The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-12-15
IN HOTEL LOBBTES
AND ELSEWHERE

| Fleming Grantland du Bignon announce
that on the first day of January at 70
O'Clock their daughter. Caroline Lamar, will
be married to Robert Gotten Aston. The
| ceremony will take place at Christ church,
| Savannah. 1t is very improbable that any
| other wedding will occur In the south this
| season which will attract so much sympa-
| thetic interest. This marriage will be the
| closer union of two families which for more
| than hundred years have made southern
| history and the Lamars. with whom there
| Is connection, adorned southern life long
| before one of Them Sidney Lamar wrote
| the incomparaby beautiful lines to the
| Daughter of Mendoza" and who was pres
| ident of the republic of Texas in the stormy
| days of Goliad and the Alamo. In Virgin
| ia, the Carolinas and Georgia the Alstons
were heroes of the Revolution, and have
| been a proud, dominant race throughout
| the one hundred and twenty-three years of
| the republic. Members of the family have
| long dwelt in Alabama, making their homes
| in Barbour county. In the long-vanished
| days of the old order of chivalry when the
| dueling code was the law for every gentle
| man. it was said. the Alstons die with
their boots on" The du Bignons are of
| Norman extraction, as the Astons are Sax
| on. The du Bignons have long held high
| place in Georgia, and have adorned with
rare graces the best element of southern
life They have given brave men and beau
| tiful women to the most interesting and
| most charming part of all the civilization of
| the world-southern culture, beauty, intel
| iect and courage. These names, the Ais
| tons, du Bignons and Lamars, in them
selves very largely constitute the more at
| tractive side of the general history of the
south. Therefore the marriage of Caroline
Lamar du Bignon to Robert Gotten Alston
is of interest to all southerners. The Cot
| tens, by the way, are distinguished in the
history of North Carolina.
William Martin Holding, whose funeral
took place at Huntsville on Wednesday,
was thoroughly representative of that ele-
ment of southern life made splendid by
such men as the Alstons, the duBignons
and the Lamars. He was of the higher type
| of our people; and he went his ways mod
estly and manfully, not seeking the plaudits
| of the multitude nor the indiscriminate and
unintelligent praise of careless newspapers.
| He enjoyed to a rare degree the sustaining
| forces of culture, charity and generosity.
ment and gentleness and light too seldom
discornible amongst men nowadays. 1t was
| not for him to blow bugles, beat drums
| and shout like a ringmaster in tawory
| circus. His tastes, traditions instincts, led
| him through pleasant gardens where dos
somed the flowers of the higher life. Mr..
| Holding had extensive family connections
| in the northern counties, chief amongst
he Hup11pVS and Da-
vises, and Fletchers One of his sisters,
Mrs Fletcher, with whom he made MS
home. being himself unmarried, is the
mother of Robert ]. Lowe and Richard ii.
Lowe. Another sister is Mrs. Hundley, the
mother of Oscar r. Hundley. A paterhal
aunt of Messrs. Lowe married the late
Nicholas Davis of Limestone, a notable hg-
lire in the history of the state. Mr.. Holding
was devotedly attached to Robert j. LOVE-
and the two enjoyed the closest intimacy
from the DAYS of Mr. Loves early boy
hood.
An old man, wearing heavy, old-fash-
toned topboots, sat alone reading a news
naper in the lobby of the Morris last night
His legs were crossed, and one Neg oil his
trousers had been pulled up several lnches,
displayIng a part of the great quantity OF
covhide the which attracted the attention
of many loungers, some of whom had per-
hans never before seen boots like those
The old man was prosperous-lookin was
of portly girth and wore a great mass of
GRAY heard Almost as a matter Of course,
his upper lip was clean-shayen. Possibly
nair of boots similar to those he wore
never before pressed the tiles of that
bou FASHION mas changed
in that particular. Every man of forty
remembers the red-topped, brass-toed boots
of his boyhood, and can recall the emotions
of exultant pride which he felt when ne
was first given such boots to wear. On his
way to school, If his new boots got soiled
in any way. ne would stop and clean them
with his bare hands, often wetting his
fingers with his tongue to more thoroughly
do the work of cleaning. The small boy
nowadays wears kn.ckerbockers and black
stockings, and cnews aXle-grease instead
of the sweetgum known to and loved OF
his father. The top-boot is now Curl
osity.
Hon. William II. skaggs left yesterday
morning for Chicago, and expects to be
absent from Birmingham several weekst.
Colonel w. H. Wihoyte of Sheffield is in
town.
J. Lee Long, of Greenyiile, a member of
the state democratic executive committee,
was in town yesterday.
F. L. Wagar, a prominent lumber mer-
chant of Mobile, is in the city.
T. p. Birmingham, of Chicago, is in Bir-
mingham.
Robert F. Morgan a widely known and
successful travelling representative of
Cincinnati clothing house, and one of the
best men the road is in Birmingham
Mr. Morgan is a nephew of Senator John
Tyler Morgan, and ne takes a deep and
enthusiastic interest in the candidature of
his illustrious uncle for reelection Mr.
aIorga1 is n ma five of Nashville G a