The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-05

| cratic features and an expressive coun- tenance, with a regal boise of head anC | mien so majestic that as she SIS anu bows a smile of welcome to ner visitof | she gives the effect of gracious per | sonage receiving :n state. The bow IS accompanied-if the visitor takes her -ah- cy by wave of the hand to indicate the seat nearest her. for this grande dame Is little deaf and does not participate as much as formerly in the general con versation.
 An up-to-date woman she is in the broadest sense of the word. with keen interest in national and international al fairs; thoroughly in touch with Surrent
 events. which she greatly enjoys discuss
 ing. It. is no longer possible for Mrs.
 Fremont to go into the world, put tnG
 world goes to her, both personally anu
 by letter. President Mckinley spent a
 delightful hour with her during that Cal
 ifornia visit last year, and her cottage
 has long been the mecca toward whirh
 the footsteps of distinguished VlAtofs
 have turned. The tourist. plain ana slii-
 pie. doing the town of Los Angeles, al
 ways makes pilgrimage past the house,
 frequently stopping before the gate to
 comment on the illustrous woman and
 her history. Often these remarks are
 amusing, particularly when they are
 made by the. carriage drivers personally
 conducting parties. Always theYa ar
 heard by Mrs. Fremont, invisible througA
 the curtained, but open window. Having
 a keen sense of humor, she enjoys these
 comments, particularly when they de-
 scribe her as the mother of the Path-
 finder"
 When alone this energetic woman is
 busiy occupied in writing; she takes
 sole charge of her enormous correspond
 ence, Tn addition to her literary work,
 which is considerable. Of reading, she
 never has enough. Her mind absorbing
 occupatio now, however, is the work
 of preparing her autobiography. which
 she soon hopes to have completed. FaS
 cinating glimpses these will be of pie
 turesque and romantic past, which has
 become history.
 One of her first political friends was President Jackson, and one of her earli est recollections being taken to the Wmte House by her father and remaining with him and the President while they had their talks. It pleased Jackson to nave her near him, where he could put ms hand on her head, and sometimes, in the interest of discussiCn he would forget what he was doing and take an uncoa- scious grip on the pre- tty curls, but the little lady never wi1Ced. To have sho"n pain or displeasure would have dlspieaSeu
 her father, who always praised her atter- ward when she was brave, and managed to have her rewarded at the time by
 play in the nursery with the children or
 the Presidents niece. who lived with nm:
 Mrs. Fremont made her social deolt
 at the White House at the age of l3,
 when President Van Buren gave a din
 ner for his son, and at 14 she attended a great state dinner given by the Presloeht
 in honor of the Russian Minister, Bo-
 disco the Splendid, and his 16-year-old
 bride This remarkable marriage of May
 and December (the bridegroom was 6o),
 was the most gorgeous ceremony "aSl-
 ington had ever seen. The bridal party
 was composed of the most beautiful or
 the youthful girl friends of the bride and
 men of about the age of the groom JeS-
 sic Benton, then IA, was one Of the Drfdcs-
 maids, with Mir. Buchanan. atterward
 President as her groomsman. The other
 diStingniShed men III
 official life, and the bride was given away
 by Henry Clay.
 In this way began brilliant social ca
 reer which brought her in contact with
 such women of the past as Mrs. Alexan-
 der Hamilton and Mrs. Dolly Madison,
 and all the prominent people of her fath-
 CTS day and generation.
 Though Mrs. Fremont did not accom-
 pany her husband on any of his eXplor- ing expeditions across the continent, Sle made the most important or them poSSi- ble, and it lappaned in this way. The Government had given him his tlrst sep arate command and equipped him for an expedition to the Pacific Coast, but there was much Jealousy and opposition III Washington. and while Fremont was on the frontier preparing to start an order was sent to St Louis recalling him to the national capital. Mrs. Fremont re- ceived and read this order, but she had no intention of allowing her husband 5 expedition to he ruined, so instead or | forwarding it to him. she sent instead, | by the swiftest messenger she could 1lhd' | d letter telling him to start West win out a moments delay and not ASK why. l He Obeyed her instructions 10 the lelteF' The returning mess s5enger brought her the assurance that he lad seen her husband | and the party off. She then wrote the official in Washington that she had neltn- | CT forwarded his order nor informed Fremont of it, and that the expedition | was well under way.
 To defy official orders was good de Il | of a responsibility Cor an lS-Year-old glrl. | hut she had inherited her fathers cour- | ageous spirit and dlc not hesitate to act | for what she thought were the best ln- | terests of her husband and the country l Her father when later he joined her m l St Louis and she told him what she ha1 done approved her act, and every Amer l ican owes her a debt of gratltude Tor | permitting nothing to interfere with plans | which not only explored, but developed l the Pacific Coast and led to the conquest 1 of California.
 l Mrs. Fremont's influence was instru- | mental in bringing California into the | Union as a free State. Her husband was i opposed to slavery, and her people, though l Virginians and large landed proprietors | with hundreds of negroes on their estates | were not slave holders having given | freedom to their people in the hope ol i putting slavery to an end. w C dld nol | own our negroes; they owned us, re | gently said Mrs. Fremont who recall; | many of them with great affection, and | smiles at the remembrance of the pro prietory airs they assumed toward the | families they so faithfully served. | When Mrs. Fremont decided to join
 her husband in California in IS. she made | the difficult journey by way of Panama | sailing from New York. The trip was | one of hardship and extreme peril fron | beginning to end Every sort of unex- | pected misfortune overlook her, but with | splendid courage she held to her purpose | of going to her husband, though she had | h fny hs nd