The Washington times., 1905-03-26

board. constantly attends her. and to
vary the days monotony-not The scene.
for she can only distinguish light from
darkness-she Is wheeled each morning
in her chair into the corridor. or totters
out leaning upon her staff.
Perfectly Content"
As visitors or feliow-inmates pause In
passing to ask how she is, they receive
the same reply of: wonderfully well.
and perfectly content Just sitting pass"
I've, waiting for the Masters call"
She knows numbers Of hymns. and
now and again her auavering voice may
be heard singing her fayorites among
these. Sometimes. when question
arises as to some half-forgotten stanza,
omitted from revised editions. she is ap-
pealed to, when she promptly repeats
the whole hymn.
STRANGELY enough, and interesting, too,
from a psychological st.Bipoint, hef
memory in regard to other matters mas
failed Her knowledge OF Virginia gen.
ealogy WAS once such that MI Corcoran
urged her 70 publish a book upon the
subject. while Washington writers often
came to her in search OF information.
When applied TO now, however, sne
shakes h"r head, saying her mind Is
Dreams Much.
She lives in world of her own. and
during the last campaign. when some
one remarked that We had a beautiful
day for the Presidential election, she
started as though awakened from a
dream, asking the names of the eandi--
dates.
When toId-with q not particularly
f1attering accent OF that Of the Repubii-
can nominee Roosevelt" she repeat
ed: that has a Dutch sound TO me.
Mrs. Atkinson was formerly Miss
Anne Grymes. of King George county
Virginia, and has been twice married
Her first husband, by whom she had one
son, who died three years ago, was
MIR. .Toller. who filled Government po-
sition as translator Of foreign Ian
guages. He fought through the Mexican
war, in consideration of which fact She
| receives y pension. nd being TOO phiao
| TO write her name. p6tS her marx 10 ti.e
! paper which the pe:ssion ofhcer period
| ically presents.
| Her second marriage, which occurred
| In Iunenburg county. Virginia, was
with the late Roger Atkinson. bTother
| of Bishop Atkinson, of North Carolina.
| Related TO Lee.
| Rather less than thirty-f1Ve years ago
Mrs. Atkinson. then widow past sixty.
4 with an invalid son and Impoverished
by the civil war, saw an account IN
Daper of Mr.. Coreorans design to erect
NJ the National Capital an asylum for
indigent Southern gentlewomen, and in
closing 10 him :, letter of introduction
| from her kinsr,ar Gen Robert T.. Lee,
she received a prompt and cordial in
| vttat!on to make the institution her
home.
She reached the city before its doors
were open, and, seating herself upon
| ner trunk in the vestibuie. awaited the
arrival of the matror Miss Lucy Hunt
er. of beloved and angelic memory, who
| with the six servants who came in with
| her. has passed into the Great Bevond.
! In token of her being his first guest
| Mr. Corcoran presented her wltE
special chair. still priced by her. and
| assigned her TO an apartment whleh sac
| Soon after her instaliment she said to
MIN one day: "Mr. Corcoran, like Coop
er, | come asking for Il grave.
Bought the Grave.
With the laughing rejoia6er that he
had engaged to take care Of her while
she was living, not after she was dead
he would have waived the request, bu
she simply reiterated and re-reiterated
It. The result was the purchase, In Oak
| wood Cemetery, of the beautiful lot ir
which all of the members who have dice
at the homo sleep, with the execution ol
those who lie in family burying grounds