The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-08-22

sewed. The white roses which II pro-
auced were her favorfte flowers. Per.
maps Il was only because she knew
they became her that she 20 frequently
wore theso. but they came to be asso.
ciated with her, have somewhere
seem a portrait of her with white
rose nesting among the faces OF her
frock, and I for one would gladly De-
| iieve that II was one of the blossoms
from the identical bush.
my grandmother also used TO tell
me that Nellie wore one OF these roses
when Mr.. Lewis won her consent u
| his suit for her hand. Tradition FUR
| ther says that she took cutting OF TINS
bust with her when she left her home
at Mount Vernon to go to her nus
bands estate at Arlington. The ven
! GRAFTON she had for the rose evidenti,
| Impressed the superstitious negroes
ana its fame grew with every genera
ton" Even emancipation failed 70
shake the confidence OF the negroes ~
the powers of the bush which came tc
be shared by all the residents OF ths'
section.
tourists were tho next TO become
.onvsrt. IN the faith or the posy
Boarding school misses from Virgins
ana Maryland school mains from New
| England and college girls from the
Middle west--the frivolous little dirt
and the seriously ambitious blue-stock
ing. pretty girls and plain. the very
youthful who wore long dresses TO
look grown up. and the somewha'
passe. who wore short dresses 10 iooh
voung--all succumbed to that spirit OF
romance which springs eternal In the
| feminine breast.
Romance of Matte Mitchell.
The romance of Matte Mitchell. now
| the Duchess of de la Rochefourcaulo.
| the best known beauty Of the WASH
| fngton OF twenty years ago. gave al
ditional impetus to the rosebud fet-
! ishism Miss Mitchell. the daughter
of the late Senator Mitchell. OF Ore
eon. was one of the loveliest girls
Washington society has ever known
| She was as unspofled and charming
as she was beautiful and belle OF the
continents In spite of the fact that
she was not credited with the posses.
| sion of fortune she was oesieged
| with fietterine offers OF marriage. But
none of the proposals seemed TO ma
| soft spot In her heart and II was
not until Miss Mitchell accepted one
| of the Nellie Gusts roses on dare
that the curtain was raised on the love
drama of her life. and she figured a.
| a principal in one of the first great
international marriages Of American
girls. Many Of her girl friends point
ed to the fact that Matte" became
the wife of bearer OF one OF the
| uoblest names of France as an added
distinction to tho modest little rose
| bud at Mount Vernon.
The story goes that Miss Mitcneli
had been a member Of the party which
United States senator had invited
to spend a spring afternoon at Mount
Vernon. The two other girls In the
party eagrely accepted the little white
rosebuds from the Nellie Custis." Of
fered them by a negro employe OF the
place. but the heroine of the Internal
tional love story for some reason
seemed reluctant to take the one held
out to her. The men of the party
chaffed her a bit. accusing her OF be-
lieying that II she took the rose she
would surely be married within the
year. Finally they dared" her to do
so. WELL" she laughed, STll defy tho
tradition. A year from today I'll be
| back here with you and get another
rose from the bush and my name will
still be the same" She pror&ised how
ever. to wear the rose throughout the
| year.
Tho Charm Worked.
It was barely three weeks later that
she was introduced to the Duke de Ia
Rochefoucauld. who fell In love with
the fair Washingtonian at the very
first meeting. He pressed his court