Evening star., 1920-01-25
The Greatest of W. W. Corcoran Beneacons, Named After His
Wife-a Visit to the Home-the First Matron and the
First Gues-Ineor Decorations

OeicI.
The first matron of the Louise
Home was Miss Lucy Hunter. sis
ter of DR.. John Hunter of the Hunt
ers of Contemplation. an old estate
In Fairfax county. Va, which was the
subject of "ramble"last summer A
portrait of Miss Hunter hangs in the
parlor of the home. The second matron
was Mrs. Irene Hunter Stansbury.
daughter of william Hunter Of the
State Department library.
The third matron was Miss Mary H.
Dodge, daughter of Hamilton Dodge
of Georgetown. The present matron
is Miss Mary J. Williams, a sweet
faced Virginia girl who came to Wash
ington from Culpeper. The Rambler
has list of those ladies who entered
the home in 1871. The honor of being
the first guest is matter Of con-
troversy, and the Rambler is too
shrewd an old man to become involved
In controversy between ladies.
This Is how it is: The Rambler's
good and valuable friend Miss Rosa
Mordecai says that Mrs. Anna Atkin-
son was the first guest. The Ram
bler's good and valuable friend Miss
Mary !. Williams. with the register
Of the home on her lap, said that
Mrs. Helen Craig was the premier
guest. Miss Williams. in fetching
black dress edged with white at the
throat and wrists, sat at an old ma
hogany table that long stood in the
parlor of the Corcoran mansion. Miss
Rosa Mordecai, in a becoming gown
of purple stuff with a collar of black
velvet. and glittering stones around
her neck, sat in a fine old chair that
had served also in the parlor Of the
Corcoran mansion. The dialogue.
carried on in the gentlest voices,
went something like this:
mo. Mary" said Miss Mordecai.
her brown eyes sparkling with ami
nation, "the first to come in was Anna
Atkinson. She had her trunk out on
the steps and was waiting for the
doors to open. She told me so her
self"
Now, Miss Rosa, the book says
Mrs. Helen Craig was the first to
come in"
"Oh, bother the book! They didn't
begin to keep the book till after the
home had opened, and they got the
names down wrong"
But. Miss Rosa" said Miss Mary.
laying her hand lovingly on that of
Mise Mordecai, at is written in the
book that Mrs. Craig was the f1rst."
Then Miss Rosa's eyes sparkled
brighter. and she insisted that the
honor belonged to Mrs. Anna Atkin-
son. So the Rambler believes that
the two first ladies (not the first two)
to enter the home were Mrs. Craig
and Mrs. Atkinson. And after them,
in 1871, came Miss Anne Young of
the District of Columbia, Mrs. Fanny
p. ,Sperry, Mrs. Jane Hunter of Vir-
einia. Mrs. Phoebe Weightman of the
District, Miss Eliza M. Woodward Of
Virginia, Miss Maria e. Woodward of
Virginia, Miss Elizabeth Reintzel of
Virginia, Mrs. Ann Graen of Louisi-
ana, Mrs. Margaret Eskridge of vir-
ginia, Mrs. Esther T. Gray Of Mary
land, Miss Emily Smith of Maryland,
Miss Henrietta Tighlman of Mary
land, Mrs. Fenton Brown of Virginia,
Mrs Harrie Barbour of Virginia, Miss
Rebecca Holiday of Maryland. Mrs.
Mildred Webb of Virginia, Mrs. Lou
Use Cunningham of South Carolina,
Mrs. Lucy b. Saunders of Virginia,
Mrs. V. Brewster of Mississippi, Miss
Nancy Thomas, Mrs Henrietta Sudler
of Maryland, Mrs Eliza Reynolds Of
Virginia and Mrs. Susan wilkins Of
Maryland.
Mrs. Atkinson, who came to the
home. at or directly after it's opening
in 1871 lived there until she passed
away in 1907. The lady who has lived
longest at the Louise Home Is Miss
Rebecca Bronough. She has been a
resident of this beautiful retreat
since 1873. There is little story
here. 1t Is told that w. w. Corcoran.
when young man, boarded at the
home of Miss Bronough's mother. in
Georgetown. That was some time be-
tween 1917 and 1928, In the former
year he opened a small dry goods
store on the northwest corner of High
and 1st streets, Georgetown, and in