USA > Texas > Prominent women of Texas > Part 15
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MRS. THOMAS J. WILLIAMS, nee Miss Mary Tyler Curtis, daughter of the celebrated Doctor Curtis, and niece of Lord Curtis, of Scotland, was directly related to three presidents; Monroe, Harrison and Tyler. Her mother, Christian Tyler Williams, was the youngest daughter of Governor Tyler, of Virginia, and the sister of President Tyler. The family have two interesting souvenirs, a pen and a table used by President Tyler. The latter was made from Texas minerals and native woods, and presented to President Tyler by this State, after he had annexed Texas to the Union.
Mrs. Williams was originally from Richmond, Virginia, and came to Texas as the bride of Lieut. Thomas J. Wil- liams, a graduate of West Point, who resigned his position in the United States army to enlist with the Confederate cause. He was appointed by President Jefferson Davis Commis- sary General for the Confederate States of America. Afterward he was made Indian Commissioner of Mexico, going thence to the Indian reservation in the Indian Terri- tory. He went to Washington, and, through speeches and personal influence, was instrumental in obtaining the pas- sage of a bill in Congress that made an appropriation for the land on which is located Fort Sam Houston Post, and for the building of the garrison quarters at San Antonio. He was devoted to Texas and army life, and, during the various changes of post, Colonel and Mrs. Williams have always con- sidered San Antonio as home. There Mrs. Williams now resides, having been a widow for eight years. She is an ac- complished musician; has written considerably for the press; and is an ardent lover of books. Being specially well posted upon political subjects, she exhibits a vital and becoming
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interest in the issues of the day. Mrs. Williams' daughter, Mrs. Mary Settle, inherits her mother's literary tastes, is cor- respondent for army and navy journals, and a member of the Woman's Press Association of America.
The second daughter married Chief Justice John James. She has a third daughter, Miss Leta Williams, and a son, Mr. Tyler Curtis Williams, an attorney.
MRS. L. W. GOODRICH, the daughter of Judge N. W. Battle, is the granddaughter of Hon. E. G. Cabaniss, the eminent jurist of Georgia, who was elected to Congress soon after the surrender, but was, with other Southern Members, refused his seat in view of the new and arbitrary system of reconstruction which Congress had at that time determined upon. Judge Battle came to Waco in 1850, and it was here in 1869 that his daughter, Miss Alice, became the wife of Judge L. W. Goodrich, of Waco, who was elected in 1894 to his third term for the nineteenth Judicial District. Cultivated and refined, Mrs. Goodrich meets with grace and ease the claims of society. She never doubts her husband's success in his chosen avocation, and around his pathway her encour- agement is a beacon light that never grows dim. Existing in the sunshine of a happy home, she reflects upon others her own quiet peace. Many women with fame world-wide might look with envy upon this mother of modest mien, surrounded by her children, her hands tied by a thousand silken chords of love to the tasks of home. She lives her own life, sweet violet like, close to the hearts of those about her. Bravely meeting the round of duties, uniting into one inheritance a house-wife's legacies of a hundred trades, and illustrating by her ceaseless devotion to them
" How beautiful the law of love Can make the cares of daily life."
MRS. H. C. STONE .- In eighteen hundred and forty-one, Nacogdoches was the Athens of the young Republic ofTexas, and many prominent and scholarly men made their homes there. Judge Edward T. Branch was presiding judge of the
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district, and he and his wife, were making this their headquar- ters, and boarding in the home of General and Mrs. Thomas J. Rusk. Here their eldest child was born, a daughter, Cor- nelia Branch. After the battle of San Jacinto, General Hous- ton spent some time in General Rusk's home, kindly ministered to by Mrs. Rusk, during his period of lameness, caused by a wound received in the ankle, on that decisive field. One of his friends had presented him with a very large easy chair of home manufacture, in which he might have a change of position when desired, and this relic was still in Mrs. Rusk's possession, and was brought forth for the cradle of the young child. Doctor Irvin, who was a well-known physician of that day, and an ardent Houston man, would look on the infant, so cradled, and remark, that "she was bound to be a great woman, cradled as she was, in the ' Old Chief's' chair." When little more than a year old, her father went to Liberty County, and from there she was sent, at eight years of age, to Galveston, then only a small town, where she attended a school established by the Rev. Mccullough and his sisters. A school that flourished with wonderful success until the sum- mers of fifty-three and four, when the sisters, Mrs. Riddell and Miss Mccullough fell victims to the yellow fever, and the school was broken up. Before opening this school, Mr. Mccullough had been the first pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Galveston, and prior to this, a pioneer missionary of the Republic. During the childhood of Miss Branch, her father was afflicted with almost total blindness, for a period of four years, and during this time she read to him any- thing that his taste dictated, which was of a highly cul- tivated order, and to this source, more than to schools, was due the formation of her mental character. A Daughter of the Republic of Texas, her heart glows with a warm patriotism, and when she felt that the rights of the South were threatened she entered with an earnest zeal into the cause of the South, laboring jointly with her mother in the hospitals, and in pro- curing money and clothing for the soldiers in the field. At the early age of fifteen she was married to Mr. H. C. Stone, a man of sterling character. Her associations all through life
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have been much with men of note, and this, with extensive travel at home and abroad, has tended to give an attraction to her conversation. In her life of a little more than a half century, she has lived under four changes of government in Texas. She has only one child, a son, Harry Branch Stone.
MRS. EVA L. BARDEN has always exercised an influence widely acknowledged. A decided literary taste has led her to read extensively, and a capacity for prose composition has been a resource for her leisure moments without detracting from the more delicate shades of feminine character. During the early period of her life spent in Chicago, Mrs. Barden im- proved the educational advantages offered her by sharing the laborious studies of her brother, Mr. Barber Lewis, who in after years made a brilliant congressional record. She is a descendant of the Barber family of Virginia and of the Gardners of Gardner's Island, New York. Her grandfather Lewis served through the Revolution. The death of her husband, Judge T. C. Barden, left her a widow in 1877 with two sons, Erskine B. and Edmund T. Barden.
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CHAPTER XXXII.
WELL KNOWN IN SOCIAL LIFE.
MRS. WILLIAM M. RICE-MRS. J. A. BUCKLER-MESDAMES M'DONALD AND DOWNMAN.
MRS. WILLIAM M. RICE .- Distinguished alike for the dignity of her social functions, the elegance of her hos- pitality and the breadth of her benevolence, Mrs. Rice ranks easily with the foremost women of the South in all that concerns the most graceful offices of her sex. Her handsome presence, courtly manners and genial ad- dress unite in her the qualities essential to the success of the part she plays in the drama of life. Add to these
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her consummate knowledge of human nature, with her broad charity in interpreting it, and her gentle humor in con- ciliating it, and the result is a character whose influence is ir- resistible throughout the domain of polite society. Thus equipped by instinct and by culture, Mrs. Rice readily as- sumes the rôle of representing, on important occasions, the proverbial refinement and generosity of her native city. When the daughter of the late president of the Confederacy recently visited Houston, her reception and entertainment by Mrs. Rice were of a kind to illustrate both the manners and the resources of the winsome hostess.
Mrs. Rice was born in the city of Houston and, as Miss Elizabeth Baldwin, was as popular a member of its society as she is in her maturer years. Her father was Mayor Bald- win, chief magistrate of the young town in the days of the Republic. She is related to the Astor family, of New York, through whom in her frequent visits, she has enjoyed un- rivaled advantages in seeing society as it is organized in the most splendid and aristocratic city of America. She is also related to distinguished Southerners, among others to Judge Baldwin, of Mississippi.
After her marriage, Mrs. Rice gave much thought to the inauguration of systematic benevolence through which she hoped, by her efforts and her contributions, to produce the best attainable results for the largest number of beneficiaries. In consequence of her interest in this direction, her husband, William M. Rice, about three years ago founded the "Wm. M. Rice Institute for the Advancement of Literature, Science and Art," with domicile at Houston and with interest-bearing en- dowment of $200,000. The wife, following the example of her generous husband, supplemented this gift, and, together, they have since added further endowments until the aggre- gate funds of the institute now amount to a third of a mil- lion of dollars. A very valuable six-acre lot, in the city of Houston, has also been bought for the institute by its liberal founders and the erection of suitable buildings will follow as fast as the plans are matured. The establishment will com- prise a public library and a polytechnic school, the former for
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the free use of the people, and the latter for their gratuitous instruction in practical branches of learning, open to all Texans, men and women alike. A board of trustees, com- posed of seven citizens of Houston, has been chosen, and Mrs. Rice is already in the field making and classifying col- lections for the fine arts department, over which she will specially preside.
In estimating the importance of the Rice contribution to the general relief, no small part of its value will be found due to the peculiar nature of the gift and to the timely manner of its giving. The progress of discovery and invention has created new industries, and supplanted old ones, and, in so doing, it has created a demand for skilled labor and made vacant many of the places of the unskilled. The consequence of this revolution in the laboring world has been to relegate to idleness and want, multitudes of strong, willing and intel- ligent workers. The wise and seasonable inspiration of Mrs. Rice proposes a remedy for the evil. Free of cost, the manual laborer may acquire technical training and thus be fitted for his new condition in life. Unspeakable calamities will be averted, and honors untold will crown the work of a public benefactress.
MRS. J. A. BUCKLER .- One has only to look into the face of "Mrs. Judge Buckler," as she is known to her large circle of devoted friends in San Antonio, to understand the cause of her universal popularity and that quality of high regard which has protected her from the shafts of adverse criticism, albeit dwelling "in the white light that beats about a throne." For she is a social leader well known throughout Texas.
Her noble, lovely face reflects the beautiful soul and lucid intellect which animates her whole being. Her warm friend- ships, her genial temperament, her correct judgment and del- icate tact, her exquisite taste in all matters, personal, domestic and social, combine to give her the great influence which she exerts for good, not only in her home in San An- tonio, but wherever she is known.
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A blonde of that fair English type which drew from Pope Gregory the First the exclamation about some British chil- dren brought as captives to Rome: "Angles do you say these children are? Say, rather, they are angels." Mrs. Buckler is one of those rare women who, attaching no undue importance to the beauty which is only a fading flower at best, knows that it is a heaven-given dower to be utilized only for the highest purposes and aims. She dresses with ex- quisite taste, but her every movement and look impresses the beholder with the conviction that this is the result of a con- scientious love of the true and the beautiful, not the outcome of petty feminine vanity. She is too well-born and too well- bred to violate the laws of good taste and "good form" in this or any other matter pertaining to social ethics.
It is not generally known that her presence in the senate chamber of Kentucky once served as an inspiration to the famous author of "The Moneyless Man," but the poem con- taining the description of her, and published by him in The Louisville Journal, has been copied far and wide.
Mrs. Buckler was, until the past summer, the treasurer of that esthetic organization of the ladies of San Antonio, " The Flower Battle Association," having resigned that position, which she filled so admirably, to go North. While her func- tions, as that officer, could well be supplied by another capable and public-spirited woman, her loss, as a social factor in the success of its annual fête, was universally re- gretted. The young people of San Antonio, as well as her sister officers and members of this association, missed, while remembering the inspiration of, their most popular and enthusiastic promoter of the beautiful and allegorical fes- tival imported from the sunny skies of Italy to those of Texas, in a city founded by the followers of St. Francis of Assizi, and named for the Great Saint Anthony of Padua. Now beneath the shadow of the Alamo, under the walls of the old Mission House, flower-emblazoned with the names of Bowie, Crockett and Travis, while over them waves the flag of The Lone Star, with "Remember the Alamo" on its fair field, there gathers every year a joyous throng of the beauty
MRS. R. H. DOWNMAN.
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and chivalry of San Antonio vieing each with each to make this new southland festival of flowers a dream of fairy land.
In such a setting how lovely beams the fair and noble face of its favorite society queen, Mrs. Buckler.
MRS. F. A. MCDONALD, MRS. R. H. DOWNMAN .- The social element of Fort Worth is strikingly composite in its character, uniting to the amenities the energies of life and thereby infusing both grace and strength into the struc- ture. To this element belong the character and culture of the city as seen in the social life of her prominent citizens of both sexes. Among these none are more conspicuous than Mrs. F. A. McDonald and Mrs. R. H. Downman, daughters of Mr. William Cameron, and relatives of one of the most notable heroes of Texas history, Capt. Ewing Cameron, honored by the State in having one of her counties named for him.
The Cameron family is of Scottish origin, and Captain Cameron was himself a Scotchman. He came to Texas in the early years of the Republic, and, in 1839, with about two hundred other Texans, joined the forces of Canales to enforce the secession of the insurgent provinces from Mexico and set up a government of their own, to be called the "Republic of the Rio Grande." After a vain struggle of about a year, the insurgents capitulated and their Texan allies recrossed into their own country. In 1842 Captain Cameron commanded a company in the ill-starred Mier expedition, of three hundred Texans, led by Colonel Fisher, into Mexico. On Christmas day they entered the town of Mier, and, on the day following, fought two thousand of the enemy until their ammunition was exhausted, when they surrendered under the usual conditions of civilized warfare. Under a strong guard their march was directed to the City of Mexico, and from the beginning they suffered all the ills of privation, exposure and cruelty. This barbarous violation of treaty aroused the spirit of resistance. Arriving at the Hacienda Salado they formed the desperate resolve of making a break for liberty. At a concerted signal from Captain Cameron, they rushed upon their keepers,
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disarmed them and turned their faces homeward. Choosing the pathless mountains as their route, they were soon lost and bewildered, and for weeks wandered in utter confusion, suffering from hunger, thirst and disease. Many died or had to be left to their fate; nearly all threw away their arms, and drifted apart from each other in search of water and food. In this plight they were overtaken by the pursuing cavalry, recaptured and taken back to Salado. There, on the 25th of March, the lottery of death was drawn. Santa Anna de- manded the blood of every tenth man, as the price of his mercy toward the others. White and black beans represented the blank and prize number in the ghoulish drawing, and sev- enteen prisoners fell to the executioner. Captain Cameron passed safely through this ordeal, but only to be reserved for a more signal exhibition of perfidy. When within eighteen miles of the City of Mexico the surviving prisoners and their escort were met by a courier bearing the death sentence of Captain Cameron. Despite the appeals and protestations of his companions, he was shot. He met his doom with a forti- tude and intrepidity unsurpassed in history.
Gentle, social, loyal in life, he was brave, fearless, un- daunted in death, leaving to the world the splendid example of his heroism, for
"The greatest gift the hero leaves his race, Is to have been a hero."
The name of Cameron is honored by every Texan, and Texas is proud to number among her people those in whom flows the unsullied blood of his race ; and when in them is also found an individual worth of their own, they are doubly valued. Of these are Mesdames McDonald and Downman. Within the penetralia of their cheerful homes burns the in- cense that inspires bright and noble purpose, and around them is diffused a gladness that attracts admiring guests to their hospitable doors. The spirit of harmony pervades their little world like that which breathes order into the greater kosmos, and from it emanates the sweet influence that binds all hearts to their own. Marked by strong personality, they
MRS. ELLA HUTCHINS SYDNOR.
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give form to their environments and impart to the present a reality more potent and more wholesome, if not more classic, than that with which poets and sages clothe the past.
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CHAPTER XXXIII.
MRS. ELLA HUTCHINS SYDNOR-MRS. ALEXANDER SANGER- MRS. JOSEPH NALLE-MRS. R. B. PARROTT -MRS. JOHN J. STEVENS.
MRS. ELLA HUTCHINS SYDNOR was born at Houston, Texas, where her family is numbered among the oldest and most influential of the old régime. She was sent at an early age to Europe to be educated, and dividing her resi- dence in London and Paris, acquired that fine culture of mind and delicate finish of manner for which she is dis- tinguished. Her career since her return to her native State has been a brilliant one socially and intellectually. At the head of almost every progressive movement in the wide circle in which she is known, she has found abundant scope for her varied talents. Since the publication of her book, "Gems from a Texas Quarry," a few years ago, she has contributed a number of interesting papers, chiefly on Texas history, to the Ladies' Reading Club at Houston.
Mrs. Sydnor is an officer in several large charitable in- stitutions. She is a Daughter of the American Revolution, a Daughter of the Republic of Texas, and a Daughter of the Confederacy.
Socially, Mrs. Sydnor is an acknowledged leader. Sheisa delightful talker, a linguist, and possesses with all these gifts the art of making herself beloved by those who come in con- tact with her womanly presence.
MRS. ALEXANDER SANGER .- The Hebrew born and nur- tured on the soil of Germany rarely fails to add Teutonic mental vigor to his own traditional civilization, a civilization
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rocked in the cradle of forty centuries. From such Teu- tonic Hebrew stock, tracing its origin through Rabbinical ancestry, noted for its culture and intelligence, is descended Mrs. Alexander Sanger, nee Miss Fannie Fechenbach, one of the most prominent leaders of the social world of Dallas, Texas.
The subtle charm that emanates from hereditary social rank and culture is felt by all who come in contact with Mrs. Sanger, for she is more than beautiful or handsome, she is charming, elegant, refined. A traveler, both in America and Europe, and thrown by her superior mental gifts, as well as by family traditions, in contact with the best circles of soci- ety wherever she goes, she wins and retains through the law of natural attraction an unusual number of friends among "people who are well worth knowing."
Nor is it owing to her wealth, culture, exquisite taste and traditional rights alone that she holds her rank as one of the queens of society. Her kind heart, her generous mind, and her noble nature make her not only a beneficent friend in private, but also a liberal contributor of her ample means, her valuable time and intelligent thought to every charitable cause, benefit and entertainment brought to her attention. And in this direction she is aided by her husband, for Mr. Sanger's success in commercial and financial circles is only equaled by the largeness of his views and the liberality of his enterprises in promoting the prosperity of the city of Dallas. Hence in their splendid home, the graceful mistress of the mansion gleams a pearl of purest ray serene, fitly set among the gems of art and souvenirs of value and legendary interest contained in the richly furnished, tastefully decorated, shadowy salons and sumptuous apartments of the Sanger mansion.
The refined accomplishments possessed by Mrs. Sanger are not for the general public, but as a reader of artistic merit she is known and appreciated by her own selected circle. When seen in society at any of its numerous func- tions, or on the promenade or drive, her elegant personality asserts itself in the tasteful and fashionable gowning and
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accessories of the toilet which she knows so well how to use without permitting their trivialities to futilize her innate mental strength.
MRS. JOSEPH NALLE. - The capital of Texas is resplen- dent with beautiful homes, and the names of her noble women are synonyms of graceful culture. Among these, there is no finer character than Mrs. Nalle.
Texas has many fair adopted daughters from the older States. Among those fine specimens of womanhood, came a young matron, with her husband and little children, from the pastoral lands of Luray, Virginia, to become the charm- ing central attraction of a new home in the West. Young, liberally educated, handsome, and more than all these, en- dowed with a fine mind and feeling heart, she could not fail to make a deep and lasting impression on all who came within the radius of her influence. With Austin, she has passed from early youth to beautiful maturity, both having kept pace with the march of progress. All classes recognize in this excellent woman the graceful embodiment of success and worth. Her charities flow as freely as her kind, sympa- thetic feelings; not in words alone, but in practical relief to the sick, the suffering, the sorrowful. Wealth, through her gentle ministering hands is only one of the avenues of useful- ness.
The little cottage, to which they came twenty-five years ago, has been replaced by a mansion, where the imposing in architectural design is lost in graceful beauty. It is complete in all its arrangements and furnishings, containing every modern attraction and appliance for household purposes, every detail of convenience for home comfort and the enter- tainment of friends. The marble floor of the entrance leads to costly, yet comfortable and tasteful surroundings, and, amid this splendor, moves a truly noble woman, quietly do- ing good. Around her have grown up an interesting family, who have found her " blessed among women." Her impress here, like that she has made upon the society of Austin, is re- fining and good. She is amiable and lovable, and it is said
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of her that not a moment of coldness has ever existed be- tween her and her friends. Such a nature deserves wealth, palatial surroundings, devoted friends.
MRS. R. B. PARROTT has been for many years an orna- ment to society and is in no ordinary degree esteemed and beloved. She has passed her youth and womanhood in Waco and at her own home in this city has welcomed many dis- tinguished guests. Her varied mental qualities render her conversation delightful and she speaks from a full heart of the beautiful in nature and art. Beneath her mental wealth, courage exists in proportionate strength, and of late this quality has been called into requisition, for a shadow lies upon her heart and is reflected upon her face, telling that she has entered the temple of physical pain.
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