The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-08
DEATH IN HOUSE OF TONE.
PJSSIAG o. 4 DLIGHTER or 4
DISIINGUISHED IRISH LINE.

OF OBJECTS OF trsnttst Iilstorlc .
There died In brooklyn last week a woman
who had in her wins, ON IN. maternal side, the
blood Of the Dukes Of Normandy, and on her
fathers, that Of he srcAt lhshmau, Thcohall
Wolfe Tone, III, hero u the Revolution 81 l7JS, ana
the founder Ofthr Society Of nited lrishmen And
on the same day, and, at very nearly the same hour
tina, Queen Victoria set out from Windsor on her
yi,i, to IrrlanJ. Nne buri'din brentwood Cemetery
this woman beside six Of her noble ancestry
Mrs. Grac' i,rorgiana Maxwell lived Tor nearly
forty years in her bpauiiu. come in Washington
avenue, B~rooklyn, n home built by her husband
the late lascrllcs Edward Maxwell, and occupied
continuously by herself and her children lhere
IL scarcely another woman Of this country who
can point 20 50 many distinguished ancestors
or 10 honors won by them In the service oil 50
I many different counties, and, al the same uhhc.
show a record 80 unsuliipd by its representatives..
1t is TO b. said Of all Of them, that they were brave
and y%ir,uous, and this fact, combined win oil
the other characteristics united In their line, maze
them a race worthy 10 be called the descendants
Of King David. aud deserving Of the honorS heaied
upon their names by the Ireland Of to-day.
At the close OF the eighteenth century there came
TO this country from Ireland and from France
many exiles. driven from their own lands BY reNo'
lutions and conspiracies in revolutions Mrs.
MAXWELL ancestors were Irish exiles, those e1iles
whom the Poe, Camptrlls "Exiles Of Erin de-
scribes so graz lically, Her father, who was the
only surviving son Of Wolfe Tone, was In France
with his mother at the time Of his ia hrs death
In prison in Dublin. Napoleon appointed him .
cadet in the Imperial School Of Cavalry at ST.
Germaine Af,rrward he served In the French
army and fought in The battles Of Dresden, I.o",en-
berg, J. ipNic aud many others ,Napol-9n dec
Grated him for great bravery With ue medal OF tbs
Legion OF Honor. Had this woman not been an
invalid from the time Of her early married NE
and comp He'd thnncetorth to live In the seclusion
Of her family circle, her personality would have
been known to her contemporaries a. widely
as was The fact Of hr historic ancestry. Nearly
every lrish-A american Is familiar with the story
Of Tone, granddaughter, Grace Tone Maxwell
Her granGfaih'r's great fame makes her OF his
toric Interest, and her own character added lns,rs
10 the name She Inherited,
The history Of Theohaid Wolfe Tone is the his
tory Of one Of l~reland's noblrst eras, lie worked
for the union OF his countrymen under one n~auona!
banner, and yielded up his III" IN the caus, OF
Irish liberty In that eyeuNul year 81 1875, Irish
men, Catholic and Protestant alike, united In
praise Of his memory, two years ago. when the
centennial anniversary Of his death Vas celH-
brated with loving irrvor In Ireland. II was IN
Aug Ii, 1898, that Dublin witnessed one Of the
greatest demonstrations that ever manifested
I~reland's feelings of honor for an illus,rious son.
ThOse who, unacluainied with the fact that Ire
land was once a free kingdom, I~naryeled at the
/ extent Of this demonstration. and Of the world.
wide interest that was taken In II. From ell
counties came delegations TO ray reverence TO
the memory Of Wolfe Tone, a martyr who not only
gave his life for his native land, but had
devoted his entire cxisteno, TO It's unselhsh ser
vice. Dublin streets wers invaded Tor that crle-
bratiOn by thousands from all parts OF the Island,
and by vet other thousands Of loving sons who had
returned 10 the mother land from the four guar
ters- OF the globe. The one American whose
presence would have lent the last completed fea-
ture 10 the occasion could not be there, but from
her home In Brooklyn the proud and thankful
Erandchild sent the silver trowel used In laying
the monuments foundation stone And the
si'eNrr, In presenting II TO tho President OF The
'9SCentenary Committee, said:
The trowel with which you will perform the
ceremony IS Tie gift OF the granddaughter Of Wolfe
Tone, and the reply made TO the Invitation TO Al
| tend this ceremony gives eloquent proof that
distance from The old home has not onllterated
the heroic memories in which the family OF Tone
may take pride, nor chilled the Ardor OF the love
which should be borne for Ireland by those who
claim descent from the foremost among the pa
triots Of JS."
The tIowel bore the inscription Ireland .
Nation. The emorial 10 Theobald Wolfe Tone
and the United Irishmen. Dublin, Aug ust 10Th,
1895. Grace Georgiana Tone Max well"
In her home in Brooklyn. surrounded by proud
traditions and by the portraits, busts. relics and
papers Of her great kinsnan, Mrs, Maven hon
oTrd the day with mingled emotions Of pride and
regret pride in ths honor Of her birtbright. and
regret that she could not have crossed the sea
10 take part in the national tribute 10 the character
aad deeds Of her grandfather. But ~ tho
vide halls Of her home She spread the flag OF ETln.
and 10 her children and her grandchildren she
gave renewed evidences of her own pure and lofty
spiut, and Of the possession Of the sell same quail
ties that had won deathless fame Tor her ancestors.
And U' other dGg, when she lay dead In her colin,
~ a .1IrhtAr Nth rayar.nIlol ba nfs Dlua,ad n u
beside her. q withered shamrock and The Irish
soil IN which 1t had grown sent 10 her by an Irish
lover oi Tone, Lad his woman. within the forty
odd years she lived IN Brooklyn, been or dcuvs
participant in the social life about her, the house
u history, In which she dwelt. for the latter part
With her sons and daughters, would have been
Z the theDIs OF frequent description, for II ls ore OF
W most interesting pHVa" reeiGeh,es IN Ne"
York city.
Attn; time when American women are actively
interested in genealogies, the contemplation
of This lrish-AmeriCau woman, whose ancestry
is traced back 10 the tims Of Strongbow. q time
when the English language was crude and bar.
barous, and when Ireland was the most cultured
landi In EUROPE, is of timely and valued importance
One can understand the love and .yeneraiion
81 the educated 'n,h ~ their WONDERLAND, whcn
1t is realized thai according TO the traditions
Of the land Irish history goes back 10 tho
time II King David: that the Irish vernacular
tongue Is identified with, Holy, Writ; and that!
/ Ireland is the "Innis Phail, " Island Wonderful,
In which the seed of King David found a resting
place after leaving Egypt And one may realize
how intense is that PRIDE Of ancestry. when The
stream can he traced back 10 it's source and that
source be found 10 be the Royal Remnant itself.
Mrs Nlaxwell's life covered a period Of American
history during which the country emerged from
Its second war with England In triumph aud be-
! rare the asylum u the oppressed Of every land
Tier grandfather had found in james Monfoe,
then Minister TO France, q firm ard helrtrl 'hend.
who appreciated his unSeiiSh efforts for Ireland,
and lent him the influence ot his name AMI mend
ship With the Government then IN rover Her
I (a.har had come to this country with his widowed
molhor, and settled in New York among the kort'
rights and other relatives Of Mrs. Monroe when
New York was lit,l' more than n small town
Grace Tone was born In Georgetown, ID.
G, a fact she always mentioned with sati9-
faction, having q Cr"at Ling t9r the South,
But she came back Ia New \ ork with her widowed
mother when she was but iItl' over two years
, ~ age, aud lived first IN Na-icE street, then me
centre 81 In" residential section, and a%tterward
In iSD'nard street. The maternal grhNdiather
Il Mrs Maxwell was William Sampson an eNile
Of '8s, well remembered in New York as a lawyer
and a brilliant man Of letters. He was said by
HOFFMAN, in his book, Legal Study, TO have
been the great promoter II all the legal amend
mcnts, the codes, the consultations, that have
50 far taken place among US
Mr. Sampson was Of v'althy parentngc, pos
sos'"d Il university eduealOn, and gay and b'i-
liant socially was said Of him that be pos
sos.,A wit enough 10 have set M a dozen PEuchsS.
In was the author Of several books, one q them,
An Address on Common Law, In which he
denounced the common law as a system wholly
+ unsult"d 10 our republican form. OF government;
THIS work received q. trntiun in this country and
~ well I'm England and France, and WAS the
origin In this STATE ~ u movement which led
10 the enart'neut # The Revised Statutes He
was a fine musician, plavirg vel several insiru-
ments and Rad u gift for poetry as we'll. Among
] the ff'ndS about linn when his only daughter
was a girl, were peon'" whose names are familiar
a. The Now York u today the families Of Prime.
Hoffman, Nrwb,ld, Ginncll, Suvdam, Cutting,
Nissan. SHIyvn~Hnt aud kingston De witt