The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-06-10
A Sfrons-AEindei Woman---An Ente-
resting Sketch. and Positively the
Last, of DIR. Mary T.. Walker.
From the puhraCc Times.

A Sfrong-HEindet Wonan---An Ente-
resting Sketch. and Positively the
Last, of DIR. Mary +. Walker.
From the Dubuque Times
Miss Dr. Mary E. Walker was first seen
and heard of west Of The Mississippi in the
spring of 1860. One morning In Nav the To-
cal columns of each of the Dubuque dailies
referred to the fact, with comments not very
complimentary, that 4 young lady III bloom
ers had created quite a sensation upon the
street the day before.
The writer hereof, then conducting pa
per i'll Delhi, forty miles west, CALAMITY
came to the rescue Of the then unseen and
unknown bloomerlte, Insisting that consis-
tency demanded of the Dubuque editors to
cease sneering at her for wearing dress un-
ilShionably too short at the bottom unless
they likewise lashed some Of their own Ia
lies for wearing dresses fashionably too
short 1T the top, etc.
\ few days afterwards our sanctum was
invaded by Il young lady in boomers, who
introduced herself as the identical person
in whose behalf we had written: said her
name was Mary {. Walker that she had
come TO Iowa to "sec the West" and by
and-byc, perhaps, work into the practice of
her profession, which was that of mcdi-
cine, # water can be called medicine" for
She was OF the hydropathic school.
Miss Walker was not handsome in fea-
turc, nor yet was she homely was rather
under the medium size, vivacious and
sprishtly, sometimes almost graceful,
always i'll buoyant spirits. Her bloomer
dress was rich, neat and becoming; for she
was one of the few women upon whom
bloomcr dress can be made to chang" right
We have seen boomers on short, fat, dumpy
women which made them look at 4 distance
like a beer kcg balanced on couple OF corks.
We have seen them on tall, gaunt, rock
ribbed females, so arranged that waist
tapped over al apron, which Tapped over a
dress, which was tapped over itself in
Il tuck near the bottom. which Tapped over
the pantaloons, which Tapped over the shoes,
till the whole make up, with its numerous
ovcrlappings. reminded one of the layers Of
bark on Il . shag-burk hickory" tree. But
Miss Walker was just the size and style to
look well in bloomer dress, and had the
taste to tit it to herself more becomingly
than any other woman we ever saw attempt
it. That was her forte.
Miss Walker was an lnceSsant and endless
talkcr. But it soon became manifest that
the staple Of her conversation consisted OF
one ever prolific topic-hcrSclf. Her adven-
lures had been numerous and varicd-for
one Of her age. What hcl age was it was
difficult to determine from her experience
or infer from her conversation. From APP
pcarancc Que would judge her TO be be-
tween twenty-five and tWcnty~eight years
old. But in conversation (hcld at different
times. and after forgetting what she had
said bcforc) we were informed that at fifteen
years OF age she commenced TO teach school,
and taught common school for i've years !,
that She taught for five years IN seminary
that she WAS Il miilincr for five years that
she worked ut the printers trade for tive
wears that she was for five years associate
editor of Il literary magazine; that she had
studied medicine. "regular' school, for
three years, and then practiccd it Tor two
years that she was IN invalid, unable TO
walk more than few rods ut 4 time, Tor
tive years that She was cured by hvdropa-
thic treatment, which led her TO investigate
and adOpt the Water-curc" system, winch
she had practiced for five years, etc, etc.
Amgregatin@ the time occupied IN her va
riolls occupations, she must have been close
TO Il hundred and twenty years old, unless
>he-but we will not question her Veraclty,
Tor she Was Il woman of answering "prln-
ciplc" she said so herself, repeatedly. so
let lis rather believe that during her resi-
dcncr in Florida. as amanuCnais tOrthc Sena-
tor OF that State, she had discovered ana
paltaken of the fountain of eternal youth.
After nearly year in Delhi. she went to
IIOpkinton, where she managed III one way
and another to create quite Il sensation. ii
had been arranged that during her stay
there she was TO furnish "Hopklnton cor
rcSpondcncc' for the aforementioned pa
per but a> she appeared to find nothing
Going on in that quiet ''burg" worth re-
cording except her own doings, trials, and
triumphS, and as she came near involving
the paper in two or three unpleasant
"muSScS" before we came to understand
that she was using it to crafty her own
vanity or spite, her communications, alter
a season, ceased to appear, Her last con-
tributionS to its columns was pOctlcal: that
we printed, and put George d. Prentice :
name to it; because we rccoilcctcd having
seen it III his works several years before.
1t was something Of shock to Us, by the
way, after having been at first acquaintance
with the lady informed that she had been
associate editor of leading magazine for
five wears, to discover on receiving her COM
munications for publication how triumph
antly and lnconsciously she oyer-rode all
rules OF grammar, punctuation, capltallza-
ton, etc. On meeting her afterwards, we
led the conversation to botanical and medl-
cal topics, and discovered that here, too,
she differed equally widely from the com
monty received authorities. We recollect,
for instance, her location Of thyroid cartll-
age in the thigh. About this time our edl-
torial attention happened to rest upon a
couple of advertisements which appeared
in couple of our eXchanges-one from an
adjoining county, and one from county III
New York. The latter contained notice
that Mr.. Alfred L. Miller petitioncd for Il
divorce from his wife, Mary K. Miller; the
other notice that Mrs. Mary +. Miller pc
titioned for divorce from her husband,
Mr.. Alfred Z. Miller, with right to resume
her maiden name Of Mary +. Walker. We
kept our own counsel, and soon learned
more about the matter than we could have
discovered by any amount of questioning.
The enterprisng Mary had come all the
way from New York to get divorce from
her husband. She had n grieyous story OF
persecution and maltreatment. We have no
way of proving that it was largely fictitious !;
she, fertile i'll resources, had an ingenious
way of proving it was true. Her PROPOSE
ton to her attorney-at least, to one attor-
nev-wus to give in the testimony OF herseH
as Mrs. Alfred Z. Miller against her hus-
band: and her statements were to be con-
tirmed by the affidavit Of Miss Mollle
Walker. who lived in the family at the time
Mrs. Miller was so abused. (Mollie Walker
being simply Mrs. Miller under her maiden
name.) This style of doing business the
Delhi lawyer objected To and The case went
to an adjoining county, where the divorce
was procured, we know not upon what evil
dcncc. The worst of it was, her husband
forestallcd her by getting a divorce from
her some three weeks the first. If that cou-