Evening star., 1909-05-30

spent hours trying to induce her to en-
roll under the banner OF equal rights
for women.
''she has always listened and while al
ways avoiding aggressive opposition. she
has not shown a disposition to depart
from the ancient ways. Mrs. Dickinson
holds that woman loses her highest pre-
rogative when she asserts such right as
| that to vote. She has found that in the
south the opinion of women counts for
much delivered in the home and that to
attempt to usurp the public functions
| which man has claimed from time imme-
| mortal would be to destroy the prestige.
At the risk of being old-fashioned and i'm
pervious to progress. Mrs. Dickinson de-
| spiration and guiding force for good poll
| tics than to have hand in the actual
| making of public policies.
Every one who knows Mrs. Dickinson
will readily predict for her unqualified
| social success and influence along the
| lines which seem most needed just now.
From her early years she has been asSo-
cfated with men with big plans and lofty
aims. and she Is accustomed to pondering
| on far-reaching questions She can talk
politics with the most finished statesman.
and he will acknowledge that she illumi-
| mates any subject which she discusses.
In the south women are consulted by the
highest in authority, though but little is
read OF the southern woman in politics.
AS the wife Of the Secretary OF War.
Mrs. Dickinson will show what an excel
lent training home virtues give for social
responsibility
The Secretary and Mrs. Dickinson have
three sons, two of whom are married,
and the youngest named for his father.
Jacob McGavock Dickinson. jr.. Is at
present a student at Yale and Is a po-
oldest son, named for Mrs. Dickinson s
father. John Overton Dickinson, lives with
his wife who was Miss Blenham of South
Carolina. and small children at the famous
old country place, Belle Meade. This
homestead figures quite as much in the
social annals of Nashville and its vicinity
as does Travellers Rest. Formerly 1t was
the home of Gen. William Jackson. who
inherited 1t from the old Harding family.
Gen. Jackson's heirs sold the place to
Judge Dickinson, and 1t was here that he
spent the greater part OF his married
life, until his removal from Tennessee. II
was at Belle Meade that President and
Mrs. Cleveland were entertained during
their stay in Nashville, and some of the
fetes given in their honor still figure as
an epoch in the chronicles of amenities.
The second son. Henry. last year married
Miss Ida Thompson. daughter of one OF
the prominent bankers of Nashville, and
is at present practicing law in Seattle. He
and his wife spent Easter in Nashville,
where they had their infant son chris
tened in the First Presbyterian Church
in which edifice the marriage had been
celebrated and where the ancestors OF
both have worshiped for three genera
tionS.
The Secretary of War and Mrs. Dickin-
son have been stanch adherents OF the
Presbyterian faith all their lives ana.
have taken an active part in the admins
tration of the famous old edif1ce of Nash
vile locally known as the First Presby-
terian.
They make the sixth family Of the pres
ent cabinet circle who are followers OF
John Knox. The father and mother OF
Judge Dickinson were married In ihls
same old edfice, and recently an account
of that wedding was reproduced. with al
the uuaintness Of detail incident to IN.
and with long list of celebrities. Mrs
Dickinson's mother. who was Miss Har-
riet Maxwell was also married In the
Presbyterian Church of Nashville.
Not the least of Mrs. Dickinson.s
charming characteristics. said TINS
friend ''is her devotion to her family ana
the interest which she takes In every
member, even remote connections Bon
Air. which is in the heart of the Cumber-
land mountains and near the Bon Ar
coal mines. may he called DicR1nson-
Overton village, for of the fourteen or
fifteen country homes which make up
the settlement all belong to some branch
Of the. different families. Jesse Overton.
Mrs. Dickinson's brother. has nne nome
there and several of Judge Dickinson
brothers, sisters. nieces and nepheWs. OF
whom a few have married into the Over
ton family like himself. have chosen
summer quarters at Bon Air. Mrs. DICK
inson rarely misses the opportunity to
pass eight or ten weeks at the summer
home. and the days are made up of fam
lily reunions after the old type which was
prevalent a generation ago. but WHICH,
unhappily. is now becoming SO rare
There are informal llincheons and dinners
in the open and picnics and horseback
and driving excursions. all In the family
1t reminds one of the reunions of the old
Scotch clans, and much enthusiasm is
displayed
Mrs dickinson. though so long absent
from her old Nashville friends and neigh
bors has never lost interest in them. She
has kept up a brisk correspondence with
many and has invited scores of them to
Chicago. All her closest friends are
those of her childhood. though she has
become identified with so many eminent
men and women in Chicago, the east and
various parts of Europe.
She is intensely proud Of the history Of
her state. Her own family and the an
cestors Of her husband have been history
makers in the native heath of Andrew
Jackson. Judge Dickinson is the nephew
OF Felix Grundy. Attorney General in Van
Burens administration, and among the
Maxwels to which Mrs. Dickinson's
mother belonged. have been several emf
nent statesmen. She is a member of
every society which has in view the keep
ing OF the national and state archives
and the marking of historic places Mrs.
Dickinson has never attempted literary
work. but she writes an entertaining let
ter and is a keen observer of current
events. She reads everything Of impor-
tance in papers and magazines which
bears on the present aspect of politics,
and she can eXpound the various phases
of development in the national creeds
with the confidence of the scholar.
AS the president Of the Illinois Central
cupied a position which yielded a harvest.
and his acceptance of Mr.. Taft's offer
means a large financial sacrifice. 1t is
said that Mrs. Dickinson's desire that he
round out his career in public life was
the principal factor in his decision. She
believes In the larger aim of the man who
is so splendidly endowed as her husband,
and more money should not prove an OBJ
stacle. Then all her family are of broad
money has come second to serving their
country. She takes the most absorbing
interest in all that concerns the War
Department, and her visit to Panama,
according to her letters received by
friends. attests the eagerness with which
she is studying that most interesting
phase of her husbands new field In man
ner Mrs. Dickinson is cordial and kind
She is one of the we'll poised women in
every occasion. but never conspicuously
SO, gracious and apprOachable and with
an evident pleasure in meeting new peo-
pie and learning their ways.