Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-02-06
AARON BURR'S DAUGHTER.
More Light Upon the Mystery Of Her
Fate.

Inc story recently publlSheC, purport'
ing to be the death-hed confession of y
pauper clearing up the mystery which
has hitherto surrounded the fate OF the
beautiful and gifted daughter OF Aaron
Burr, finds strong NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
ing ON any part 10 sbsoluts conviction
of Its truth--ln an aneodote told me by
my mother many years, and which |
think l once published, though | am
not certain as to this point, NY ma.
ternal grandmother, then widow with
one child that afterward became my
mother, moved out OF mobile county"
(as the region known as Southern Ala
harla and West Florida was then call
cd, III the early part of the present
century, and settled about two miles
west OF the little hamlet OF Mobile. Most
OF the earlier emierants from the older
states TO this region settled on the east.
ern side Of Mobile bay, III what is now
known as Baldwin county, Alabama.
Indeed, the only town in the whole
mobile country" OF any size aid prom.
Use at that time was Stockton, situated
on the Tenas river, somewhere near
the crossing of the Mobile and Great
Northern railroad, and which has
since gone 10 decay and rpiu. AS to
Mobile it was only u little collection OF
huts and houses around the fort"
which nobody thought would ever be
more than village Among these
earlier settlers in Baldwin were Hall
and Byrnes, families nearly akin to my
grandmother and as natural conse-
quence, much of
THE GIRLuoop OF MY MOTHER
was spent in visiting their homes. Close
" connected in business and otherwise
with the elder Hall was Gerald de Vau-
voisie, Frenchman and u soldier, who
lived with his family, q wife and one
daughter, ON Dauphin island, or Isle de
la Massacre, as il was formerly called.
This daughter and my mother, being
of the same age and frequently meeting,
soon became very much attached to
one another and u friendship was form
ed which lasted during the entire life
time of both ofthem. General De Vau-
voisie's house was the rendezvous Of sea-
faring men whom chance threw upon
Duphin's island, and he always had n
number of them about MIN. 1t was
the delight of the two girls to listen TO
the sea tales of til csc men, and in after
years my mother occasionally
would rummage her memory
and tell us chldren-stories Of the
Spanish Main, of battle under the black
flag, of burning ships, Of heaps of gold,
bales ofsil&s, baskets of jewels captured;
stories OF blood and fire, of murder and
rapne, just such stories as would sink
deepest into the youthful mind and pro-
duce stories well nigh ineAaceable. The
wars that had shaken and were still
shaking the world nv that timo gave
opportunity for most of
THOSE BLOODY NARRATIVES
to be told rs having occurred in legiti-
mate warfare, but sometimes even
this disguise was thrown away. 1t was
on such an occasion that my mother
and her little playmate heard man
whom General De Vauvoisie had EN-.
ployed recount to a companion how he
and his mates had once made a ships
crew, passengers and all, walk the plank.
He described the behavior of different
individuals and the manner in which
they met death-how some begged and
prayed and Others took it as coolly ~
though thew were going to break fast.
"But the brayest OF all, he said, was Il
beautiful young woman, cabin pas
senger, who dressed herself all in white,
specially for the occasion, and walked
off the plank with prayer book in
her hands" The ruflian went on and
described her "plunder" certain jewelry
that she had, and other effects captured
by him and his piratical companions,
in q manner that caused the description
to sink deeply in the minds and mem
cries of the little, eavesdroppers. Some
years afterwards my mother read for
the first time q newspaper account of
the sailing OF the Patriot and q descrip-
ton of Theodosia Aston, and the in.
slant that she did so, she recognized for
the first time the original Of the beau
tiful woman" that met death 40 bravely
at the hands Of the pirates. In this
newspaper account was minute de-
scription OF
CERTAIN PIECES OF JEwELRY
which Mrs. Aston was known to have
with her, and which tailed exactly with
the "plunder" described by the pirate
in the hearing Of the two girls. My
mother died fifteen years ago, but all
old citizens Of Mobile will recognize her
identity in this sketch. Her compan-
ion and life long friend died recently in
New Orleans. Many Of the older Mo
bilians will remember one-legged,
black-bearded, swarthy man, VINO used
to sit day after day, for years upon the
steps Of the old Mobile bank building.
He never worked and never accepted
aims. To offer him money was to
make him furious. He had but one
suit OF clothes which he wore until they
became too dirty to suit him.
Then he would walk down TO dry dock
or some convenient point below town,
pull off his clothes, scrub them and
hang them ont to dry. In the mean
time he would swim across the river
to the RATS where he would remain un.
I'll be thought his garments we've dry
swim back, dress himself and 70 back
up town. At intervals OF few day.
ne made his appearance at bakers
shop, laid down an ancient Spanish
gold piece Of small value, took It's