The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-09-28
SAD FATE
OF the Daughter Of nn Ex-Governor of
FIOrIda-FrOm Honor, Amuencc
and Ease Ia shame, DeErH-
dntion- Disgrace, and
Death tn 81 Poor


FI0rIda-FrOm Honor, Anduence
and Ease Ia shame, DeErH-
dnIion, Disgrace, and
Death in Poor
house.
New York Dispatch \ week ago
there died i'm the aimsheuse at Newport,
Kentucky, opposite Cincinnati, woman
whose social record on the western CONT
nent is q remarkable one. Her story Is
we'll known to many. \ brief resume
of il. however, will be Of interest to all
readers of the Dispatch. Helen Maude
Mosely was the only child OF a late ex-
governor Of Florida. Educated In
French convent, reared in what is termed
the lap Of luxury" she was, two years
before the civil war, the belle OF the
southern watering places and leader IN
the society to which her fathers wealth
and social standing gave her entree. In
1859 she married a prominent physician
in Savannah. Georgia. In 1860 she was
attended ut childbirth by another we'll
known member of the Esculapian guild
of that ci ". The acquaintance thus
began ripened into Illicit intimacy, and
the discovery of the liason resulted in
divorce aud the abandonment OF the
young wife 10y her husband. Her lover
soon tired of her, and the outbreak OF
war found her pennies and triendless
in Savannah She then made the ac-
quainfnce OF man who atterw4rd be
came commj>-Jry-ge ant large
contractor I'm the service ct the conied-
cracv. and lived with him until the entry
Of the union troops into savannah, when
he fled with Bragg amy. On tie morn
ing after the occupation or the city by
the federal army, a young ,tii:er OF an
f g nae b t-fg
guards in the street, saw her at her gar
den gate. and asked her for glass of
water. Learning that She was
alone. he posted guard over
/ her house. ard byvarious other attentions
soon came to occupy the place OF the ab-
sent contractor. Her house, during this
period, was a flvorite resort Of many
union officers but she is said to have
been unalterablv faithful to the one.
I'm conversation with a Dispatch reporter
one Of the then habitues of the house de
scrlbes " Nelly Walsh, " as she called her
self As q lady in every sense, ct social
and Intellectual development. Previous
to The war She had written for various
uapers--notably the New York Ledger
over the name of Flora de Forest. " She
was woman OF a deeply devotional ma
ture. and TO use the informants own
words, "drauk and ate opium 70 Kill her
memory" When the regiment of her
lover lett Savannah, Nelly WalsNlPplied
to one Of the generals in change--a SOL
der whose name stands among the first
in the records of the belh0n-for
continuance of the protection. The
general did more. He assumed the duty
himself. and when he took charge OF
DEPARTMENT. one of his adjutants escorted
IL. I'll b
with him several years. and when he was
appointed 10 a mission abroad he took
her with him His efforts to secure her
social standing there, and, after his re-
turn. in this country, caused great scan
dial and q hutteriug in high society. lie
cluug to her faithfully, however, and 1t
was only when the opium habit gained
a ruiuous a-ceHdency over her that he
left her, even then giving her cons der
able sum of money. ON this and the
products Of her pen She lived for couple
of wears more. writing for several Of
the local serial papers, but her besettlngsln
brought her down step by step until her
brain refused its Office, and she dlsap-
peared How she lived from that time
until halt crazed and wholly broken
down and hopeless, she obtained sdmis-
sion to the New York poor house, viii
Z never be known. Ter lueHlltE was Is
tablished from her incohereut rawlings
and a few remnants OF letters IN her
pockets For weeks before she died she
was insane. Every night and morning,
iustinctivelv, as it were, she repeated the
prayers learned in her happy outh in
1 her French school, and her last words
we're a supplication to her creator. In
her maddened moments the recital OF a
verse of poetry would calm her. She
asked continually for her child-a little
girl long since Gead--the very child IN
giving birth to whom she had met her
/ .educer. No word ever escaped her a.
to herown life since 1875. The physicians
report serves rs a pregnant comment on
/ the frightiul habit to which she was
/ slave. For two weeks previous to her
death she consumed two ounces OF laud-
| anum a day"