The Dawson journal. (Dawson, Ga.) 1878-18??, 1883-08-02
=, BELLE TO BEGGAR
= .,.ofall Of a Woman OF who was
D0wlllano to Chief Justice
Eh6o Chase.

day haired woman Begging at the
gray of the steps leading to the
toos t 90 street station of the
d foa[''I Avenue Elevated road. A
Slz. .Iaman who was with me said
Seu ~ tbe woman's name was Lucy
UNI = Wsclem, and that she was a per
l = m Of literary tendencies. !
son pI ~ of this place recognize
:. t%e name a singular and unhap-
III Wv imam well known here, whose
FRANCE actions have caused much
s son,ment Her mania for bustles
. PREDOMINANT Characteristic of
hsr wardrobe. In summer end
winter Wiz alike she wore a dark calico
WOES, with long full skirts, and a
u Of style in vogue twenty or
t Si years ago. She is tall and
IN other days doubtless grace
iu She was the daughter of Capt.
uoclem. who served in the Revo-
Intionary war, and who afterwards
moved with his family to Ohio,
and from there to Springville, Erie
county, in this state. Lucy Mac
lem and her sister Sara moved
from there about thirty-five years
ago to this place. When the two
girls were young, Lucy was a belle,
Was very pretty, talented and gay,
and her admirers were. many. She
wrote poetry of some merit, as the
pages Of Graham" Cooley" and
the "Knickerbocker" testified.
One of her best pieces was a satire
on schoolmaster who in some
manner had given her offence. 1t
had great run in the newspapers
of that day. She had wide cor
respondence with men of letters
and among others, with Mr..
Longfellow.
She became acquainted with The
late Chief Justice Salmon P.
Chase, in the bloom of her youth,
and the friendship established ter
minated in an engagement of
marriage. Correspondence be-
tween the two for some time, when
suddenly the letters ceased. The
reason Of This Lucy would never
disclose, but it was not long after
this that her friends noticed that
her actions We're very strange.
She manifested more and more
crazy impulses, until finally she
became hopelessly insane. For
twenty years she has wandered
aimlessly, dependent upon the
charity of her sister Sara.
Some of Lucy's habits are very
singular. For years she haunted
the banks of this city, continually
inquiring for iremittances that
never came. Finally she gave this
up and took to borrowing, or try
ing to borrow, small sums Of mon
ey. Her usual manner was to en-
ter store when the proprietor was
most busily engaged, apologize for
her intrusion in lady-like man
ner and ask for the loan of from
twenty-five cents to g. Never
more than that and never less. A
refusal had no effect, as she would
return the next day with an apollo
gy and similar request. She has
frequently been to New York, and
several years ago she went to
Washington to see certain men,
pers OF congress about a subsidy
which she claimed she was entitled
10 as an authoress. It is a mys-
terry how she obtained money for
her travels. Some say she did not
use any money at all, but trusted
TO the gallantry of the conductors
not to put her off their trains be-
tween the stations, and when she
had gone as far as. possible on one
ram, she would patiently await
the arrival of the next.
Some of her vagaries are shown
ny an incident that happened here
Tve OF SIX years ago. Theodore
1llton was to lecture one evening.
ana she took her stand at the foot
" W, The stairs awaiting his coming.
When he appeared in company
WIN several men, she went toward
MN, touched him on the shoulder,
and said:
Mr. Tilton, I want you. to pay
ine EN- the money you owe me-,
1lIton was so astonished that for
some ne time he was unable to say
sshythlng, but at length asked her
LOT ~ what he was indebted to her.
YOU have been using my lee
lure long. enough, she replied,
ana q now [ Want you to pay me