The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-12

quarters Dy a. cavalry regiment, anu her servants and provisions confscat- ed. When the soldiers went away, there was nothing eatabie left save the grains of corn scattered on the ground where they had fed their. horses. These grains the ladies-reared in luxury picked from the ground, and also out of the cracks of the drawers of their mahogany bureaus which the soldiers had used as feeding troughs. They crushed the corn into hominy and cooked it, and gave a portion to a sick hind and whom they nursed until he Mary E. Ryan in Uncle Remus' Mag
 szine. 'fe
 HENRY CLAY AND. MADAME
 LEvERT IN MONTGOMERY
 SIXTY-FIvE YEARS
 AGO MONDAY.
 On~March 8. 1894. Henry Clay and Madame Octavia Levert were guests of this city. This fact was called to notice Monday. the anniversary of the visit of these two celebrities. by Dr. Thomae M. Owen, the State Historian. Blues History of Montgomery recites in a paragraph:
 Henry Clay, the great American Commoner.' who was on a tour through the Southern States. arrived by steam boat from Mobile. on the morning of March 8, 1Si4. Notwithstanding the torrents of rain a vast concourse of people from the city and county was at the landing to greet him. Mir. Clay appreciated the hearty welcome, and, among other expressions, re- marked: Fellow citizens. l perceive that you are no dry weather friends He was escorted to warehouse at the ry~A (, ha present location of the Cotton Com press, where he entertained the vast audience in his characteristic eloquent 1 and felicitious style. He tarried two days. and departed for Columbus, Ga. | Madame Octavia Walton Levert. the | distinguished Southern authoress and | literateur. accompanied him." Of Madam Levert, Brewer, in his | Alabama" says:
 | "octavia Walton Levert has been for many years a resident of Mobile. She is a native of Georgia. and daugh- i ter of Governor Walton of Florida, who was Mayor of Mobile in 1S37-39. | In 1895 she came with her parents to Mobile. and the year after married the l late Dr. Henry s. LeVert. an eminent 1 physician and scholar. who died here In 1864, In 1s53-4 she spent year in | Europe, and repeated the tour In 1S5b. | In 1859 she ventured into print with | "Souvenirs of TraveL" charming book, of two volumes, which gave hen popularity and fame. Up to that time | she was the only American who had | obtained access to the better circles of ! European society. who had given an account O. the impressions founded | thereon. To this was added. a fresh- ness and ease of style. glow of fancy and descriptive powers which lent the finish of genius and taste to her writ ings.
 Such a woman occurs but once in | the course of an empire" said Wash ington Irving of Mrs. Le Vert l Her home in the city of Mobile was the center of the literary circle of the State. She respects talent and moral | worth in any condition of life. and. with all the plaudits that her own en- dowments have called forth, she Is none the less a humane and sympa- | thetic woman. She has resided much of the time for several years past at the North." .'
 Octavia Walton Le Vert was born near Augusta, Ga, in 1s10, but when very young her parents removed to | Florida. Pensacola was the rendez- vous of the United States vessels of the Gulf station, and 1t was amidst the society of chivalric and highly edu- l cated officers that she acquired many of those social and linguistic accom- plishments that made her so famous l At 12 years of age, she could converse in three languages. j..
 Z Lafayette. on his visit South wrote to Octavia's grandmother to meet him in Mobile but on account of her old age and infirmities she was obliged to decline to do so However. she sent little Octavia to represent her. When the old. hero saw the child he burst into tears and caught her to his heart exclaiming, The living image of my brave and noble friend. He held hei | upon his knee, listening spelibound tc her fluent use of his native. tongue. He folded her again to his heart and blessed her fervently, and said when ] she left, the room: "A truly wonder 1 full child! I predict for her, bril- liant career"
 In 1853 she visited Europe upon the invitation of the Duke Of Rutland ane went again in 1855. On her second visit she wrote her Souvenirs oi Travel" at the suggestion of Lamar tine She translated Dumas's "Muske' teers" and "The Pope and the Con, gress." She planned to write "Souve' knirs of Distinguished People, but nev' CT completed the work.
 Clay, Calhoun and Webster were hei personal friends, and she frequently heard their speeches in the Senate dur ing Jackson's administration.
 Henry Clay said of her: She has a tongue that never spoke an evi word of any one."
 She died in 1877 and Is buried fir Georgia.
 Her portrait by Brady hangs on tht walls of the Department ot Archives and History in the Alabama Capito among the literary women, and is fine example of a lady of fashion 1T the ante e-bellum period.
 Her visit to this city is distinctly re- membered by Mrs. NJ. D. Bibb. She said last night when asked for hel recollections of the occasion that Mrs Levert was the guest during her stay of MT and Mrs. William Knox in theil Perry Street mansion. now known al the old BeauYoir Club. An agricui' tural fair was in progress during hel stay, and she was the center of tho social events of the occasion.
 Miss Eliza Frances Andrews on yes terday received a telegram announcing the death of her sister, Mrs. Butler oi Washington. Ga.
 MT. and Mrs. Whit Brame are wis ting In Memphis. Tenn.
 Miss Mary Joe Patterson of Tallas see Is the guest of Miss Louise Heat on Finley Avenue.
 Miss zuleika Parker is visiting Mrs Mccullough at Hope Hull.
 Mrs. S. c. Powers has gone on [ visit to relatives In Midway.
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