A Belle of the Fifties; Memoirs of Mrs. Clay, of Alabama, Covering Social and Political Life in Washington and the South, 1853-66; Put into narrative form by Ada Sterling

Published: New York, Doubleday, Page & Company, September, 1904

Mrs Clay was Virginia Clopton (1825-1915) who narried Clement Claiborne Clay Jr (1816-1882). Im addition to the autobiography, the book also has historical accounts of parts of Virginia, Alabama, North Carolina, the Civil war, refugees, prisoners and prisons, and Plantation life

CONTENTS [Pages xi - xxii]

CHAPTER I [1]. CHILDHOOD, GIRLHOOD, MARRIAGE.
A Bit of Family History - Plantation Scenes in North Carolina and Alabama - A Caravan of the Early Thirties - "De Year de Stars Fell" - I Partially "Scalp" My Cousin - The Strange Experience of an Early Alabama Instructress - Miss Brooks, a Distinguished Educator - My Uncle Takes My Training in Hand - A First Flight into the Beautiful World - Charles Kean and Ellen Tree - I Meet a Famous Belle - Mme. Le Vert Instructs Me in the Dance - An Intense Love Affair - My Knight Fails Me - A Gallant Lover Appears - Social Doings at a Primitive Capital - Poet swains in the Early Forties - A Dance with Willam L. Yancey - My Premonitions Are Realised and "My Own Comes to Me" - Marriage in the Morn of Life - The Homecoming of the Bride . . . 3

CHAPTER II [2]. WASHINGTON PERSONAGES IN THE FIFTIES.
Journey to the Capital - An Early "Congressional Limited" - A Stump Orator of Alabama, the "Maker of Senators" - Arrival at the Capital - The Night Clerk Refuses Us Accommodations at the National Hotel - Undercurrents of Strife in Society - Mrs. Pierce - Pennsylvania Avenue in the Fifties - Survey of Washington's Hostesses - Mme. de Bodisco and the Glacées - Her Second Marriage at Old St. John's - Foreign Legations - Reminiscence of Octavia Walton in Washington - Mrs. Riggs Gives a Midnight Supper to Patti - Heller Appears; Likewise the Grand Elephant Hannibal . . . 19

CHAPTER III [3]. A HISTORIC CONGRESSIONAL "MESS."
Our Mess at Historic Brown's Hotel and at the Ebbitt House - Mrs. Pugh and the Baron Hulseman - The Boy Henry Watterson - Congressmen Clopton, Curry, Dowdell, L. Q. C. Lamar, and Shorter, Senator Fitzpatrick, and Their Wives - Mr. Dowdell Goes to Hear Gottschalk - Circumstances of the Sudden Death of Preston Brooks - The Stockton Mansion and Its Romances - Our "Mess" Considers the Prudence of Calling on a Certain Lady - Retribution Overtakes Us - Master Benny, the Hotel Terror . . . 42

CHAPTER IV [4]. THE CABINET CIRCLES OF PRESIDENTS PIERCE AND BUCHANAN.
Washington in 1856 - Secret Visit of President Pierce - Personal Recollections of Him - Secretaries Marcy, Cushing and Dobbin - Incidents of the Latter's Kindness of Heart - Secretary of War Jefferson Davis - Postmaster-General Brown - Secretary of State Guthrie - Story of the Conquest of Chevalier Bertinatti . . . 58

CHAPTER V [5]. SOLONS OF THE CAPITAL.
Society of Supreme Court Circles - Chief Justice Taney - Judge Campbell - Professors Henry and Maury - A Visit to the Latter's Observatory - Thomas Hart Benton - George Wallace Jones: His Romantic History as Surveyor- General of the Great Northwest. At the Age of Ninety-one He Recalls a Day When He Meant to Kill Seward - Meeting with Myra Clarke Gaines - Senator and Mrs. Crittenden, a "Perfectly Happy Woman" . . . 73

CHAPTER VI [6]. FASHIONS OF THE FIFTIES.
Aspect of Fashionable Society of the Pierce and Buchanan Administrations - Perditas of the Period - Low Necks and Lace Berthas - Kind Offices of American Consuls - Mr. Thomson and Miss Lane's Toy Terrier - He Reports Upon the Petticoats at Brighton - Washington Dressmakers as Miracle- Workers - Mrs. Rich, a True Reconstructionist - Belles and Beaux of the Period - Barton Key - His Murder -- Mrs. Sickles at Home - Revival of Moustaches - General Sam Houston; His Strange Attire - A Glimpse of This Hero in the Senate and in Society . . . 86

CHAPTER VII [7]. THE RELAXATIONS OF CONGRESSIONAL FOLK.
Public Recreation - Flights to New York - Jenny Lind - Charlotte Cushman - Mrs. Gilbert and the Comedian Brougham in "Pocahontas" - Mr. Thackeray - Dr. Maynard - Blind Tom at the White House - Marine Band Concerts on the White House Lawn - President Pierce and the Countryman - President Buchanan and the Indians - Apothleohola, a Cherokee Patriarch - Dr. Morrow and the Expedition to Japan - Return of Same - Ruse of the Oriental Potentate to Prevent Our Securing Germinating Rice - A Plague of Japanese Handkerchiefs . . . 101

CHAPTER VIII [8]. THE BRILLIANT BUCHANAN ADMINISTRATION.
Miss Lane Becomes Lady of the White House - Her Influence on Washington Life - The Coming of Lord and Lady Napier - Their Hospitality - They Give a Ball to Lords Cavendish and Ashley - Mrs. Crittenden Puts to Rout a Younger Belle - Lord Napier Proposes a Toast to the Chevalier Bayard - Washington Citizens Give a Ball to the Napiers, at Which James Gordon Bennett Is Seen in the Dance - Some Prominent Citizen Hostesses - Lilly Price, the Future Duchess of Marlborough - Mr. W. W. Corcoran - His Lavish Entertainments - Howell Cobb's Appreciation - A Stranger's Lack of It - I Take the Daughter of a Constituent to See the Capitol . . . 114

CHAPTER IX [9]. A CELEBRATED SOCIAL EVENT.
Mrs. Gwin's Fancy Ball - To the White House for Inspection - Aunt Ruthy Partington Presents Herself to Mrs. Gwin - Mrs. Pendleton is Mystified - Senator Gwin and "My Boy Ike" - Lord and Lady Napier and Others of "Our Furrin Relations" - The Squelching of a Brave Baltimorean - Senator Seward Gives Welcome to the Stranger from Beanville - Mr. Shillaber Offers "to Immortalise" Me . . . 126

CHAPTER X [10]. EXODUS OF SOUTHERN SOCIETY FROM THE FEDERAL CITY.
Gayety Begins to Wane in the Capital - A Wedding in Old St. John's - Lord Lyons Replaces the Napiers - Anson Burlingame Rescues Me from a Dilemma - Political Climax - Scenes in the Senate - Admiral Semmes Declares His Intentions - Mr. Ruffin's Menacing Arsenal - Ex-President Tyler's Grief - We Hear News from Morris Island - Senators Clay, Davis, Fitzpatrick, Mallory, and Yulee Withdraw from the Senate - Visits of Representatives Pendleton and Vallandigham, and Senator Pugh, of Ohio - Joseph Holt Writes Deploring the Possible Loss to Our Country of Senator Clay's "Genius and Patriotism" - "A Plain New Hampshire Minister" Writes of the - Times - We Leave the Federal City - Mrs. Philip Phillips Describes It a Few Weeks Later - Blair's Alarm at Loss of Lee, Magruder, and Other "Good Officers" . . . 138

CHAPTER XI [11]. WAR IS PROCLAIMED.
I Go with Senator Clay to Minnesota - "Let's Mob the Fire-eater" - We See Our First Federal Soldiers at Cairo - Echoes of Sumter - Once More in the Blossomy South - In Picturesque Huntsville - We Hear from Montgomery of President Davis's Unceasing Industry - A Survey of Huntsville - The "Plebs" and Aristocrats Compete for the Naming of the Town, and the Descendants of a Poet Give Way before Its Discoverer - A Nursing Mother of Alabama's Great Men - The Fascinations of the Fair Vixens of the Early Nineteenth Century - A Baptism at the Big Spring - The Make-up of Our Army in '61 - We Hear from a Hero at Harper's Ferry - Letters from Washington - We Prepare to Go to Richmond . . . 153

CHAPTER XII [12]. RICHMOND AS A NATIONAL CAPITAL.
We Arrive in Richmond, Where We Meet Many Old Friends - An Evening at the Mallorys' - We Establish Our Mess at Mrs. Du Val's - Some of Our Heroes - We Feast on Oysters and Terrapin - Greenbacks Canvas-backs, and Drawbacks - We Hear of the Fall of Nashville, and General Buell's Designs Upon Huntsville - Some of Richmond's Hostesses - Mrs. Stannard entertains; and the Famous Private Theatrical Performance of "The Rivals" - Mrs. Burton Harrison Recalls Her Triumph as Lydia Languish - The Caste - Mrs. Drew Acts as "Coach" - Mrs. Ives, Our Hostess, Is Saved from Stage Fright by a Bonnet Which Has Run the Blockade . . . 168

CHAPTER XIII [13]. GLIMPSES OF OUR BELEAGUERED SOUTH LAND.
Richmond in '62 - John A. Campbell Gives an Opinion on Confederate Money - An Exodus from the Capital - Mrs. Roger A. Pryor Rebukes a Contemptuous Lady - Our Mail a Pandora's Box - News of New Orleans - William L. Yancey Returns from a Fruitless Trip to England - And Mr. Lamar from Russia - An Astronomer Turns Martinet - A Careful Search Is Made for General Pope Walker - Our Pastor's Prayers Curtailed - The Federals Are Worried by General Roddy - Miss Mitchell "Confiscates" Some of My Property - "Hey! Git off 'Ginie Clay's Mare!" - General Logan, a Case of Mistaken Identity - My Refugee Days Begin - A Glimpse of North Carolinian Hospitality - And of the Battle of Seven Pines - The Seed-corn of Our Race Is Taken - Return to Huntsville . . . 178

CHAPTER XIV [14]. REFUGEE DAYS IN GEORGIA.
Detained in Macon - General Tracy Tells of Conditions at Vicksburg - Senator Clay Writes of Grave Conditions in Richmond - A War-time Dinner with President Davis - My Sister and I Turn Seamstresses - Looking for Big Battles - Travel in '63 - Cliff and Sid Lanier Write from "Tented Field" - News from "Homosassa" . . . 193

CHAPTER XV [15]. CLEMENT C. CLAY, JR., DEPARTS FOR CANADA.
A Memory of Dahlgren's Raid - Mr. Clay Accepts a Mission to Canada - Mr. Lamar's Ideas on National Friendships - My Husband Takes His Departure - Troubled Petersburg and Still More Troubled Richmond - Hospital Experiences - My Sister Accuses Me of "Running from Yankees," and Overtakes Me - We Nurse a Sick Soldier - I Get a Passport, but Fail to Use It - A Distinguished Watermelon Man . . . 203

CHAPTER XVI [16]. THE SOUTH'S DEPARTED GLORIES.
A Typical Plantation - Senator Hammond's Little Republic on Beech Island - Its General Influence - The Mill and the Miller - My Cousin, Mrs. Paul Hammond, Writes a Description of "Redcliffe" - The Hammond Negro as I Have Found Him - She Wins Them by Subterfuge - Senator Clay Dances a Highland Fling and Startles Some Gentle Methodists - St. Catharine's; a Solemn Service There - A Sight for Abolitionists - Choristers of the Field - A Comparison . . . 211

CHAPTER XVII [17]. CONDITIONS IN '63 AND '64.
Cost of Clothing - Scarcity of Necessities - Memphis in Yankee Hands - Revival of Spinning and Weaving - A Salt Famine - Senator Hammond's Sagacity - Potato Coffee and Peanut Chocolate - Mrs. Redd Weaves Me a Notable Dress - London Takes Note of Richmond Fashions - I Send a List of "Desirables" to Mr. Clay in Canada- Novelties for the Toilette and Writing- Table - Difficulties of Getting News - The President Writes Me of My Absent One, and Secretary Mallory Rejoices at His Conduct of Canadian Interest - Postal Deficiencies - Adventures of an Editor - Price of Candles Rises - Telegrams Become Costly and My Sister Protests - "Redcliffe" Mourns Her Master - Gloom and Apprehension at News of Sherman's March - We Are Visited by Two of Wheeler's Brigade - They Give Us Warning and the Family Silver Is Solemnly Sunk in the Ground - I Hear a Story of Sherman and Wheeler . . . 222

CHAPTER XVIII [18]. THE DEATH OF MR. LINCOLN.
Conflicting Advice Reaches Me from the Capital - Also Sad News from Huntsville - Our Brother Tells of Political Opposition to the President - Soldiers and Citizens Desire the Presence of General Johnston in the Tennessee - Mr. Clay Communicates with Me by "Personals" - I Beg to Be Sent to Canada, but am Met by Opposition - The President Bids Me Take Refuge in the Capital - But Another Urges Me to Leave the Line of Sherman's Army - I Place Myself Under General Howell Cobb's Protection and Go to Macon - My Husband Runs the Blockade, but Is Shipwrecked Off Fort Moultrie - After Some Adventures He Reaches Macon - At the Home of General Toombs - We Hear News from Richmond - Mr. Clay Makes for the Capital and Reaches It - He Returns to Georgia - The Death of Mr Lincoln: "The Worst Blow Yet Struck at the South!" . . . 235

CHAPTER XIX [19]. C. C. CLAY, JR., SURRENDERS TO GENERAL WILSON.
We Go to Lagrange - A Nest of "Rebels" - We Hear of President Johnson's Proclamation Concerning Mr. Clay - My Husband Resolves to Surrender - He Telegraphs to General Wilson - We Proceed to Atlanta - Courtesy of Colonel Eggleston - He Gives Us a Guard - On to Macon - "Madam, Your Chief Is Taken" - Arrival at Macon - General Wilson Relieves Us of Our Guard - The Generosity of Women Friends - We Drive to Station - And See a Pathetic Cortege - "Say, Johnny Reb, We've Got Your President!" . . . 246

CHAPTER XX [20]. PRISONERS OF THE UNITED STATES.
We Have an All-Night Ride to Augusta - Our Party of Prisoners Augments - I am Made Responsible for My Husband's Appearance and We Go Visiting - We Return to Captivity - I Board the Boat Somewhat Hastily - And Unexpectedly Find Myself in the Arms of General Wheeler - He Gives Me a Lesson in Forbearance - A Dismal Voyage - We Reach Savannah and Are Transferred to the Clyde - Extracts from My Diary - Mr. Davis's Stoicism - We Anchor Off Fortress Monroe - Mr. Clay Is Invited "to Take a Ride in a Tug" - Pathetic Separation of the Davis Family - Little Jeff Becomes Our Champion - We See a Gay Shallop Approaching - Two Ladies Appear and Search Us in the Name of the United States Government - A Serio-comic Encounter - And Still Another in Which "Mrs. Clay Lost Her Temper and Counselled Resistance!" - We Undertake to Deceive Lieutenant Hudson, but "Laugh on the Other Side" of Our Faces! . . . 258

CHAPTER XXI [21]. RETURN FROM FORTRESS MONROE.
On Board the Clyde - I Find a Guard at My Door - An Unknown Hands Me the Daily Papers - The News - I Write to Thirteen Distinguished Men - To Joseph Holt - A Friendly Soldier Posts My Letters - We Arrive in Savannah and Make Our Way to the Pulaski House - Savannah's Generous People - Soldiers, Black and White - The Chaining of Mr. Davis - I Write to General Miles - Little Jeff Makes a Friend - "Bully for Jeff" - "Mordecai and Haman" . . . 269

CHAPTER XXII [22]. RECONSTRUCTION DAYS BEGIN.
I Arrive in Macon After Various Discomforts - My Baggage Is "Examined" by General Baker - A Curious Oversight of the Government's Agents - I Am Rescued from a Dilemma by John A. Wyeth, Knight-Errant - I Recover My Letters from the War Department, but with Difficulty - A Stricken Patriarch and a Spartan Mother - Huntsville Metamorphosed - "Reconstruction" Signs Appear - A Slave Emulates His New Masters - He, too, in Time, Is Metamorphosed - The Freedman's Bureau versus "Ole Missus's" - Southern Ladies and Camomile Flowers . . . 278

CHAPTER XXIII [23]. NEWS FROM FORTRESS MONROE.
We Hear Discouraging News of the Nation's Prisoners - Denunciation of Joseph Holt and His Witnesses by the Reverend Stuart Robinson - He Exposes the "Infamous Perjuries of the Bureau of Military Justice" - Their Confession and Flight from the Country - Charles O'Conor Writes Me; Also Ben Wood, Who Offers to Advance the Cost of Mr. Clay's Defense; Also Judge Black Writes Cheeringly - I Hear Through R. J. Haldeman of the Friendliness of Thaddeus Stevens; and from General Miles; Also, in Time, from Mr. Clay - His Letter Prophesies Future Racial Conditions, and Advises Me How to Escape the Evils to Come - Freed from Espionage, He Describes the "Comforts" of Life in Fortress Monroe - One of the Tortures of the Inquisition Revived . . . 286

CHAPTER XXIV [24]. ONCE MORE IN THE FEDERAL CAPITAL.
Communications Are Reopened with Washington - Duff Green Makes Application to the President on My Behalf - I Hear from Mrs. Davis of Her Misfortunes - I Borrow $100 and Start for the Capital - Scenes on Cars and Boat - I Meet Many Sympathisers - And Arrive at Last at Cincinnati - Yankee Ideas and Yankee Notions - Mrs. Pugh Visits Me - Also Senator and Mrs. Pendleton, Who Take Me Home - Once More en Route for Washington - Within Its Precincts . . . 300

CHAPTER XXV [25]. SECRETARY STANTON DENIES RESPONSIBILITY.
Arrival at Willard's - Expecting Enemies, I Find Many Old Friends - General Ihrie, of Grant's Staff, Calls On Me - Also a Nameless Lady - Judge Hughes and Judge Black Counsel Me - I Visit the White House to Plead with Mr. Johnson - Mrs. Douglas Is My Companion - Mr. Johnson "Lives up to His Reputation" and Tells Me to See Mr. Stanton - Which I Do - The Secretary's Manner - "I am Not Your Husband's Judge, Neither am I His Accuser" - I Call Upon General Grant, Who Writes to President Johnson on Behalf of Mr. Clay . . . 307

CHAPTER XXVI [26]. MR. HOLT REPORTS UPON THE CASE OF C. C. CLAY, JR.
I Send General Grant's Letter to Mr. Johnson - And Beg to Be Allowed to Visit Fortress Monroe - I Begin to Feel the Strength of a Concealed Enemy - I Refuse to Go to Mr. Stanton, and Have a First Pass-at-Arms with the President - Mr. Holt Presents His "Report on the Case of C. C. Clay, Jr." - His Several Opinions of Mr. Clay in Parallel - Denied an Examination of the Infamous Document by the War Department, the President's "Official Copy" Is Placed at My Disposal - Some of Its Remarkable Features - The President Promises Me He Will Not Deliver My Husband and Mr. Davis up to the Military Court, and Agrees to Issue on His Own Responsibility a Permit to Visit Fortress Monroe - I Go to New York and Hobnob with "An Old Abolitionist" . . . 317

CHAPTER XXVII [27]. PRESIDENT JOHNSON INTERPOSES.
President Johnson Issues a Permit on His Own Responsibility - I Leave Washington for Fortress Monroe - And Meet with Kindness on the Way - Dr. Craven Admonishes Me to Look for No Favours from His Successor - I Meet General Miles in His Headquarters, Which Have Been Furnished by General Butler - I Experience a Weary Delay - Am Refused Explanation or Use of Telegraph Wires - Dr. Vogell Intercedes - At Nightfall I Am Taken to My Husband's Cell - I Return to the Capital - Death of Mrs. C. C. Clay, Sr. - I Report to the President the Incidents of My Visit to the Fortress - He Assures Me They Shall Not Be Repeated - He Issues Another Permit and Promises to Read a Letter in His Cabinet . . . 331

CHAPTER XXVIII [28]. THE PRISON.
Again at the Fortress - My Husband's Cell and Room in Carroll Hall - Some of the Comforts of Fortress Monroe and of Mr. Clay's Position - I am Told of Some of His Experiences - A Statement of Others - Mr. Davis at the Fortress - An Exchange of Notes - My Husband Turns Caretaker - With a Soft Answer He Turns Away a Soldier's Wrath - I Have a Curious Adventure in Which I Meet a Lamb in Wolf's Clothing . . . 345

CHAPTER XXIX [29]. PRESIDENT JOHNSON HEARS WHAT "THE PEOPLE SAY."
President Johnson Is Kind but Vacillating - Straws That Show a Veering of the Wind - Colonel Rhett Talks with Mr. Bennett, and the Herald Grows Curious as to the Mysteriously Detained Prisoners - Thaddeus Stevens Writes to Mr. Johnson on Behalf of Mr. Clay - I Have a Nicodemus-like Visitor - Mr. Wilson, Vice-President of the United States, Writes to the President on Mr. Clay's Behalf - Signs of Political Disquiet - Parties and Partisans - I Receive Some Political Advice and Determine to Act Upon It - I Have a rencontre in the Corridors of the White House - And Tell Mr. Johnson What "the People Say" . . . 354

CHAPTER XXX [30]. THE GOVERNMENT YIELDS ITS PRISONER.
Old Friends and New - Mme. Le Vert and Other Famous Personages Return to the Capital - General Lee is Lionised - I Secure the Liberty of the Fort for My Husband, and Indulge in a Little Recreation - I Visit the Studio of Vinnie Reames and the Confederate Fair at Baltimore - I Return to Washington and Resume My Pleadings with the President - Mr. Mallory, Admiral Semmes, and Alexander Stephens Are Released - Mr. Mallorv and Judge Black Counsel Me to Take Out the Writ of Habeas Corpus - The Release Papers Are Promised - I Visit the Executive Mansion to Claim Them and at Last Receive Them - "You Are Released!" - Congratulations Are Offered - The Context of Some of These - "God Has Decreed That No Lie Shall Live Forever" - We Turn Our Faces Once More to the Purple Mountains of Alabama . . . 367

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS [not in WebRoots online version]
Mrs. Clay, of Alabama . . . Frontispiece
Mrs. Benjamin Fitzpatrick, of Alabama . . . 26
Adelina Patti, aged sixteen . . . 38
Mrs. Roger A. Pryor, of Virginia . . . 44
Mrs. George E. Pugh (Thérèse Chalfant), of Ohio. "The most beautiful woman in Washington" . . . 46
Franklin Pierce, President of the United States,1853-'57. . . 60
Mrs. William L. Marcy, of New York . . . 62
Mrs. J. J. Crittenden, of Kentucky . . . 84
Mrs. Chestnut, of South Carolina . . . 94
Jenny Lind . . . 102
James Buchanan, President of the United States, 1857-'61 . . . 108
Miss Harriet Lane, mistress of the White House, 1857-'61 . . . 114
Lady Napier and Her Sons . . . 116
Mrs. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi . . . 134
Lord Lyons, British Ambassador to the United States . . . 140
Clement C. Clay, Jr., United States Senator, 1853-'61 . . . 148
L. Q. C. Lamar, 1862 . . . 164
Mrs. Philip Phillips, of Washington, D. C. . . . 166
Senator James H. Hammond, of South Carolina . . . 212
General Joseph Wheeler, of Alabama . . . 232
Dr. Henry C. Vogell, Fortress Monroe, 1866 . . . 334
Dr. George Cooper, Fortress Monroe, 1866 . . . 350
Mrs. A. S. Parker, of Washington, D. C. . . . 368
Jefferson Davis and Clement C. Clay, Jr. (after release from Fortress Monroe). . . 374

Page vii

PREFACE

THE memoirs of "Mrs. Clay, of Alabama," by which title Mrs. Clement C. Clay, Jr. (now Mrs. Clay-Clopton), was known during the period comprised by 1850-87, begin in the middle of the second decade of the nineteenth century, the scenes being laid among the affluent plantations of North Carolina and Alabama, and, continuing through two brilliant administrations at the national capital, close, as she emerges from the distresses which overtook her and her husband after the never-to-be- forgotten tragedy that plunged a nation into mourning - the death of Mr. Lincoln.

In the researches made in order to obviate all possible inaccuracies in these memoirs (a precaution always necessary where one's life has been long and experiences so varied), I have come upon no record of any other woman of her time who has filled so powerful a place politically, whose belleship has been so long sustained, or whose magnetism and compelling fascinations have swayed others so universally as have those of Mrs. Clay- Clopton. In the unrestful days at the capital which preceded the Civil War her winning personality was such as to cause even those whom she esteemed the enemies of her section, in those days when "sections" were, to be covetous of her smiles. At no period of her long career have her unique courage, her beautiful optimism, her inspiring buoyancy been more accentuated than during the making of the present book. The recalling of incident after incident, step by step, of so great a procession of memories as are here set down is a task

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from which many persons of twoscore years might shrink. At the ripe age of almost eight decades Mrs. Clay-Clopton entered into the work with a heart as light as a girl's and a sustained energy and enthusiasm that have been as remarkable as they are unparalleled. While preparing these pages I enjoyed a daily intercourse with her extending over eight months, during which time I often found myself spellbound by the descriptive powers which nearly a half century ago compelled the admiration of leading men and women of that day.

"My wife was amazed at your eloquence," wrote Attorney-General Jeremiah Black in 1866, and in succeeding letters urged Mrs. Clay to put her experiences with Messrs. Johnson, Holt and Stanton into book form. To these and urgings as powerful from many quarters, reiterated during the past forty years, until the presentworkwas undertaken, Mrs. Clay-Clopton has remained indifferent. Her recollections of a long life are now gathered in response to a wide and insistently expressed desire to see them preserved in a concrete form ere the crowding years shall have made impossible the valuable testimony she is able to bear to ante-bellum and bellum conditions in her dearly loved South land. To that end many friends of Mrs. Clay-Clopton have lent an eager aid, and it is an acknowledgment due to them that their names be linked here with the work they have so lovingly fostered.

The inception of the work as now presented is primarily due to Mrs. Milton Humes, of Abingdon Place, Huntsville, Alabama, a daughter of the late Governor Chapman, of that State, and the friend from her childhood of Mrs. Clay-Clopton. For many years Mrs. Humes has ardently urged upon our heroine the necessity for preserving her rich memories as a legacy, not alone to the South, but to all lovers of the romantic and eventful in our national

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history, to whatsoever quarter of the country they may claim a particular allegiance. Through Mrs. Humes Mrs. Clay-Clopton and I met; through her unintermitting energy obstacles that at first threatened to postpone the beginning of the work were removed, and from these initial steps she has brought a very Minerva-like wisdom and kindness to aid the work to its completion. At the instance of Mrs. Humes General Joseph Wheeler lent me a valuable sympathy; through the courtesy of General Wheeler General James H. Wilson, to whom Clement C. Clay, Jr., surrendered in 1865, kindly gave his consideration to the chapters of the memoirs in which he personally is mentioned, correcting one or two minor inaccuracies, such as misapplied military titles. Through the continued forethought of Mrs. Humes and General Wheeler Colonel Henry Watterson's attention was directed to the work, and he, too, generously scanned the manuscript then ready, at a considerable expense of time, guiding my pen, all untutored in political phrases, from some misleading slips. I owe a large debt of gratitude to Colonel Robert Barnwell Rhett, who, though an invalid while I was a guest of Mr. and Mrs. Humes in Huntsville, gave his unsparing counsels to me, enlightening me as to personages and events appertaining to the formation of the Confederate Government, which would have been unobtainable from any books at present known to me. For the acquaintance with Colonel Rhett I am, on behalf of the memoirs and for my personal pleasure, again the debtor of Mrs. Humes.

The aid of Mrs. Paul Hammond, formerly of Beech Island, South Carolina, but now residing in Jacksonville, Florida, has been peculiarly valuable. Possessed of a fine literary taste, a keen observer, and retaining a vivid recollection of the personages she encountered when a debutante under Mrs. Clay's chaperonage in 1857-'58 in

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Washington, the six or seven weeks over which our intercourse extended were a continual striking of rare lodes of incident, which lay almost forgotten in the memory of her kinswoman, Mrs. Clay-Clopton, but which have contributed greatly to the interest of certain chapters dealing with Washington life in antebellum days.

Thanks are due to Mrs. Bettie Adams for her unsparing effortsto facilitate the getting together of the necessary manuscripts to support, and, in some instances, to authenticate and amplify the remembrances carried by our heroine of the crucial times of the great internecine war; to Miss Jennie Clay, who in her editorial pursuits discovered special dates and records and placed them at my disposal in order that the repetition of certain commonly accepted errors might be avoided; and to Mrs. Frederick Myers of Savannah, daughter of Mrs. Philip Phillips, who sent for my perusal (thereby giving me valuable sidelights on the times of '61-62), her mother's letters from Ship Island, together with the latter's journal, kept during her imprisonment by General Benjamin F. Butler.

The letters of Judge John A. Campbell, contributed by his daughter, Mrs. Henrietta Lay, have been so well prized that they have become part of the structure of her friend's memoirs; to Mrs. Lay, therefore, also to Mrs. Myra Knox Semmes, of New Orleans, Mrs. Cora Semmes Ives, of Alexandria, Virginia; Mrs. Corinne Goodman, of Memphis,Tennessee; Mrs. Mary Glenn Brickell, of Huntsville, Alabama; Mrs. George Collins Levey, of England, and Judge John V. Wright, of Washington, D.C., thanks are hereby given for incidents recalled and for suggestive letters received since the work on the memoirs began.

ADA STERLING.

NEW YORK CITY, September 15, 1904

Pages xi - xxii

CONTENTS and LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS [moved to the front of the book]