The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-09-20
1HE FIRST "INTERYIEBEf,. -

4
| Early Press-A Sketch of her Chara ctcr
/ Ind Carccr-How sllo was Feared, Court.
! cd ana Porsecuted.
, from the Washington rost, Jan. 2.l
Old Mrs. Annie Rovall was the frs,
| American interviewer. Or this we
! suppose there can bo no doubt. She
, lnado ouSimprcssion i'm those
days when women were DroycrbinIly =
dcmurc, when the few female lobbv-
lists wore scoopctl hats and long wells:
; and were even in that dress consider.
ell imnodcst. There was never unv
one like her before her day, and SHE
had no succcssor a rough old cus-
toner, Il regular Suwarrow in Dcti-
coats, such as Byron describes the old
! chap to have been, Mrs. Rovull thought
nothing of colluring the President in
his sanctum, or OF Invading the Scua-
tor in his inncrmost Retreat. They tried
to lnugl. her down, but she was too
terrible ior .'idicnlc, she welded u
sharp pen; she had stout lr,nys and a
Formidable voice, which was pcricciIy
masculine, commanding eyes, compact
form, Il Coriolnnus curriaUc, and
when angry was dreaded by her vic
TINS us II she were an iIyrcaninn
tiSrcss. This old lady died on the LIST
of October, 1854, ut the advanced apc
ofnincty-two. She published in WASH
ington two weekly papers called "IHe
U"nfrcSs" and "PuW Pv," devoted
to personal and political sketches of
men and things about the city.
Old Mrs. Royal deserves to be Dcr-
pctnatcd, if for no other reason
thuh as u part of American romance.
Only think OF it---as late as the Nav
term OF thc Washington court of 1929
she was indicted as Il "common scolA. y
which resulted in Il fine of So in tho
August following. Her maiden nanv
was Annie Butler. She was of Irish
descent, although born in Western
Maryland. When in her sixth or
seventh year she was seized by Indian
warriors out Of the cornlicld and car
rlcd by them to their Ohio homes.
where she remained until her fifteenth
year, and, of course acquired tic hab-
ITS OF these savagcs and had no earthly
chance OF amy ordinary or even Christ.
ian education. The way she met her
husband was romantic. Colonel Roy
all, native Of Virginia, it seems knew
the facts of tho abluotion of Annie
Butler. lie was Il widow and much
Older than she and doubtless rcmcm-
brrcd her appearance when q child
Travelling in Ohio he visited the
Shawncrs. WyandoilcS. &c., and
among one Of these tribes accidentally
discovered her, obtained her liberty,
sent her to school for two years and
married her. Sllr hud mi elegant
home until her husbands death in 1878
or lSlG, when the litigation with the
heirs that followed that event reduced
her to such poverty that when she ar
rived III this city, in the fall Of 1923,
she had scarcely shoes To her feet.
She found patrons in an humble f,mi-
~ Dy the name of Dorricc, where she,
fortunately, stopped to warm her feet
Mrs. Royal was distinguished bv
hatred Of what she called shams and
hy.pocritcs Of all arts, and she was
"dcatll' on intcmpcruncr although she
loved the pipe and inlulgcd in lobac-
co. She was, perhaps hcnrininal cru
Sadcr in the matter of intcmpc.ancc
although she did not ray in
front of ''corner grocrrics' nor
whiskcy saloons. But that she was
aggressive in all warfare NAV
he CLEANED from the fact that an imno-
tent and irritable Clergyman i'm Ere
i.A"''t ~ tt'S vi IGlSSloll once
threw her down stairs and broke her
leg.
Old Mrs. Royal hated cllcninatc
Young men, and she snid: "Whv do
they want lazy, sinccttrc places under
government? Why the don't they hoe
their own row." Indeed, shc long
antcdatcd Horace Grccly with the adj
monition. eco West, young man."
she was drca led us a blackmaillcr; she
was solicited aS writer of putis she
made a moi sc over the whole land, for
the sling of the asp was in her pen, and
her little handbill newspaper was Il
perfect sensation i'm those Quiet DAYS
ofthc Republic. Whcre hcr ncwsra-
per files arc ii is probable no one
knows; perhaps none Of her works cx-
ist. She bounded, annoyed, tiattcrcd,
prycd into the affairs Of all tho promi-
ncnt public men OF her lay-im fact
she was perfect disease. All doors
were opened, and all locks Qo speak
poctically) were burst open by her
when She resolved on an interview.
The comic element in her strangely
contrastcd with those grave DAYS,
when tho Washingtonian and the JEFF
fcrsonian dignity especially pcrvaded
the Executive chambers and the Scna.
torial halls.