Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1879-11-06
FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY.
Once Famous Heiress and Belle Now
Begging Charity of the public.
From the St, Louis Globe. Democrat

A Once Famous Heiress and Belle Nov
Begging Charity OF the public.
From the St, Louis Globe.DemOcrat
The alternate sunshine and shade which
are incident to some human lives have
never been so strikingly illustrated as
they are in the case of Mrs. Lolly Louise
Hunter, who has been a Southern belle
and heress: the fancee ofa rebel General;
the wife of a noted politician; there lative
Of a United States Senator; the sister-in-
law of the Governor of a State; one of the
society women of that wonderful and daz-
zling retlnue that made Washington city
so famous; and is now mendlcant, ask
ing the charity of the people Of this city
to give her food and shelter. She is now
past the hali'century mark; but her de-
meanor marks her as having been wo.
man of remarkable force of character, and
out of the storm marks which misfortunes
have made upon her face there are the
unmistakable traces of high breeding and
intelligence, and enough left to make cne
sure ludJ hOulc tlllC III lllc HCl pS"uNl
was OF no mean order.
She came to st. Louis on the 10Th day
of last August, and presented herself to
Captain Lee, who was then acting Chief
of Police. She asked to be screened from
publicity, and said all she desired was a
place to lay her head, and a few friends
to whom she might 90 without intrusion
and obtain the necessaries of life, Captain
Lee took her case in hand and procured a
room for her on Washington avenue. He
presented her case to the attention OF
some of the wealthy people of st. Louis
who never permitted her to suffer. A few
DAYS ago she conceived the fancy that her
condition would become public, and ask
ed Captain Lee to obtain Il pass ,or her to
Hot Springs. where she has some friends
who, it is said would have contributed
to her wants before this had they known
the dire distress upon which she has been
hanging.
Before the war she was the owner OF L.
900 acres of land in Virginia. She was
then what the world called q splendid
woman. She had the tradition Of nobili-
ty attached to her family name she had
the finish which true culture and nobility
always evince; she was woman who had
travelled and read, and her mind was
stOrehouse of all that makes true woman
hood admirable. 1t was at this time that
she was woOed by dashng young Virgin
ian She gave him the promise to wed;
their love was OF tvO-fold nature, par
taking Of the nature of that which makes
L.. ncE t,,t tha honrt a nd hnlOg
"the world to go round, " and shat of bus
mess. Into his hands she intrustcd the
estate, and was sOlicitous for him to re-
Ieve her of the care. He did it with a
dellcacy that excited no unfavorabl" COM
ment. The war darkened the land.
There was n feeling among Southern
women in those days which made heroes
of their lovers, and for Il man to hesitated
in the matter OF duty to his land was to
annual every claim upon the heart he had
won. The young Virginian was not a
loitcrer. He espoused the cause Of the
South and at once commenced the organl-
zation of regiment. This regiment was
equised and sent to Jubal Early by the
wealth of his woman. She gave 1t every
thing, and the man whC marched at the
head of the column had her heart. 1t
passed out from before a throng of beauty,
checred by song and christianed by tears,
and went away to battle. In the course
of a few months its ranks were decimated
and the war was not half over when the
organizer was about the only survivor.
He became General and was transferred
to the Gulf Department. The war was
over, but the man was changed. His
heart had gone down with the flag he
loved, and by degrees the soldier and gen
tlcman developed into the charlatan.
BY some means which are not given to
the chroncer OF this "leaf' he obtained
the consent of the woman he loved to dis
pose of her estate. The money which was
the result passed into his hands, and wild
speculatiOns and filibuster schemes upon
his part, coupled with debauchery swept
D.. before the rightrul owner could
rai. the ruin before her. They never
me. a. hin. Whether this was romance
of her life from which she gathered thoms
is not known. But she lived it through,
and yary soon after married the Hon.
Phillip Hunter, who wae Il member OF
Congress from a Maryland district, it is
said, and who died very soon after from
The bursting of blood vessel. He was
relative of the Hon. Il. NJ. 7. Hunter, Sec
Drt.ry of State in the Richmond Cabinet.
Her husbands estate was not sufficient to
nee the demands made by her social po-
siti5n, and she found herself facing want
IN tla very shadow of what had so recent
y been life of fashion and splendor.
Not caring to become dependent upon her
husbands people, she left that section
and vent to New Orleans. In the sum
mer OF 1878 her daughters were afflicted
with the terrible. scourge Of the south,
and died within nine days of each other.
She rad scarcely withdrawn from their
graves when two of her grandchildren
died from the same afliCtion. Pow
ohy pressed closely upon her in
her aiflictions, and she came to st
Louis There lived in this city gentle
man named Martin Alexander, whom her
mother had adopted when he was a boy;
She came here expecting to find him and
place her unfortunate condition before
MIN. Her first days search for him
brought her the intelligence that he. too,
had passed away from this life, and she
found herself alone and penniless, in the
lace of city of half million people;
IL was the terror of this truth that caused
he. to seek the advice of Captain Lee, who
was then acting chief of police. She is
the niece of William Rufus King, who
was q United States Senator from Mary
land, and a sister.in-law Of Governor
Early, of North Carolina. She left on the
train on Friday evening to join her friends
at Hos Springs. She says she has had
misfortunes enough to drive most women
10 suicide; but being possessed OF remark
able strength of mind, she has never given
up, and is waiting for the day to come
when the last trouble will come to her
life.