Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/412

Rh Her parents made their home in Cass County, Illinois, where, in 1850, she married Captain F. C. Brookman, of St. Louis, Missouri, who died soon afterwards of yellow fever. Later she married C. A. Walling, of Texas. It is said that in 1863 she was warned by the Vigilance Committee to leave the country within a few hours. Seven of her brothers were in the Union Army, and all lost their lives. She delivered speeches through the North, and on May 10, 1866, the United States Senate passed a resolution permitting her to speak before that body, and there she delivered her argument on "Reconstruction."

Mrs. Hester A. Dillon, wife of Captain Elisha Dillon, is among the most active and patriotic women of the country. Her ancestry runs back many centuries, having been traced to Walgrinus Ridel, Earl of Angouleme and Perigord, a relative of Charles the Bald, King of France.

Her grandfather Ridlon (from Ridel) was in the War of 1812, and was an orderly to General Jackson, at New Orleans. He married a Virginia Davis. Her mother married J. R. Duncan.

Mrs. Dillon was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, October 6, 1845, and named Hester A. Duncan. She was married March 26, 1862, to Captain William J. Dillon, who fell at Shiloh, April 6, 1862. His regiment, the 18th, adopted Mrs. Dillon as its daughter. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Woman's Christian Temperance Union and of the Self-culture Class of Benton, Illinois, her place of residence.

In her delightful "Reminiscences of a Long Life" Mrs. Sarah Pryor quotes a letter written by her husband, ex-judge Roger A. Pryor, in which occurred the following words: "When I renewed my oath of allegiance to the Union I did so in good faith and without reservation. But as I understand that oath it not only restrains me from acts of positive hostility to the government but pledges me to do my utmost for its welfare and stability. And, while I am more immediately concerned to see the South restored to its former prosperity I am anxious that the whole country may be reunited on the best of common interest and fraternal regard. And this object, it appears to me, can only be obtained by conceding to all classes the unrestricted rights guaranteed them by the laws and by