The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1902-12-10
Bill Arp on QUESTIONS.
The Unknown Wives and Moth
ers of Great Men in
This Country.
Atlanta Constitution.

A chapter Of the Daughters OF the
Confederacy writes to me for list
of the Georgia Senators and repre-
sentatives. who seceeded in January,
| 1861. and also for a list OF their sue
cessors in the Confederate Congress.
Rnt few men can answer these cues
| tions. and indeed the answer is hard to
find in any book. But these women
are after information that is worthy OF
preservation in their archives and toey
will soon know more about the civil
war than the men.
Well. our State Senators before the
war were Robert Toombs and Ben Hill.
| Toombs made a withdrawal speech
which was grand and defiant.
Our REPRESENTATIVES were Martin j.
Crawford, Peter 3. Love, Thomas j..
Hardsman, Lucius J. Gartrell, John
". H.. Underwood, James Jackson,
John Jones and Joshna Hill. All OF
these withdrew except Joshua Hill,
who resigned. They are all dead.
The members of the first Confederate
Congress were Senators Ben Hill ana
Herschel v. Johnson. Toombs was
elected, but had serious opposl ton,
and it irritated him so that ne refused
TO serve and later on Johnson was
elected. Toombs, said, ssThe manner
| in which this trust has been confer
red on me relieves me from any OBJ
LEGATION to accept It," So he IN
sheathed his sword and went to fight
ing. The Representatives elected were
Julian Hartridge, j. G. Munnerlyn,
Hines Holt, A. H. Kenan, David w.
Lewis, ". W. Clark, Robert P.
Trippe, L.. j. Gartrell, Hardy StIick-
land and August R. Wright. These
are ali dead. Time cuts down both
great and small. !"
A letter from another chapter wish
es 20 known the maiden names Of the
wives of the Presidents and the names
of the mothers of the Presidents. l
tell you these women are in earnest.
For centuries their sex has been under
the ban. You can't find history or
cyclopedia that tells anything about
the wives or the mothers of great
men, and yet it is the mother who
makes the man. George Washington s
father died when he was IL years old
and his mother trained him and
taught him and planted within him
ali those virtues that made him
great -and yet there are but few OF
our American people who know who his
mother was. have three sets OF
standard cyelopedias, but only meager
mention is made in them of the
mothers or wives of the Presidents.
Who knows anything about the mother
of Webster, Clay or Calhoun ! :!
have found the maiden names OF all
the wives of the Presidents and the
names Of all their mothers except
these of Zachary Taylor, William
Fl. Harrison, franklin Pierce, James
Buchanan, r. B. Hayes and Ben
Harrison. Maybe they had no mothers.
Well, TO begin.
George Washington's mother was
Mary Ball. HIS wife was widow Park
Gusts, nee Martina cambridge.
John Adams mother was Susannah
Boylston. His wife was Abigail Smith.
Thomas Jefferson's IS mother was Jane
Randolph. His wife, Martha Wales.
James Madison's mother. Fanny
Taylor. His wife, Dolly Payne. That
Fanny Taylor's brother was grand
father to Zachary Taylor.
James Monroe's mother Eliza Jones'
His wife, Elizabeth Kortright.
John O. Adams had grandmotner
Quincy. No mother is named. His
wife was Louisa johnson.
Andrew Jackson's mother, Elizbe1h
Hutchinson, his wife, Richael Donel-
son.
Martin Van Buren's mother, Mary
Hoes; his wife, Hannah Hoes.
William Il. Harrison's mother not
named; wife, Anna Symmes.
John Tyler's mother, Mary Arml-
stead: wife, Letitia Christian.
James 4. Polk's mother, Jane Knox;
wife Sarah Childress.
Zachary Taylcr's mother not named
wife, Margaret Smith.
Millard Fillmore's mother was
Phoebe Millard; he never married.
Franklin Pierce's mother not named
wife Jane Appleton.
James Buchanan S mother not named.
He was a bachelor.
Abraham Lincoln's mother, Nancy
Hanks; wife, Mary Todd.
Andrew Johnson's mother too poor
and ignorant to name. His wife,
Eliza McCardle, educated him.
U. S. Grants mother, Hannah Slmp-
son; his wife, Julia Dent.
r. B. Hayes mother not named
his wife, Lucy Ware Webb.
Jams 4. Gar6eld's mother was Eliza
Ballou, his wife, .Lucretia Rudolph.
Chester A. Arthur's mother Malvine
Stone; his wife Ellen L. Rerndon.
Grover Cleveland's mother Anne
Neal; his wife Frances Folsom.
Ben Harrison's mother not named
his wife was Miss Scott.
William McKinley's mother, Nancy
G. Allison; his wife, Ida Saxton.
Now, of course if man can afford
to buy the separate biographies OF
these men, though some have not been
written, no doubt he could learn more
about their mothers and wives, hut
not very much. We know but little
concerning the mother of Milton,
Shakespeare, Cowper, Pope, Gray,
johnson, Hood, Burns, Moore, Byron,
Coleridge or any Of the noted writers
of England or Scotland. The idea
seems to have been that women as g
general rule we're of no consequence