The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-14
THE MORNING NEWS MONDAY DECEMBER H. 1896

tame came to South Carolina just
prior TO the war and it was
he who sent the message to the Herald
conveying to the people of the north the
hrst news of the firing upon Fort SUM
ter. Mr.. de Fontaine at once espoussd
the cause of the south, and as the corre-
spondent of the Charleston Courier, writ
ing under the nom de plume of Per
sonne" he went to the front and made a
reputation for himself that will endure
for all time. His letters were eagerly
sought after by the people of all coun-
tries Just before the close of the war
Mr. de Fontaine edited along with Will
liam Gilmore Simms, the Carolinian in
this city. This work continued for some
time after the war Finally the Caro-
hnian was burned out, and Mr.. de Fon>
tame went TO New York, where he went
back upon the staff of the New York
Herald, working there for over a score of
years, the hearty companion and friend
of Mr.. Bennett.
The following sketch of the distinguished
journalist was published in one of the
papers of this state in 1888:
Mr.. F. G. de Fontaine, better known as
Personne' whose vivid illustration of the
poetry and humor of confederate camp life
from 1861 to 1860, have attracted so much
attention, evidently comes from a brainy
stock. Two of his uncles, Felix and Greg
DRY, after whom he was named were cele-
Der of the court of Austria the other a
member of the court of Napoleon, and the
early encyclopedias devote not little
| space to the record of their literary and
| scientific achievements. His father the
| CheVaiier de Fontaine, was a classmate of
Cardinal Antonelli, the pontificial secre-
| tary or Pope Plus TX, and subsequently be-
| came a member of the court~of Charles the
| y, when the latter was compelled to flee
| from Paris by the revolution of 1880, the
chevaler accompanied the French king in
| his exile to Edinburgh, Scotland and af-
ter living with him a number of months
| in Hollywood palace he came to the United
States. He married here in 1892 and in 1884
/ the subject of this sketch was born. He
| spoke several languages, was the author
OF works and otherwise distinguished for
| literary attachments His son, f. G. de
Fontaine, during the late war became
widely known as a war correspondent, and
his descriptions of army life, campaigns
and battles have been largely used in both
northern and southern histories of the con-
/ fiict. Losing one of the largest newspaper
! offices in the south by the burning of Col
umbia, when Sherman occupied that city.
| he went north after the war and was ap-
pointed by James Gordon Bennett, the
| managing editor of his Evening Telegram.
! After three years service in this position,
he was made the financial editor of the
| New York Herald. Seven years later he
was transferred to the chair of the dramat-
| ic and musical editor, where he remained
| for a long period and until i'll health COM
PEELED his abandonment of daily journal
| ism.
AS a shorthand writer, Mr.. de Fontaine
| is said to be one of the Oldest and fastest
| in the United States, two of his important
| works as a mere lad, being the official
reports OF the trial of Prof. Webster fol
the murder of DR.. Parkman in Boston
many years ago, and of Gen. Dan Sickles
for killing Barton Key in Washington be-
| fore the war.
Mr.. de Fontaine is the owner of val
liable collection of confederate documents
| and his historical and pictorial matter
would fill many volumes. The two origi-
nal constitutions Of the confederacy were
saved by him in the breakup and one OF
them was presented by the late w. w
Corcoran, the Washington banker, to the
state Of Virginia. He has also an i'm
mensely valuable book in the shape of al
of the official opinions of the attorney
generals of the confederacy from 1861
the only copy in existence