The Washington herald., 1913-03-07

Leitersburg. Washington County. Nd.
and that many men OF his blood Joined
the defenders of Dixie. For years he
| collected books and manuscripts and
bought letters, and had others copied,
until. at the time of his death. Mr..
Letter had one Of the most valuable and
complete collection of books and papers
bearing on the Southern cause, perhaps,
in existence. 1t had been his intention
to present his books to some noted seat
of learning. but he had never decided
to which, and he had never edited his
loose papers or had his manuscripts
bound.
Opens Library I" Students.
Mrs. Letter. anxious to follow to the
very letter every wish of her husband,
had performed deed for which the fu-
ture historian cannot be sufficiently CRATE
full. With the aid of one of the experts
OF tn, Congressional Library. and after
consult. ton with the leading historical
authorities OF this and othe~ countries
she placed her volumes In proper Sc
quence in a handsomely furnished room
on the second floor of the mansion. and
every valuable paper has been bound and
catalogued. and will in time he open TO
students of research. Not only has she
preserved all that Mr.. Letter left. but she
constantly added TO her store. until now
nO one can write OF tho civil war with
out taking note of this collection.
This labor I'm her husbands library was
one of her keenest Joys ard led to many
pleasant episodes. Not many years ago
she had Mrs. StOn"waII jackson Is her
guest The widow Of Gen. George Francis
Robert Henderson. OF the British army,
who wrote the finest work eNtant on the
campaign Of Stonewall Jackson. expressed
me wish 10 tho wi NJ ha lie
tinguished man whom England hOnored
so highly. So Mrs. Leiter invited both
ladies' TO he her guests at the same time.
and the occasion. so far as Ms. jackson
was concerned. caused national comment
Mrs. Henderson remained in Washington
nearly month. and she also was feted
by Mrs. Letters intimates as well as by
officialdom.
FavOrftes Of CIeveIands.
The social history OF the Letters in
Washington contains many interesting
chapters. Mary Letter attracted the at
tention of the lovely young mistress OF
the White House. Mrs. Grover Cleye-
land and the two became close friends
Mrs. Cleveland delighted in having hand
some young girls at her levees and Miss
Letter soon became the recognized favor
ite in the White House set Mrs. CIeve-
lanu took great interest in her romance
and gave several entertainments in their
honor. She pinned on her bridal veil
when she became the bride Of Clirzon.
and went TO the depot to kiss her fare
We'll. The two kept up a brisk corre-
spondence until Lady Curzon's death. but
they never met after the farewell on
the bridal day.
Miss Nancy Letter. now Mrs Colin
Campbell. made her debut in Washing
ton, and still has scores Of friends here.
She was rather quiet and studiOus. and
not so fond Of society as her two sisters
Miss Nancy was always her fathers
faithful companion. He was in Il way
specially devoted to her. and the two
made many foreign trips together.
Miss Daisy Letter was as brilliant So
cially, as her sister. Lady Curzon. Her
debut was one OF the noted events OF the
Mckinley administration. Mrs Mckinley
spent the entire afternoon at the man.
sion. and the President dropped in for
a minute. as did Vice President and Mrs
Hobart, and the other important folks
in the official world. All of the dauGh-
ters were married in the New Hampshire