The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-11

New Bedford standard.
 The emigration of the Huguenots to fhis country. after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1885, was moro important event in American his forv than at first 1t appeared to be. It brought the French exiles in greas numbers to our hospitable shores It infused new life into the colonists, and promoted intermarriage between mem hers of distinct nations. It prepar- ed the way of hope for French assis- tance during the war of the Revolu- tion, and made the offer of the swor1 of Lafayette more natural, as well as a more picturesque. event than oth- erwise 1t could have been. Among these Huguenot exiles were the faml- Hes of Fontaiae and Maury They came to Virginia in each others com pany in the year TIA, having been identified in a common cause of sur fering, and related by marriage before fhey left their native shores On ar irving in the colony they settled in the rich valley of the Rappahannoek ana in due course of time their posterity became a thriving community Of plan ters In 1790, on certain day which history has not recorded, there vas marriage in one of the stately man sions of Caroline county, in when th9 contracting parties were Rlcnard Maury, the son of an Episcopal clergy man. Iineal descendant of each of the above men toned families, and Diana Minor the beautiful daughter of Major John Minor of Topping Gas tie. After their marriage this young couple went to reside In the vicinity of Fredericksburg and there for twen- ty-one years they made their nome, quietly engaging in the works of nus bandry On January t4th, 1906, their fourth son was born, and named Mat thew Fontaine, in honor of his two pa ternal great grandfathers. Matthew was one of nine children, and 1t might have been appropriately said of them, if Inc lines had then been written
 "They grew in beauty side by side.
 They filled one home with glee.
 And of them also the remaining verses of this well-known stanza of Mrs Heman's poem (which Matthew Maury afterwards learned to love very fondly) might be suitable, but sad de- scription:
 Their graves are severed far and wide, Bv mount and stream and sea.
 When our second war with Great Britain was about to begin Richard Maury, who seems to have had row ing disposition. removed his young family to Tennessee, and located in the miles north of Nashville. In this re- tired spot Matthew Maury grew up among log-cabins, hridle paths, and the wild game os the forests He atter- wards said: Tt was about this time that my first ambition to become q mathematician was excited by an oid cobbfer who lived not far from my fathers house, and who used to send the shoes home with the soles all scratched over with little KS and V s.
 Tn 1925 Sam Houston, then member of congress from Tennessee. procurea young Maury a place in the Onlteo states navy. Like most lads, he was eager to be on the ocean. though ms older brother, John. had died and was buried at sea less than year before. Mounting .is favorite pony, that had often carried him in the chase he bade adieu to the dear home in Ten nesses, and with only thirty dollars IF his purse he started out in the world to begin unconsciously career ot sclen life study and research, which has rarely been equalled in the lives or American explorers on land or sea. He was two weeks on the road. crossing 4he mountains and fording the streams, including the Cumberland. the Shenan- doah. and the James, till one day at nirhtfaIl he alfgated from his saddle at his uncle's door in Albermale coun- ty near where the University of Nir- ginia now stands. The old time rela- lives and neighbors of his father family were all strangers to him Tor he was only five years of age when he was taken to his western home; but in that inquisitive circle he saw 8 slender girl of twelve or thirteen sum mers, Ann Herndon by name, who at once captivated his affections, whom ten years later he came back from the sea to wed, as his father had done forty-five years before. when he came for His bride to Topping Castle, in Car oline county. With the love of this beautiful maiden hidden in his heart he again set forth, after brief visit, to go on his way, a sailor boy, buoyant' trustfuI and ambiIlous The new fri xrate Brandywine. appropriately named for such an occasion, bearing Lafayette back to France in 1925, was the man. of-war to which Maury was assigned as a midshipman. The industrious