death, and from him she inherited a large fortune. From the very first she was one of the prominent belles of Washington City. It is said Mrs. Madison was one of her intimate friends. At the age of twenty she married Honorable John P. Van Ness, a member of Congress from New York. After their marriage
he became a resident of Washington, and their home was one of the most brilliant social centers in the Capital city, Mrs. Van Ness drawing about her the refined and cultivated persons of the day. Chief Justice Marshall, Henry Clay, President Monroe, General Jackson, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. McDuffie, Daniel Webster, Mr. Hayne and many other noted celebrities of that time were on familiar terms with General Van Ness and frequent visitors in his home. The only daughter of Mrs. Van Ness was Ann Albertina, an accomplished, intelligent young woman.
Mrs. Van Ness' influence was always for good, and her example noble and elevating; her friendships true and warm. She ever ministered to the sick and suffering; her deeds of charity were unostentatious. Mrs. Van Ness never recovered from the death of her daughter, which occurred soon after her marriage. A lasting monument of Mrs. Van Ness' charity was the establishing of
the Washington City Orphan Asylum by her. To this she gave four thousand dollars, besides many small contributions from time to time, and her indefatigable exertions obtaining, with the aid of a few friends, from Congress an Act of Incorporation and a donation of ten thousand dollars for its permanent support. She also gave directions that a legacy of a thousand dollars should be given this institution after her death. Mrs. Madison was the first directress of the institution, but after her departure Mrs. Van Ness was induced to accept this office, which she held until her death, on the 9th of September, 1832, at the age of fifty years. Her husband, General Van Ness was mayor of Washington at the time; and it is said Mrs. Van Ness was the first American woman buried with public honors in Washington. Few women have indeed ever occupied a larger field of usefulness or been more devotedly engaged in the work for humanity than Mrs. Van Ness.
MARY TODD LINCOLN.
Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of the immortal Abraham Lincoln, was a Kentuckian, and a member of the distinguished family of Todds of Lexington. At the age of twenty-one, on the 4th of November, 1832, she was married to Abrahm Lincoln, who though a prominent lawyer of Springfield, Illinois, gave no evidence of the immortality which he was to achieve. Mr. Lincoln was elected to Congress four years subsequently and took his seat December, 1847. Mrs. Lincoln did not accompany Mr. Lincoln to Washington while he was a member
