Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/293

260 married Mr. McMurray who lived but a few months, and later she married Mr. William Coventry Waddell, who was connected with some of the noble families of England. Mr. Waddell held many important trusts under the government and was at the time of their marriage, in an official position. Their residence was at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Forty-seventh Street, called Murray Hill and occupied an entire block. Their summers were passed at Saratoga. Mrs. Waddell's graceful manners, good humor and kindness of heart, added to her intellectual charms and brilliant conversation gave her supremacy in the social circles of New York City and at Saratoga Springs, the fashionable resort of the times. In the monetary crisis of 1857 Mr. Waddell lost his fortune and he was compelled to sacrifice his beautiful home on Murray Hill and they removed to a residence two miles north of Newburg on the Hudson.

Mrs. Acklen, the daughter of Oliver D. Hayes, a native of South Hadley, Massachusetts, was a prominent leader in the social life of Nashville, Tennessee. Her mother was Sarah T. Hightower, the daughter of Richard Hightower, of Williamson County. Their daughter Adelicia married when quite young Mr. Isaac Franklin, a planter of Louisiana, who lived but a few years. After his death she married Colonel Joseph Acklen, of Huntsville, Alabama, who also lived but a few years. After his death Mrs. Acklen spent much time in Europe. After her return to this country she married Dr. W. A. Cheatham, making her home in Nashville, where she became noted for her cordial hospitality and her house a resort for the celebrities of that section.

Another distinguished woman of this time was Miss Emily Mason, of Kentucky. Her mother was descended from the Marshall and Nicholson families. Her paternal grandfather and uncle were both United States Senators from that state. Her father, General Mason, moved to Kentucky and here Emily was born in the city of Lexington. Her brother was the governor of the Territory of Michigan and the family followed, residing in the city of Detroit. At the age of seventeen Emily presided over the governor's mansion at Detroit, where she entertained and exercised unlimited sway in the fashionable society of that day. Her sprightly wit and remarkable powers of conversation even at a very early age, gave her a social pre-eminence unrivalled by any woman in the western country. After her brother's death she returned to Virginia and here and in New Orleans she became a celebrity in society. Later in life, after the death of both her parents, she met with severe reverses. Her home was taken from her during the war "for military purposes," during her absence in the North. She was suspected as a Southern spy. Her property was entirely destroyed. She went into the hospital work and devoted her energies to the inmates of the Winder Hospital near Richmond. Here and in the prisons she helped to care for the sick, wounded and dying and after the close of the war she worked indefatigably for the cause of humanity among her own people in the South.