The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-10-22
A WOMAN,S LIFE,
MRS. LOlly Louise Hunter, a Fa-
nous Heiress and Belle.

81. 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 Southern
belle and heiress; the fance of General
the wife of noted politician; the rela-
tive Of United States Senator;
the sister-in-law of the Governor
of State; one of the society
women of that wonderful and daz-
zling retinue that made Washington City
50 famous; and is now mendicant ask
ing the charity Of the people of this city
to give her food and shelter She is now
past the half century mark; but her de-
meanor marks her as having been a wo-
man of remarkable force of character,
and out of the storm marks which mis-
fortunes have made upon her face there
are the unmistakable traces of high breed
ing and intelligence, and enough left to
make one sure that some time in Life her
beauty was of no mean order.
She came to st. Louis on the 29th 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 place to lay her head, and few
friends to whom she might 60 without
intrusion and obtain the .necessaries of
life. Captain Lee took her case in hand,
and procured room for her on Wash
ington avenue. He presented her case to
some of the wealthy people of st. Louis,
who never permitted her to suffer. A
few days ago she conceived the fanc~. that
her condition would become public, and
asked Captain Lee to obtain pass for
her to Hot Springs, where she has scme
friends who, it is said, would have con-
tributed 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
1000 acres of land in Virginia. She was
then what the world called splendid
woman. She had the traditions Of no
bility attached to her family name: she
had the finish which true culture and no.
bility always evince; she was woman
who had travelled and read, and her mind
was store-house of all that makes true
womanhood admirable. 1t was at this
time that she was wooed by a dashing
young Viginian. She gave him the
promise to wed; their love was of two
fold nature, partaking of the nature of
that which makes the sweetest music in
the heart and helps ''the world go round"
and that of business. Into his hands she
entrusted the estate, and was solicitous
for him to relieve her of the care. He
did it with delcacy that excited no un-
favorable comment. The war darkened
the land.
There was feeling among Southern
women in those days which made heroes
of their lovers and for man to hesitate
in the matter of duty to his land was to
annul every claim upon the heart he h d
made. The young Virginian was not a
loiterer He espoused the cause of the
South and at once commenced the organ
ization of regiment. This regiment
was equipped and sent to Jubal Early by
the wealth of this woman. She gave it
everything, and the man who marched
at the head of the column had her heart.
1t passed out from before a throng of
beauty cheered by song and cbristened
by tears, and went away to battle. In
the course of 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
gentleman developed into the charlatan.
BY some means which are not given to
the chronicler 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 it away before the rightful owner
could realize the ruin before her. They
never met again. Whether this was a
romance of her life from which she gath
cred thorns is not known. But she lived
it through, and very soon after married
the Hon. Philip Hunter, who was men,
ber of Congress from Maryland district,
it is said, and who died very soon after
from the bursting of blood-vessel. He
was a relative of the Hon. R. M. r..
Hunter, Secretary Of State in the Rich
mond Cabinet.
Her husbands estate was not sufi-
cient to meet the demands made by
her social position, and she very quickly
found herself facing want in the very
shadow of what had so recently been a
life of fashion and splendor. Not caring
to become dependent upon her husbands S
people, she left that section and went to
New Orleans. In the summer Of 1878
her daughters were afflicted with the ter
rible scourge of the South and died
within nine days of each other. She had
scarcely withdrawn from their graves
when two of her grandchildren died from
the same affection. Poverty pressed
closely upon her in her Affections, and
she came to st. Louis. There had lived
in this city gentleman named Martin