The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-04-04
PRETTY PEGGY 0'NEILL
WIFE oFJACKSON'S SECRETARY OF
WAR-A BITTER SOCIAL FEUD'


Marriage at Seventy"
Qtrom the New York Timesl
One day in 1872 Mistress Dolly Madl-
son, the charming wife of the shrewd
and timid lawyer then fourth president
of the United States, in that unassun-
ing geniality which made her so gene
rally beloved, drove out to Georgetown
an ancient and honorable suburb OIL
the incipient national capital anu
awarded prizes to the pupils of oah-
cling school. There was little sl'i
present who shone like star aniohs
her mates, and on her the first lazy Vi
the land bestowed a floral wreath ior
beauty and grace, For more imam
three-score years the child was ues-
tined to wear that chaplet, and always
with pride and fierce eXuita'ioi',
+bouab on a more sensitive brow II
would have often seemed burdensolhe
and lined with thorns.
This little girls name was Margaret
O'Neill Her father was prosperous
inn-keeper of Washington Wiue,s
known for profuse and careless hospi
tality. Her mother was pronouiiceu
by Webster 1.-The most beautlful "o
man I have ever seem, ana III suCh
matters as in most others, WEBSTER al
ways showed rare discernment Ihey
were people of good family ana much
sought after socially by their guests.
Margaret spent all of her childhood
DAVIS in Washington. She witnessed
the capture of the city by the brltlsh'
she shared in the anxiety ana Tears
caused by the battle OF Bladenspursh'
When she was fourteen years ola sile
had two lovers, who were moved ~
fight a. duel for the sake of her bright
ewes. She was creeping through ll'e
corridors of the inn one night, Win
bundle in hand, about to elope WIN one
of them, when her father intercepted
the flight, and few days later shlppeu
her off to boarding school III New
York, where no less a parsonage than
he witt clinton consented to be known
as her guardian.
Margaret did not remain very long at
school She had a very pretty, be-
puiling way with her, to which her
father was by no means insensible. AS
soon as he felt assured that the youns
girl thought no more OF those War-hh e
lovers than she did of the blossoms OIL
the previous spring, he gladly wrote
for her to return. So back she came d
slight, shapely maiden, with chestnu'
hair. gray eyes, and that exquisite
complexion for which cream and roses
are most inadequate comparisons
O,NeilPs Inn was scarcely nunnery
for a beautiful young girl. 1t was the
fashionable hosiery of the day, ire
ouented only by men, and manly ps
public men. There came the flotouS
crew over whom Henry Clay was 81
long a prince. There came the courtiS
men of Boston, New York and Fhlla-
delphia, to sharpen their wits agains
the strong intellects of the west ane
south. Clinton and Webster ana Vai
F3tren-yy among the guests, as Wers
huge Benton of Missouri and the hand
some and jovial senator from Tennes'
see. John H. Eaton. In this latter
company there would sometimes come
a tall. eaunt, cadaverous man, harsh o
roien vet a veritable grandson Il
manner. and wherever he sat was Tn
head of the table for this would be An
drew Jackson, the victor of New OF
leans and the hero of the nation. But
however grave and exalted the assem-
blage might be- there never was an
demur when a toast was proposed t
"Prettv Peggy O'Neill," They a
knew her. they all fiattered and mace
pet of her, they all shared the sent
ments of the poet who sang in he
praise:
II fill this cup to one made UP
Of loneliness alone"
If honest William O'Neill, the lane
lord. felt any solicitude as to nj
daughter's welfare, he was not keI
long in suspense. One day a youn
nurser in the navy, named Timberlak
rode by the house, saluted beautlt'
face in the window and received
wave from fair hand in return. Thu
evening he and Margaret became Ell
gagged; in two weeks they were ma
ried
Tinlberlake was a handsome, devote
husband, and for five years the your
couple lived happily together. Then
was ordered to duty on the Mediterr;
mean. While at Port Mahon, the Il
NOUS winter station of the America
feet. he died. Concerning the cause
his death there is doubt. Popular r
NOR in the United States soon had
that he had committed suicide on
count of certain reports which h;
reached him derogatory to the ia
fame of his wife. Some, hoWeVt
maintained that he had killed himst
through dissipation, and his widow
ways insisted that almost the last
of his life had been to write an affe
tionate letter arranging for her
come out to him. At all events, b
grief over his demise was not insu
portable, for in less than year S
married John II. Eaton, the senat
from Tennessee.
Two circumstances served to ma
this marriage, which proved every W
a compatible and happy one, an
surdly momentous national issue. y
was that Eaton was the man w
whom Mrs. Undertakes name h
been scandalously connected; the OF
or was that Andrew Jackson had il
been elected president of the Unit
States, and had chosen the Tennes:
senator as secretary of war in his CO
net.
jackson was sixty-two years of {
when, in 1929, he assumed his high
fee A half-educated, self-educa
1ool-,roodsmau he had been farm