The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-08-04
In TYLER'S TIME.
PERLEY,s "REMINISCENCES OF
NOTED PEOPLE.
Hospitality at the White House.
Marriage Of Baron De Boz
disco Beau Hickman
A Strange Diplomat !,

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -.
John Tyler, who was ffty-one years OF
age when he took possession OF the ,Ex-
ecutive Mansion, was somewhat above
the medium height, and of slender fg-
ure, with long limbs and great activity
of movement. His thin, auburn hair
turned white during his term of Office,
his nose was larg. and prominent, his
eyes were of blush gray, his lips were
thin, and his checks sunken. His man
ners were those of the old school OF Viz
ginia gentlemen, and he was very cour!
teous to stran gers. The cercmonious
etiquette established in the White House
by Van Buren vanished, and the Presi-
dent lived precisely as he had on his
plantation, attended by his old family
Slaves. He invariable invited visitors
with whom he was acquainted, or stran-
gers who were introduced 20 to him, to
visit the family dining-room and 'take
something' from a sideboard we'll gar
nished with decanters of ardent spirits
and vines, with bowl of juleps in the
summer and OF egg-nog in the win.
ter. He thus pended nearly all of his
salary, and used to regret that it was not
larger, that he might entertain his guests
more literally.
A SECONDHAND CoAT-oF-ARMs.
One day President Tyler joked Mr..
Wise about his little one-horse carriage,
which the President styled Ga candle
box on whe,ls," to which the represents
tive from the Accomac district retorted
BY telling Mr. Tyler that he had been rid
| ing for a month in secondhand car
riage purchased at the sale of the effects
of Mr.. Pauldiug. the Secretary of the
Navy under Mr.. Van Buren, and having
the Pauldings coat of arms emblazoncd on
the door panels. The President laughed
at the sally, and gave orders at once to
have the armorial bearin IS of the Pauid-
ings painted over Economy also
prompted the purchase of some partly
worn suits of Ii cry at the sale of tho
effects of foreign minister, and these
were afterwsrd worn by the colored
walters at state dinners.
s'BEAu" HICKMAN,
as he called himself, made Ills appearance
at Washington toward the close OF the
TYLER administration. He was of middle.
size, with long hair, and an inoffensive,
ca1averous Countcnance. It was his
boast that h. was born among the
slashes of Hanover County, Va, and he
was t. be seen lounging about the
hotels, fashiona ly, yet shabbily. dressed,
generally wearing soilcd white kid gloves
aud white craYat. It was considered
the proper thing to introduce strangers
to Beau, who thereupon unblushingly de-
manded his init alton fee, and his impu-
dence sometimes secured him generous
sum. He was always ready to pilot his
victims to gambling houses and otaer
questionable resorts, and for quarter OF
a century he lived on the blackmail thus
levied upon strangers.
COLONEL BENTON AND HIS FAMILY.
One of the most agreeable homes IN
Washington was that of Colonel Benton,
the veteran Senator from Missouri, whose
accomplished and graceful daughters
had been thoroughly educated under his
supervision. He was not willing, how
ever, that one of them, Miss Jessie,
shoul receive the attentions of a young
second lieutenant in the corps of topo-
graphical engineers, Mr.. Fremont, and
the young couple, therefore, eloped and
were married clandestinely. The Colo
mel, although terribly angry at first, ac-
cepted the situation, and his powerful
support. in Congress afterward enabled
Mr.. Fremont to explore, under the pa
tronage of the general government, the
vast central regions beyond the Rocky
mountains, and to plant the national flag
on Wind River Peak, upward of $4,000
feet above the Gulf of Me xico. ~ :
BARON DE BoDIsco's WEDDING.
A very different wedding was that OF
the Baron Alexander de Bodi:co, the
Russian Minister Plenipotentiary, and
Miss Harriet Williams, daughter of the
chief clerk in the lice of the Adjutant-
| General. The Baron was nearly fifty
wears of age, with dyed hair, whis&ers
and moust ache, and she a blonde school,
girl of sweet SIXTEEN" celebrated for
| her clear complexion and robust beauty.
The ceremony was performed at her
fathers house on Georgetown Heights,
and was regular May and December af-
far throughout. There were eight
groomsmens, six of whom were well ad-
| Vanced in life, and as many bridesma ds,
all of them young girls from fourteen to
sixteen years Of age, wearing long dresses
! of VIII t. satin dar ask, donat, d by the
bridegroom The question of precedence
gave the Baron much trouble, as he could
not determine whether Mr.. Fox, then the
British Minister and lean of the Diplo-
matte Corps, or Senator Buchanan, who
had been Minister to Russia, should be
the first groomsman. This important
question was settled by having the
croomsmen and bridesmaids stand in
Couples, four on either side of the BRIDE
groom and bride. The ceremony was
Witnessed at the brides residence by q
distinguished company, and the bridal
party then went in carriages to the Rus
sian Legation, where an elegant enter
tainment awaited them, and where some
of the many guests got glorious.y drunk
in drinking the health OF the happy
couple.
A STRANGE DIPLOMAT.
Queen Victorias diplomatic represent
ative at Washington, the Honorable
Henry Stephen Fox, was son of General
Fox, of the British army, who fought at
the battle of Lexington in IT'S, and a
nephew of the eminent statesman, Charles
.7ame, Fox. lie had served in the British
Diplomatic Corps for several years, ana
was t! oroughly acquainted with his
duties. bat he held the least possible in
tcrcoursc with tie Dcpartme 1t of State