Evening star., 1950-05-07

Is Mrs. John A. yss
Logan, widow of
Mai. Logan.
lU.S.A., holder s...
of the Congress " ~
sional Medal who was killed In
1899 while on duty in the Philip
pines during the insurrection.
Gen. Logan was known as
BLACK Jack Logan" during MS
service in Congress. He was at
the siege of Vicksburg. took part
in Sherman's march on Atlanta.
and was commander-in-chief OF
| the Grand Army of the Republic.
Lady Maxwell Scott has the strik-
ing dark brown eyes and the black
hair that distinguished her grand
father. and she has vivid mem
ories of her childhood visits at
his hospitable home here. Calumet
Place. That landmark at the top
of Thirteenth street bill. a great
mansion of a bygone era, has just
been razed to make way Tor mod
ern construction.
Interviewed In her suite, Lady
Maxwell Scott said it was a great
ioy to be in the Capital again.
She is still an American citizen,
in spite of the fact that she is
mistress Of Sir Walters Abbots-
ford.
Vast Changes Are Noted.
Inevitably" she observed. "there
are many and vast changes from
the brougham-and days
of my grandmother's era, with its
more leisurely and gracious pace
and the seeming absence OF acute
international problems which are
now inescapably Americas portion
whether she will or not"
She mentioned the fact that her
late aunt. Mrs. Logan Tucker, had
been active in both national and
local activities OF the Daughters OF
the American Revolution. Then
we discussed the part her grand
mother had in the establishment
of Decoration Day or Memorial
Day. in 1868, as national day Of
commemoration in connection
with the~decoration of the graves
Of the Union dead in Arlington
National Cemetery.
The grandmother was on a
spring visit to Virginia in April Of
1868. She noticed bereaved South
ern families decorating the graves
of their soldier dead in a cemetery
near Petersburg and also those
nearby of fallen Union foemen.
Immediately upon her return to
Washington she spoke of the
touching significance Of their acts
to her husband. who was at the
time commander-in-chief Of the
GAR. Forthwith he issued an
official order to have the graves Of
the soldier dead in Arlington
decorated on May 80 following
appropriate memorial services.
This was 80 years ago. Today, q
custom started by Southern
women and motivated into ma
tional significance by the wife OF
a Union Army officer memorial
ICES the dead Of all our wars with
out regard to one-time sectional
issues. In some Of the Southern
States there is still an earlier
Decoration Day observance.
Made Debut in New York.
Lady Maxwell Scott was edu-
Gated at Briar Cliffe on the Hud-
son and made her debut in New
York City. In 1910 she married
Henri st. Paul de Sancey In st.
Patrick's Cathedral and during
his lifetime they spent 20 years in
France with frequent trips to the
United States. Their daughter,
Mademoiselle Eliana de Sancey, is
living In Switzerland.
Brought up on Sir Walter
SCOTS ballads and novels by a
Scottish governess in her mothers
household. she was familiar with
the background of Abbotsford
many years before she went there
as its chatelaine and the first
American to preside over its
charmed midst so aptly termed
romance in stone"
Lady Maxwell Scott accom-
panied her husband to Spain on
the mission which he undertook
at the instance Of George vi and
was there with him for two months
during the Spanish Civil War in
1887.
THE present Abbotsford and
its grounds are nearly half as large
again as they were in Sir Walter
SCOTS lifetime" she reminded me.
1T was his granddaughter Char
lotte Lockhart. whose father, John
Gibson Lockhart. wrote SCOTS
greatest biography and Is buried
beside him in Dryburgh Abbey,
who built the new wing and the
Catholic Chapel" she said.
During World War II Lady
Maxwell and her husband, who
headed the Scottish Red Cross and
is only just now retiring from its
active leadership, lived in much
less than one-half of Abbotsford
with his daughter JEAN"
A devoted reader Of Sir Walter
SCOTS Journals it Is her convic-
rion that they are among the fin
est he wrote and that no one really
knows the magnificence of his life