Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-30
LIFE OF ANNE ROYAL.
Story of One of the Strangest
of Washington Characters.
FRIEND OF PEGGY O'NEILL
Convicted Of Being a Nuisance and
Common Scold.
DEPRIVED OF HER FORTUNE
Spent Her Time in Travel, Observa-
ton and Writing-1nterviewed
Many Presidents.
DEPRIVED OF HER FORTUNE
BY WILLIAM E. CERTIS.

Mutes at Kendall Green, has written a
life of Anne Royal. one of the strangest
characters that ever walked the earth,
and, during the first third Of the nine
teenth century. the most widely known
woman Of the country In Washington.
the scene of her greatest and longest
activity, Mrs. Royal has the reputation
oe being a shrll-tongued and wicked
old infdel. beggar and blackmailer. who
was convicted by jury of being COM
mon scold and narrowly escaped an Of
fetal ducking in the Potomac. This was
In 1929 The accusation was brought
by persons connected with a small Pres
byterian congregation which worshiped
in an enginehouse near Mrs. Royals
dwelling on Capitol Hill. but Miss Porter
believes that the real instigators of the
prosecution were prominent men living
both in and outside of Washington, and
that the motive was to punish Anne
Royal for her attacks upon them in her
BLACK Book" which was very widely
read In those days, and devoted a great
deal OF attention to the fight over Ma
sonry and the United States Bank. Among
of Washington, who also figured in the
Peggy O'Neill scandal. which broke up u
President Jackson's cabinet, in which Mrs.
Royal took an active part.
The Peggy O'Neill Storm.
You will remember that John II. Eaton.
senator from Tennessee and afterward
Secretary of War, married Peggy O'Neill,
the beautiful daughter of a tavern keep
er, whom the wives of his official asso-
ciates refused to receive. Vile charges
were made against her character by a
washington clergyman. and President
jackson caused searching investigation
to be made The evidence presented to
sustain the charges was of trivial char
acter, and President Jackson being con-
WINGED that it was false, threw himself into
the social quarrel invited Mrs. Eaton to
receive for him at the White House, gave
dinners in her honor, threatened to eXpel a
foreign minister who snubbed the tavern
keepers daughter; sent his nephew's wife
back to Tennessee because she sided with
the cabinet ladies: induced Mr.. Van Buren,.
his Secretary of State, to give a dinner
for Mrs. Eaton, to which the ministers of
all the principal powers and their wives
were invited. and endeavored to force
Washington society to accept woman
whom he believed to have been basely
slandered. But. by the Eternal the
hero of New Orleans ran up against
something that he was powerless to over
come. The wives of the cabinet compelled
their husbands to resign rather than as
the greatest social cyclone that ever oc-
CURED in Washington whirled that I'M
fortunate woman into oblivion.
Conviction of Mrs. Royal.
Mrs. Royal naturally was in the most
of the storm; she had a great deal to say
on that subject in the papers, and her
defense Of the wife of the Secretary of
Wa was another reason why she should
be punished.
Her first examination resulted in her
discharge from 10 rat
there was no law in the District Of Co.
lumbia under which she could be pun
ished for her alleged offense. Where
upon Chief Justice Cranch of the Supreme
Court of the District discovered an anti
quated English statute which would an
swer the purpose; ducking school was
made at the navy yard by his orders and
Anne Royal was brought to trial on an
| Indictment Of three counts: I. For being
| a public nuisance: .. For being common
| brawler; 3. For being common scold
Fifteen witnesses were summoned, among
whom were George Waterston librarian
of Congress. and Mr.. Timms. doorkeeper
| of the Senate. Three judges sat in the
| case and the jury brought I'm verdict
or guilty: but the court dared not inn
pose punishment that was unknown to
| manded it. and instead of using the duck
| ing STOOL sentenced Mrs. Royal to pay
fine of $40 and placed her under bond
| to keep the peace. The Secretary of War
bond. and Mrs Royal continued the
| publication of her paper without inter-
| ruption.
Search for the Facts.
Miss Porter, who has made an enviable
reputation in literature and original in
vestigation. has spent an unusual amount
Of labor and pains in searching for the
facts in Anne Royals life. which is full
of mysteries. Ancient records of the
District of Columbia, of five states and of
more than score Of cities have been
scanned carefully she says in her pref
ace; many libraries and bookshops have
been ransacked; correspondence has been
carried on with SECRETARIES of the Ma
sonic lodges and local historians
Every line of Mrs. Royals voluminous
works has been read. and oral tradition
has been sifted with care. Ny research
has covered several years. The result is
the discovery of biographical material
which seems to show that Mrs. Royal
was really far less black than she had
been painted"
Miss Porter quotes the late Dr. Spot
ford OF the Library of Congress, who said
of Mrs. Royal: THAT she was regarded
as horrid creature is most true. But
1t is equally true that Anne Royal had
many friends wherever she went. and
that she was not without unkindlness
and even charity. The worlds judgment
Of erratic persons who become prominent
more impartial judgment holds in fair
balance the good and evil in human
character and refuses to condemn too
harshly the struggling and Industrious
woman who in a ruder age than ours
conquered adversely and ate her hard
earned bread to the sweat of her brow"
Miss Porter gives us a fascinating pic
ture of q strange woman. She writes
with sympathy, but with a clear judg-
ment Of the proprieties. She says that
Anne Royal was probably one Of the
first persons in the United States to
whom the word crank was applied
John Quincy Adams described her as a
"virago Grant, in enchanted armor"
Amos Kendall said of her: She had a
tolerable education, much shrewdness and
| respectable talent; she procured her sub
sistence by publishing books in which
she praised extravagantly those who
bought her books or gave her money. and
abused without measure those who re-
fused or in any way incurred her dis
pleasure"
Sketch of Mrs. Royals Life.
Miss Porter says that this is unjust and
believes that Mr.. Kendall was prejudiced,
because more than once in the newspa-
pers Mrs. Royal exposed plans of the
Jackson administration which he wishe d
to have kept secret. mo ferret was ever
keener after rats she says than Mrs.
Royal on the scent of political plots"
Miss Porter has gathered a great deal
of interesting information concerning this
\ IL