The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-03-29
Aaron Isurr's Daughter.

The fate Of Theodosia, the beautiful
daughter Of Aaron Burr, has been one of
tho appalling mysteries of sudden disap-
pearances at sea. She was highly cultured,
the idol Of her father, and adorned by her
| grace OF manner and witty conversation
every circle in which she moved. Her
| face, from the best artist evidence, was In
o high degree classic, reminding tho be-
holder OF some Of the Hellenic mo>,els
painted by the old masters, and occasional
ly reproduced in flesh in Cornth, Athens,
and other parts Of Greece to-day. THERE'S
about the ''counterfeit presentment" q
calm dignity and serene beauty which By
ron calls tho rapture of repose, Thcodo-
sia Burr was married to Gov. Allstou, of
South Carolina, name distinguished in
the early annals of that State. She sailed
| from Charlcstonsor New York on the ship
Patriot, Dec. 20, 1912, on visit to her
father. The vessel was supposed to have
been either ingulfcd or captured by pirates,
for no soul survived to determine the aw-
| full doubt as to its fate or that of It's pas
| scngers. From time to time various con.
! lectures, or even assumed reliable accounts
have found their way into print concerning
the fate of Thcodosia Burr. One account
particularly arrested public attention, and
that was the purported.. confession of pi-
rate, Dominick You, which Charles Gay
ARE Incorporated in his brilliant romantlco-
philosophic ''Fcrdinand dc Lcmos" 1t Is
so graphically drawn that very many per-
sons thought that the fate of Aaron Burr's
only daughter was known. Perhaps Gay
ARE, well posted i'll the history of Laiitte
and his piratical gang, who rendevouzed
among the live oaks of Barritaria islam,
a Of Of Enl oil 81,
adjacent mainland, really found such a
tradition as Dominck You's account of
the death of Mrs. Alston among the sail
ors of the gulf. Yet, if later confession
be true, there is al end to the tragic story
of Lafitte's Lieutenant. An old sailor
named Benjamin +. Burdck died short
time ago Il paupeI in Michigan poor
house. On his death-had he made the
startling confession that he was one of the
principal crew that captured vessel
! named the Patriot and participated in the
murder of Thcodosa Allston at sea; indeed
he declared that it fell to his lot to pull the
plank from under her. She came forth ar
rayed III white, holding a Bible in one
hand, and with heroic mcn took her place
upon the slender instrument Of death, and
without Il shuddcr or culver of muscle,
was precipitated into the waves. The no.
BILE, unblanched face, erect and airy form,
lie said had haunted him all his subsequent
life. The date of the vessels loss, Janu-
airy, 1913, was correctly given by Burdick,
and the name ''Odessa" Burr Alston his
only error, and yet not an error, for the
name Of both father and husband are SUI
ticient identification. The corruption of
Thcodosia into "Odessa" would be natural
to an ignorant sailor, and if anything
tend to prove that he had not been read
ing up TO make himself a sort of death bed
hero. AT any rate, the confession III plau.
sible, not because 1t was cXt.ems, for huge
lies are often told with the dying breath of
criminals, but for the reasons hitherto
named.