The Columbus courier. [volume] (Columbus, Luna County, N.M.) 1911-1920, 1916-06-02
COURIER INTERVIEWS JEAN CABELl
NELL. THE ONLY WOMAN COR
RESPONDENT IN THE AMER
ICAN WAR ZONE

i AIN 10 much more accustomed to inter
viewing. Than being the victim Of an inter
Viewer" aid Mrs. lean Cahcll O'Ncill. when
Aid 70 tell some Of her newspaper cvperis
tu... that I hardly know how 10 answr.
lut remcmbcring how many perfectly good
p,ru.r have tormentcd In my time. ! suppose
u Is rctributiyc justice that l am caught my
sei at last. All OF which Is something OF
u luff. for secretly / am much clatcd that
by new nfc1ds at Columbus care enough for
me. Tor YOU 10 ask details Of more or less pic
turu,uuc newspaper career"
have been a newspaper woman most Of
my life, except for twelve happy years When
d., nus band lived. and he. Francis J. o'Neill,
WIS 30 brilliant a member Of the profession
tuat 1 Was more than content 10 be an on
lu.ker az the game; ! was n learner nj the
time however. in a fine the school Of
learning my own country, for we travelled
mot OF the zine, aud at one period were
IN san France co. where SIR. O'Neill had charge
oil me new. ut the japanese Russian War
Tor the Assos atcd Pres. for which association
he sas fore.gn rditor In various ofie"s io'
naH, year.
My husband d,d m The London office 10
tho AZ zoe a-.d irvss. 1907. and with my
mother. i,tuutd 80 Wa. niugton, ID. g.,
ms .ativv city. u.d .u,hcd tue atulf ui tne
va. hlupton herald ~ "Washingtonia' cdi-
&C.,. mad AZ unusual equipment for ,his
worn By nee dent uf birth, Tor my grandfather,
Niclu.wi Bi,d.c van Znndt. went To Washing
Ton irum Etw York with President Adams.
1860. and was sixty five years In the gov
e.. meat. there marrying a cousin Of Mu.
Dc 4 Madison. and being in touch with
Warrington uiiaim all that time. My other
gauGd.a thcr. edward A. Cabcll. Of Virginia,
went to Washington by invitation Of President
Jonu Tyler. 1874. his roommate at old VIII
liam aud Mary College, Rnd thus both OF my
rateats know Washington socially and poll
u,u..y ~ we'll Us historically for seventy
years. 10 much Of his knowledge came to me,
My frrt ncwfrnpcr work came from this very
iacl. for when / was seventeen ycara old l
Wru,c Tor the Washington Post a series Of
articles on Warrington OF the last ana tuid
oil Le aging out Of the city by L'Eniant.
tny ur...iaut French soldier and engineer whose
sad life ended in retirement. and whose body
M 900 an unmarked grave. although 1t was
20 uim that the United States is indcbt-
cd .or he most uniquely beautiful city in the
vus.d for "a fedora. capital.
INtVe years later / reached Washington
o. time to be m honor-Eucst at the funeral In
the ro,uuda OF the capital. when L'Enfant't
body .ay In sutc and all the dignitaries Of tho
gu.,. nncnt gathered 10 do him tardy honor
aad give him burial at Arlington. II u
aid my story IN the Post WIS the cause Of tho
movement ,at gave the Frenchman who iouhEt
aad worked for America an honorable grave
a.,.r lying In neglect for nearly a century.
/ sccm to have particular luck in grave mat
ter, Tor oUc nisnt. when / could not, foI
ur nIc OF me, think OF a story fos Sunday
Aauc, my mother. who was always my in
spira,iou In my work. suggested as the com
AK sunday was 20 b. Mothers Day. l had
bet ,urn out a story Of the mother VI Pat
nok henry. the Virginia orator, whom many
b. 1--we was the Silver tongue Of the ltevolu'
toe. and without whose uttcrancos we might
atir be raging taxes without representation
10 an English King.
sarah Henry was probably the most thor
oughly representative woman ~ the Hevolu'
l!onary period. not accepting Uo,iy Maison
whose cousin she was. She was the wife. II
turn, Of two Officers. and sister of the fam
w. Isaac Winston, whose cioqueace prcvcnte'
the d~escrtion Of the discouraged American
truJps during the Indian wau-Winston, II 4
sH.d. Jumped on a fallen tree In the wood
and lectured bis men 20 On me in'pIrty o
de1erting in the face OF their %eountry's neecs
sity. that they. in one voice. cried, Lead on
We viii follow you To death or through III
fires Of H " necessary"
Mu. Henry must have had much Of III
fnme force. for her three sons. including IN
famous Patrick. held commissions in tn
army OF the Revolution, and her four daugh
= tcra married men who became Officers In III
slIuo army. One Hon-in-lnw was the her
OF Trenton and Princeton and friend Of Gen
eiai Washington. Col. Meredith Cd Virginia
r and a second was Campbell. the hvro q
Kings Mountain in North CaIb,lna. one
Col. VALENTINE Wood Of Virginia. and one. th
equally famous Col. Christian. From N
latter the famous breckenridge Of Kentuek
4 spring. Col. Meredith was the second treaa
urer Of the United States. and his home !
Virginia near Lynchburg was also the HON
Of his mother-in-lAw, Sarah Henry. VIII
passed the last eleven ycan of her life, viii
her Oldest daughter, his wife, Jane.
To this house. which Is still finely pa,
served. Patrick Henry retired when his mos
additions speech was first uttered, but b
would not stay hid, and was back in Riel
mond In short order, stirring up things 70
cold George d England" Well. there 10
pretty ytury Of the love Co. Meredith bore e
his m~other-hn-law. for he, with hA owl
hands. built a brick arch over her grave. an
begged when he died that his body might III
~ her feet, 90 show bis venerntton Tor "a
most brilliant Christian he had ever know
Hh love preserved he grave Of Mn, Hem
from oblivion. for Col. Meredith was buric
he wished, and a substantial stone marie
his grave, but the family believed that n
stnue Of Virginia should mark the grave {
the mother Of the orator. 80 nothing wa
done toward a monument. Time passed an
the war destroyed the Wcaith OF the ihhihN'
In thr region, aud while We were abruad, Il wa
aid the d. A. Il. was looking for the gray
70 mark II, but the name Of the village nel
the old home had been changed, and trace
the location, Il was believed, was lost u,
my mother had tzsa bra In the old VIII
ton House. and the grave Of her ~grandmothe
Mr.. Henry, was her playgarden. SO l wrol
the hothers Day story and the check Va
quite a nice one. and mother and ] spent
4 -. Na.m H.. M.NaNuIm HmNLHH = AUH n