association" for the splendid services she had rendered to the woman's work of the state and the university. She is one of the directors of the United Charities, has an interest in all humanitarian and philanthropic propositions, as well as an advocator of civic and moral beauty and cleanliness. March 10th has been established in Texas through her influence, while chairman of the General Federation of Woman's Clubs Civic Committee, as clean-up day for this state, and ordered annually by the state health officer. This generally observed day has been adopted by many states.
Mrs. Dibrell stands in the front rank of the women of her state who have achieved the best for Texas, humanity, progress and mankind. She has made a distinct impression upon her race and time, attained by few in any country, and among the "immortals" in her great state, no name will ever reach a higher plane.