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JULIA JACKSON
CHRISTIAN

By h£r Mother
Mary Anna Jackson

PUBLISHERS

STONE & BARRINGER COMPANY

CHARLOTTE. N. C.

Copyright, 1910, by
M. A. JACKSON

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To the children, who missed by their young mother's early

death the joy of her companionship and the blessing

of her daily care, this brief memorial is dedicated

-Jay they follow her Guide, animated by her courage and
faith and love, into the Land of the Living

Foreword

This little memorial is published simplj^ for the sake of
my grandchildren, who, having grown to maturity, can ap-
preciate the rich heritage that is left to them in the life
and character of their sainted mother.

The granddaughter is happily married to a young law-
yer, Edmund Randolph Preston, a native of Virginia, but
now an adopted son of North Carolina, and the old grand-
mother (now a great-granddame), has a lovely home with
them, and the little Anna Jackson Preston is the light and
joy of the household.

The grandson is following the profession of his grand-
father, expecting to graduate at West Point next year, and
it goes without saying that the brightest hopes are enter-
tained for him by his family and friends.

M. A. J.

Charlotte, N. C, October, 1910.

Julia Jackson Christian

The only child of General "Stonewall" Jackson that
survived infancy was born on the 23rd of November,
1862, in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the residence of
her maternal aimt, Mrs. James P. Irwin. As her birth
occurred during the war when her father was engaged in
the service of his country, the home of her parents in
Lexington, Virginia, was closed, while her mother spent
those eventful years among her kindred in North Caro-
lina. From her very birth, she was so extremely like
her father, that when she was placed in my arms for
my first look at her, my heart was thrilled with delight
and thankfulness at seeing every feature of his repro-
duced in her tiny face. This likeness grew with her
growth, and was often remarked upon by his old soldiers
— sometimes causing tears to spring into tlieir eyes as
they saw the resemblance in his child to their beloved
commander.

General Jackson's own letters have testified to the
joyous welcome he gave his child into the world, and the
bright hopes which her advent awakened in his parental
heart. It gladdened him more than all his victories,
and filled him with devout gratitude to the Giver of all
good.

To a man of his extreme domesticity and love of chil-

2 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

dren, this was a crowning happiness; and yet with his
great modesty and shrinking from publicity, he kept the
arrival of the little lady all to himself, leaving his staff
and those around him in camp to hear it through others.
To him this was a "joy with which a stranger could not
intermeddle," and from which his own hand could not
lift the veil of sanctity. The first intimation of his
new happiness was a letter from his little daughter her-
self! The amanuensis was her aunt, Mrs. Irwin, at
whose house she first saw the light, and this was the
letter :

"My own dear Father :

As my mother's letter has been cut short by my
arrival, I think it but justice that I should continue it.
I know that you are rejoiced to hear of my coming, and
I hope that God has sent me to radiate your pathway
through life. I am a very tiny little thing. I weigh
only eight and a half pounds, and Aunt Harriet says I
am the express image of my darling papa, and so does
our kind friend, Mrs. Osborne, and this greatly delights
my mother. My aunts both say I am a little beauty.
My hair is dark and long, my eyes are blue, my nose
straight, just like my papa's, and my complexion not all
red like most young ladies of my age, but a beautiful
blending of the lily and the rose, Now, all this would
sound very vain if I were older but, I assure you, I have
not a particle of feminine vanity, my only desire in
life being to nestle in close to my mamma, to feel her
caressing touch, and to drink in the pearly stream
provided by a kind Providence for my support. My
mother is very comfortable this morning. She is anx-

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 3

ious to have my name decided upon, and hopes you will
write and give me a name, with your blessing. We
look for my grandmother to-morrow, and expect before
long a visit from my little cousin, Mary Graham Avery,
who is one month my senior. I was born on Sunday,
just after the morning services at church, but I believe
my aunt wrote you all about the first day of my life,
and this being only the second, my history may be com-
prised in a little space. But my friends, w^ho are about
me like guardian angels, hope for me a long life of
happiness and holiness and a futurity of endless bliss.
Your dear little wee Daughter."

These lovely little missives continued to reach the
father until the mother was able once more to resume
her pen, but only this one was ever recovered. In the
meantime he writes on the 4th of December :

"Oh ! how thankful I am to our kind Heavenly Father
for having spared my precious wife and given us a
little daughter. I cannot tell you how gratified I am,
nor how much I wish I could be with you and see my
two darlings. But while this pleasure is denied me,
I am thankful it is accorded to you to have the little
pet, and I hope it may be a great deal of comfort and
company to its mother. Now, don't exert yourself to
write to me, for to know that you were taxing yourself
to write would give me more pain than pleasure, so you
must not do it.

"I expect you are just made up now with that baby,
and regard it as the most precious treasure in the world,
but you must not spoil it. How I would love to see the

4 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

darling little thing! Give her many kisses for her
father."

In response to his bahy daughter's first letter, he
closes by saying, "Thank sister H. very kindly, and give
the baby daughter a shower of kisses from her father
and tell her he loves her better than all the baby boys
in the world, and more than all the other babies in the
world.''

This was to reassure his wife, who feared he would
be disappointed at not having a boy. He desired a son,
believing that men had a larger sphere of usefulness
then women; but his own will was so entirely in subjec-
tion to that of his Heavenly Father that he said he pre-
feiTed having a daughter, since God had so ordained it.

He gave her the name of Julia for his mother, saying,
"My mother was mindful of me when I was a helpless,
fatherless child, and I wish to commemorate her now.'^
His recollections of his mother were of the sweetest
and tenderest character, and to his childhood's fancy,
she was the embodiment of beauty, grace and loveliness.

He wrote, "This morning I received a charming letter
from my little daughter, Julia,'' but immediately, as if
his heart trembled at the very thought of so much happi-
ness, he adds: "Do not set your heart upon her, except
as a gift from God. If she absorbs too much of our
hearts, God may remove her from us."

Again he writes : "Baby's letters are read with much
interest, and it does her father's heart good to read
them. Yesterday I received her letter with its beautiful
lock of hair. How I do want to see that precious baby !
and I do earnestly pray for peace. I haven't seen my

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 5

wife since last March, and never having seen my darling
baby, you can imagine with how nuieh interest I look-
to North Carolina."

General Jackson never took ^ furlough during the
war and never slept outside of his camp in all that
time, and as the greater part of his strenuous army life
was spent in the saddle, my opportunities of visiting him
were very limited, and as our baby was rather delicate
the first three months of her life, he was afraid for me
to travel with her in the winter, and especially as there
were contagious diseases in his camp; but by Spring she
had developed into as plump, rosy and fair a little bud
of humanity as one often sees, and he grew more impa-
tient for a visit from us.

In explanation of his long separation from his family,
he wrote: "It appears to me to be better for me to
remain with my command as long as the war continues,
if our gracious Heavenly Father permits. The army
suffers immensely by absentees. If all our troops,
officers and men were at their posts, we might, through
God's blessing, expect a more speedy termination of the
war. Whilst it would be a great joy and comfort to see
you and our darling little daughter, yet duty appears to
require me to remain with my command. It is im-
portant that those at headquarters set an example by
remaining at the post of duty."

Little Julia was over four months old before her father
ever saw her. He was then in camp near Guiney's
Station, and wrote urging me to come on and visit him
before the campaign would open, so, with my baby and
colored nurse, Hetty, we set out upon this visit, so full
of interest and anticipated Joys. We made the journey

6 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

safely, stopping in Eichmond to spend Sunday, and
arriving at Guiney's on Monday, the 20th of April.
Hetty and I were all anxiety to have our baby present
her best appearance for her father's first sight of her,
and she could not have better realized our wishes. She
awoke from a long, refreshing sleep Just before the
train stopped, and she never looked more bright and
charming. When he entered the coach to receive us,
his rubber overcoat was dripping from the rain which
was falling, but his face was all sunshine and gladness,
and after greeting his wife, it was a picture indeed to
see his look of perfect delight and admiration as his
eyes fell upon that baby ! She was at the lovely, smiling
age, and, catching his eager look of supreme interest
in her, she beamed her sweetest and brightest smiles
upon him in return, so it seemed to be a mutual fascina-
tion. He was afraid to take her in his arms, with his
wet overcoat; but as we drove in a carriage to Mr.
Yerby's (where he had engaged board for us), his face
reflected all the delight and happiness that were in his
heart, and he expressed much surprise and gratification
at her size and beauty. Upon our arrival at the house
he speedily divested himself of his overcoat, and, taking
his baby in his arms, he caressed her with the tenderest
affection, and held her long and lovingly. During the
whole of this short visit, when he was with us, he rarely
had her out of his arms, walking her, and amusing her
in every way he could think of — sometimes holding her
up before a mirror and saying: "Now, Miss Jackson,
look at yourself !" Then he would turn to an old lady
of the family and say: "Isn't she a little gem?'^ He
was frequently told that she resembled him, but he

JULIA JACK80N CHRISTIAN 7

would say: "No, she is too pretty to look like me.'^
When she slept in the day, he would often kneel over
her cradle, and gaze upon her little face with the most
rapt admiration, and he said he felt almost as if she
were an angel, in her innocence and purity. I have often
wished that the picture which was presented to me of
that father kneeling over the cradle of that lovely infant
could have been put upon canvas. And yet with all
his fondness and devotion to the little lady, he had no
idea of spoiling her, as will be seen in his undertaking
to teach her a lesson in self-control before she was five
months old! One day she began to cry to be taken up
from the bed on which she was lying, and as soon as
her wish was gratified, she ceased to cry. He laid her
back upon the bed, and the crying was renewed with
increased vigor. Of course, the mother-heart wished to
stop this by taking her up again, but he exclaimed:
^^This will never do," and commanded "all hands off,"
until that little will of hers should be conquered. So
there she lay, kicking and screaming, while he stood
over her with as much coolness and determination as
if he were directing a battle; and he was true to the
name of "Stonewall," even in disciplining a baby!
When she stopped crying he would take her up, but if
she began to cry again, he would lay her back, and this
he kept up until finally she was completely conquered,
and became perfectly quiet in his hands.

On the 23rd of April, the day she was five months old.
General Jackson had little Julia baptized. He brought
his chaplain, Eev. Dr. B. T. Lacy, to Mr. Yerby's, in
whose parlor the sacred rite was performed, in the pres-
ence of the family, and a number of his staff officers.

8 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

The child behaved beautifully, and was the object of
great interest to her father's friends and soldiers. One
of his aides, Mr. Smith (afterwards the Eev. Dr. James
P.), tells how he came to be present at the baptism. He
says : "I recall the visit to Mr. Yerby's to see the baptism
of little Julia. I asked the General if I could go and he
said, ^Certainly, Mr. Smith, you can go; ask the others
to go with you,^ so I turned out the whole party, making
quite a cavalcade to ride to Mr. Yerb}^'s. I remember
the General's impatience at some little delay, and the
decided way with which he went out and brought in the
child in his arms.'^

The last connection with little Julia and her father
was her appearance at his death-bed scene. My friend,
Mrs. (Dr.) Moses D. Hoge, of Eichmond, had most kindly
come to my assistance in the time of my agonizing trial,
and was taking care of my baby while I was watching
in the sick room. She, with Hetty following, brought
the child into the room, when he had almost ceased to
notice anything, but as soon as they entered the door,
his countenance brightened with delight, and he never
smiled more sweetly as he exclaimed: "Little darling,
sweet one !'^ She was seated on the bed beside him, and
after watching her intently with radiant smiles, he
closed his eyes as if in prayer. Though she was suffer-
ing the pangs of hunger from long absence from her
mother, she seemed to forget her discomfort in the joy of
seeing that loving face beam on her once more, and she
looked at him and smiled as long as he continued to
notice her. — Without doubt, the father and child were
reunited, never more to part, when she herself was

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 9

translated in the bloom of her early womanhood, to "tlie
mansions not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. '^
My good father had sent me as a nurse for my child,
the same woman, Hetty, who had nursed me in infancy,
and consequently there was an attachment between us.
She was energetic, impulsive and strong-minded, with
some fine traits, and was trustworthy and faithful to
her charge. She was somewhat inclined to self-asser-
tion, particularly as she felt her importance in being so
much the senior of her new master and mistress, but
she soon learned from "the spirit that commanded his
household after him," that her only course must be
that of implicit obedience. After learning this lesson she
toned down into a well-mannered, useful domestic, and
indeed she became a factotum in the family. She was
sent from North Carolina to Virginia alone, and, being
totally unaccustomed to traveling, when she arrived at
Richmond and was trying to find her train to Lexington,
some one who saw her anxiety asked her where she
wanted to go ? Her discouraged reply was : "Well, Fm
going to Virginia, but the Lord knows whether I'll ever
get there or not!" Amid all her difficulties she was
keeping a close eye upon a little old hair-trunk that
contained her possessions, and when she discovered a
porter taking it up to transfer it, she peremptorily ex-
claimed: "Put down that trunk! That's General
Jackson's trunk V^ She had astuteness enough to know
that there was power in a name, and to assert herself
in protecting her own rights. She became devoted to
her master, and was a sincere mourner over his death,
shedding tears freely, and she said she had lost her best
friend. I would gladly have kept and supported her for

10 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

the rest of her life, hut she was allured by her freedom
to seek greater independence and gain, severing a tie
which had been one (seemingly, at least) of mutual
attachment and confidence. She only acted as did the
majority of the freedmen, who could not feel that they
were free until they had left their former masters.
The sturdy old woman lived to be over ninety years of
age, and it is hoped that the prayers and example of her
master proved a benediction to her during all the
remaining years of her life. He required every one of
his servants to attend family worship, punctually and
regularly.

Little Julia was about three years old before I ever
had the heart or means to take any trip from my
father's home, but kind friends provided a way for me
to visit Lexington — ^my beloved, married home — and in
making a brief stay in Eichmond, a newspaper notice of
the child appeared, which was as follows :

^^A fair correspondent sends us the following delicate
pen and ink portrait of the only living scion of the late
General T. J. Jackson. She is evidently in love with
her subject.

^^I had recently the pleasure of seeing the child of
'Stonewall' Jackson. She is a bright little cherub, about
three years old, with fair hair, blue eyes, and a com-
plexion of mingled lilies and roses — the lilies, however,
predominating, as she does not look very robust. For
the benefit of curious mothers, I will describe her dress.
She wore a Marie Louise blue merino, trimmed with
narrow black velvet ribbon, edged with white. Her
little cloth cloak was of a light drab color, ornamented

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN H

with bands of silk and fancy bnttons. Her hat was of
English straw, trimmed with blue velvet and white
feathers. A tippet and mnff of ermine completed the
costume of the little fairy, and she looked as enchant-
ing as any mother's darling need look. She was borne
in the arms of a colored nurse, of whom she seemed very
fond, and to whom she was prattling with exuberant
gayety. The dark-eyed, sad-looking lady who followed
her, in widow's cap, and garb of deepest mourning,
completed the picture of sunshine and shadow."

The editor adds: "The daughter of ^Stonewall' Jack-
son ! May she long live to perpetuate to future genera-
tions the lineal blood of her immortal father !''

The first ten years of Julia's life were spent in the
home of her grandfather, the Eev. Dr. R. H. Morrison, in
Lincoln County, North Carolina. Here she was the only
child in the family, the pet of the household, and her
childhood's life was one of great innocence and simplic-
ity. She had no playmates, except when little visitors
came, which always gave her great delight, but she was
happy in amusing herself in her own solitary, childish
ways — making play-houses under the great oak trees, and
planting and tending her little garden, as she saw her
mother do hers. She cultivated pop-corn, peanuts,
vegetables and flowers, and once proposed planting
candy in her garden, thinking it would yield her a rich
return of sweets. She had many beautiful dolls, each
one having its own name, and she loved them as if they
were really human. Among them was a perfect Con-
federate soldier, with his miniature canteen, tobacco
bag, and every equipment for the service in war. He

12 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

was "Jolinny Eeb," and was a present to her, as were
all of her handsomest dolls. She was devoted to pets,
and had her terrier dog, Bess, her kittens, chickens and
canary birds — ^the latter all coming to grief, however,
from the cruel ravages of the cats. In her garden were
several little graves of her birds, over which she had
shed many tears. Her grandfather gave her a pure
white calf, which she named "Snowdrop," and after it
came into service as a milch-cow, if she ever saw a
servant strike, or maltreat her pet, it aroused her in-
dignation and caused her genuine distress. But the
supreme object of her affection in the barnyard was
her father's war-horse, "Little Sorrel,'^ or "Fancy,'' as
he was called on the farm. She delighted in petting him,
and nothing pleased her more than to have a ride upon
his back, to which she began to be treated at quite an
early age. She was extremely fond of horse-back riding,
and became a fearless and gi-aceful rider as she grew
to womanhood. She then had her own horse, "Kex," but
he never occupied the place in her heart which old
Fancy possessed. Her birthdays in childhood were
always celebrated by little entertainments. She had
lovely little sets of china, and the daintiest of little
viands were served at her small table, over which she
presided with all the dignity and importance of matured
3'ears. If there were no children present, her young aunt,
uncle and mother were the guests, and on one occasion,
when it was proposed that one of the grown persons
should preside at the head of the table, she replied
decidedly : "No, I will provide.^^ She had a very pretty
little Ute-d-iete set in silver presented to her by the
Stonewall Fire Company, of Chester, South Carolina,

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN I3

which was quite ornamental as well as useful to her
juvenile table, and which afterwards rendered valuable
service when she was a grown-up housekeeper.

Her disposition as a child was singularly affectionate,
sympathetic and clinging; her feelings were quickly
touched, and her sensibility was so extreme as to give
her great capacity for suffering, but as she approached
maturit}^, she developed the same pride of character,
strength of will, self-control and fortitude that were so
conspicuous in her father.

When she was a little thing, during my visits to Lex-
ington, if she ever saw me manifest any emotion over
the memories of her father, she wept bitterly herself,
so that to spare her feelings, I once slipped off from her
to visit the cemetery. When I arose from my devotions
at her father's grave, what was my surprise, and how my
heart was touched, to see my poor little darling standing
at some distance watching me with a face of convulsed
grief. She surmised where I had gone, and followed me
alone, mien she was several years older, we were at
the Hot Springs, of :N-orth Carolina, one summer, and I
was mvited to take a row in a small bateau upon the
French Broad Eiver. When our frail bark finally
reached its landing place, there stood anxious little
Julia, accompanied by a child-friend, watching eacrerly
for my safe return. She could have no peace of mind
during what she apprehended was a perilous expedition
for her mother. Many similar touching incidents of her
intense filial love and solicitude could be related. Possi-
bly the love that belongs to both parents was concen-
trated in her warm little heart. When we were from
home visiting friends, she would go out and play very

14 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

happily with the children^, but every now and then she
would return to the parlor door and peep in to satisfy
herself that her mother was there. As she grew older,
her devotion assumed a protecting care that was as
sweet as it was remarkable, and she could never bear
to see her one parent made the subject of a joke or
criticism by any one.

In early childhood, she could never hear a touching
story read without tears, and would beg that the reading
should be discontinued as soon as the pathos became too
much for her, saying: "It's too sad; I don't want to
hear any more." She was a pensive looking child, but
was never morbid or unhappy, and was very responsive
to playfulness and sociability. She w^as extremely active,
and rode stick-horses after she commenced the study
of a child's Geography. I was much amused at a grand
gallop she made down a country road one evening,
cutting her horse, and saying: "Get up, Argentine Con-
federation T'' She had named her horse after one of
her most high-sounding geographical acquirements. She
was taught by a governess for several years before she
left her grandfather's house. Like her father in child-
hood, she was not precocious, but her mind and memory
were strong and retentive. Before she could read, she
was instructed verbally in a child's scriptural catechism.
One of the questions on the subject of original sin has
an answer that "by nature we do nothing but sin."
This humiliating answer aroused her indignation, and
with flashing eyes she protested against it, saying: "iVo,
/ don't do nothing hut sin! I work — I pick up chips,
and tend to my garden, and I know I don't sin all the
time !" It was explained to her that all persons were

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 15

born with sinful natures, and we could do nothing good
by our own power, that God's grace and spirit alone
kept us from sin. She finally accepted the explanation
as applicable to herself, but remarked in a yery positive
and reverent manner: ^'Well^ I Tcnow my papa never
sinned F^

Her affection and veneration for his memory seemed
to be one of the earliest sentiments to spring up in her
young heart, and became more and more the ruling pas-
sion of her life, with her growing years.

When Julia was about four years of age, a lady who
then lived in Charlotte, upon receiving a photograph of
her, placed it among a group of fallen Southern gen-
erals, which seemed to inspire her to write the following
verses :

^'A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM.'^

On our simple parlor wall.

Where the softest shadows lie,
And the golden sunbeams fall

With a glimmer as they fly.
Four pictured patriots stand.

Who, from out our Southern land.
Passed through death's tumultuous river.

To their recompense and rest.

Foremost, he, whose noble name.

To the future will go down
With a never fading fame.

And an ever glorious crown.

16 JVLIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

While the South her vigil keeps,
O'er her cherished dead, and weeps.

She will point to Stonewall Jackson
As her brightest and her best !

Next, that servant of the Lord

Who laid down his pastoral crook,
And the consecrated sword

In his sacred fingers took.
While his snowy robes remained

With their purity unstained;
And the God he worshipped took him

By a swift and glorious death. (Bishop Polk.)

Then the warrior brave and true,

Blamed by cruel tongues and crost
In his highest aims, who threw

For a mighty stake, and lost —
Broken-hearted, passed away

In the fiercest of the fray.
When the Martyr Sidney Johnston

Yielded up his gentle breath.

Never battled knight of old,

Never form in kingly guise
Clothed a manlier, merrier soul

Than this one, which smiling lies,
While the blue eyes beam so clear

That we almost wait to hear
Stuart's peal of mellow laughter

Like a rich bell fill the air !

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 17

In this group of mighty dead

Is a lovely little child,
With her sweet lips flushing red

And her soft eyes beaming mild.
On her baby brow appears

Sadness more than suits her years,
But it may be that the shadow

Of her father's grave falls there !

Calm and beautiful and wise,

In her rich yet simple dress,
And we gaze with glowing eyes

On her winning loveliness,
Feeling every Southern heart

In his child may claim a part
And pour out upon his daughter

All the love to him we bore !

Fairest little one, 'tis best

That around your tender feet

This pure band of spirits blest
In a guardian watch should meet.

While upon your gentle head

Your great father's glance is shed.

Which in life his features wore.

Oh ! much cherished child, if love
And most fervent prayers can bring

Eichest blessings from above
In your earthly path to spring.

18 JULIA JACK80N CHRISTIAN

May you know God^s perfect peace,
Till your life's long journey cease,

And your father's arms enfold you
On the ever blissful shore !

Mrs. Fanny Downing.

During Julia's visits, in childhood, to Lexington, she
was an object of special kindness and interest to Mrs.
General E. E. Lee. The following letter to the little
girl, accompanying a photograph of Mrs. Lee, which she
had tinted herself, and upon which she had inscribed her
autograph, shows the friendship between them :

"Lexington, Va., March 5th, 1872.
"You will think it strange, my dear little Julia, if you
have thought about it at all, why I have delayed send-
ing you the picture I promised you, but if you knew
how sick and helpless I have been all the winter, and
am even now, you would be surprised that I could use
either my pen or pencil. I hope you have not had such
weather as we have endured here — nothing but ice,
sleet and snow — and even now, we have the deepest
snow we have had all winter. The students have in-
dulged much in skating and snow-balling, and a great
many little girls, much smaller than yourself, would be
hours on the ice — the weather, too, being intensely cold
all the time. Several of the little girls have had parties,
which I am sure you would have enjoyed, had you been
here, and, altogether, they have had a gay winter, but
it has been a very sad one to me. I do not think I ever
spent so sad a Christmas, for, besides my own suffering,
then, my little granddaughter died. You did not see her,
I think, or you never would have forgotten her beautiful

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 19

face, and she was as good as she was beautiful. But now
she is one of the brightest cherubs around the throne of
God, and I will weep for her no more. Wliat have you
been doing all winter? Does your mamma teach you,
and are you fond of learning? You are her only child,
and you must learn all that is useful and excellent to be
a comfort to her, and to honor the memory of your
noble father. I was an only child, and how often I
sorrow to feel that I did not do more for my dear
mother, who spent her life in trying to teach me every-
thing I ought to know, especially my duty to my God
and Saviour.

"I fear you will find this letter dull for your gay
young heart, which now sees nothing in life but joy
and gladness. I well know it appears to you like a long
summer day, filled with all sorts of pleasures, and God
has given us so much that is beautiful — scattered flowers
all along our paths. For them and all other blessings,
we must thank and praise Him.

" Give my love to your mamma, and take for yourself
as much as you care to have from

Mary Custis Lee."

The memory and example of her father seemed to
become to Julia an inspiration just as soon as the forma-
tive influences of her character began to develop. She
had scarcely passed beyond childhood, when we find
her, without even a suggestion from any one else, copy-
ing from the private journal he had compiled at West
Point, the rules and maxims which he had chosen for his
guidance, afterwards adding to them many others,
chiefly from the Bible. Her favorite selections seemed

20 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

to be those inculcating self-control, bridling the tongue,
and doing good to others. Her note-book abounds in
such passages as these. ^'God is Love'^; "If you love me,
keep my commandments." Try to keep them all, but
especially remember the fourth, fifth and tenth, which
are oftener broken than the others. Always try to give
a reasonable answer for what you believe. "Judge not,
that ye be not judged." "Love your enemies," and
never speak evil of them. Always try to be polite to
everybody, especially the aged; and if any one is rude
to you, have respect enough for yourself not to return
the rudeness. "N'ever neglect duty for pleasure," and
then your heart will be at ease. Always try to remember
the golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you."

She was naturally generous and unselfish — traits in-
herited from her father, and no one ever possessed a
higher sense of justice, or greater scorn for all deceit
and meanness, and her own nature was so pure and
high-toned that she was not prone to suspicion, making
it difficult for her to penetrate the veil of innocence and
charity through which it was her wont to view humanity
in general.

As a little child, she was obedient, truthful and so
obliging, that one of her young uncles, who called upon
her ad libitum for his little errands about the house,
used to say, he believed she would run her little feet off
for anybody she loved. Her affection for this uncle,
Eev. Alfred J. Morrison, was extreme. She was about
fourteen, when he was cut down in the beginning of
his ministry, which, in virtue of his talents and conse-
cration, promised great usefulness. His death was

^0^^^^

i

^tV J

y

JULIA JACKSON
(Age 12 years)

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 21

Julia's first siperience in losing a loTed our, and her
grief was intense and pathetic.

When a child, she associated so much with grown
people, that her feeling of liberty and equality was, in
one instance, at least, productive of some annoyance, as
well as of amusement. The fiance of her young aunt
(who was a frequent visitor at the house), had wod
little Julia's heart, also, by his caressing attentions, and
she seemed to think that she was as much the object of
his attention, as the real magnet. During his visits, the
parlor was the most attractive place to her — little
dreaming how much she was in the way — and when the
lovers would take a buggy-drive, she was quite offended
at being left behind. The kind-hearted future uncle,
seeing how much she took it to heart, included her once
or twice in his invitations — unwelcome as her small
presence must have been. After the marriage, when
her aunt playfully twitted the little girl on having "cut
her out," she replied reproachfully: "Yes, you took
him from me V

After leaving the home of her grandfather, when she
was ten years old, her education was continued in Char-
lotte until she was about sixteen. During this period,
the most important event was her attendance, with her
mother, at Eichmond, upon the unveiling of the bronze
statue of General Jackson, which was presented to Vir-
ginia, by English gentlemen. She was then twelve years
old, and was so exceedingly shy, that the notice she
attracted on her father's account, gave her positive
suffering. When she was taken from my side, and unex-
pectedly to herself, held up on the platform, by Gov-
ernor Kemper, and presented to the gaze of the vast

22 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

multitude, as "Jackson's child," it was such a shock to
her sensitive, shrinking nature, that when she came back
to me, she was trembling all over, and begged to retire
at once to the privacy of our apartments, that she might
regain her composure. As she grew towards woman-
hood, she overcame her excessive timidity, and learned
to meet the attentions and courtesies paid her by her
father's admirers with the true graciousness and appre-
ciation which she felt in her inmost heart. Her strength
of will showed itself in this, as in all the developments
of her nature, which reflected so distinctly many of the
fine traits of her father's character.

About the age of fifteen years, she became a member
of the First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, the
church of her inheritance and of her choice, to which
she remained faithful as long as she lived. She had
great reverence for sacred things, and a sincere desire
to use her influence for good, but for a period, after
entering upon her bright, young girlhood, the attrac-
tions of the world, and the adulation she received, threw
around her a spell of worldliness, which made her more
negligent in her religious duties. A poet has truly said :

" 'Tis always so easy to wander
When our lives are glad and sweet."

Her environment of charming and captivating influ-
ences, was enough to dazzle even a stronger nature than
hers. But God, in his own good time and way, drew
her back of Him, and her later years w^ere marked by
unusual development in the divine life. She was de-
voted to music — being gifted in it herself, and learned

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 23

to play with much taste and expression. Her voice,
though not strong, was sweet and flexible, and, after
hearing an air, she caught it with wonderful quickness.
She was quite a reader, and improved her mind in
that way— it being one of the things she most loved to
do. She was especially fond of poetry, and had com-
mitted to memory many passages from Shakespeare,
Longfellow and other great poets. Adelaide Proctor
and Father Kyan were favorites with her, and she loved
many hymns.

In the last few years of her life, she seemed herself
to be inspired with the spirit of poesy, and left behind
her a number of fragmentary pieces, breathing senti-
ments of earnest piety, and aspirations after holiness
and consecration.

While she was kindly and gracious with her associates
in general, making friends wherever she went, she had
few real intimate friends, and still fewer confidants.
Like her father before her, she knew how to keep her
own counsel, and when a secret was entrusted in her
keeping, it remained there with as much sacredness
and safety as if it had been deposited in the grave. For
so young a person, she was remarkably prudent in speech
—self-reliant, and independent in thought and action.
But when she did love and trust a friend, she gave the
whole of her warm and loving heart, and no human
heart was ever more true and loyal than hers. She said
herself, that "when she loved once, she loved forever."
Her most devoted and intimate friend, whose acquaint-
ance began at school, said of her : "Even before I knew
her name, a sweet unselfish act of hers to me, then a
sick and homesick child, made me feel that among all

24 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

the strange faces surrounding me, hers was the one I
could learn to love ; and the friendship formed then was
onl}^ deepened and strengthened by time."

As Julia budded into womanhood, she lost much of
that pensive look that was so noticeable in childhood;
her countenance and manner, when in conversation,
being instinct with animation and vivacity; but when
in repose, her face usually assumed much of the same
old expression of pensiveness.

The last two years of her school-life were spent at
"The Southern Home School" in Baltimore — her
mother accompanying her, and boarding near the
school. The Baltimore Gazette published at that time
the following notice : "When the Jackson statue was
unveiled in Eichmond some years ago, after the pro-
cession and the oratory, Governor Kemper brought for-
ward upon the platform a slender little girl, and ad-
dressing the crowd of the old Confederate soldiers, said :
^Comrades, let me present to you the daughter of
^Stonewair Jackson.^ Somehow the tears sprang to
every eye at the sight of this delicate child of their
resistless leader. There was no cheering, but every
face showed deep emotion. Ever since that time a
tender and poetic interest has clung to this little lady,
and there are many thousands who care to know of her
well-being. She has recently arrived in this city, under
the care of her mother, who never loses sight of her and
who brings her to school. She has been entered at the
Southern Home School, Mrs. W. M. Gary and Mrs.
General Pegram, principals. Miss Julia Jackson is
about sixteen years old, medium height, slender and
graceful. She is blonde, with fresh color and fair hair.

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 35

Her eyes are of exquisite clear gray, large and expres-
sive. Her manners are gentle, but not shy or reserved.
There is a marked resemblance to her illustrious father,
and she seems hardly conscious of the distinction that
she enjoys, and of the romantic interest that she carries
with her."

Her school life in Baltimore was not marked by any
events of unusual occurrence. The first Christmas she
was there, the old Confederate soldiers of the city, who
had followed her father, presented her with a beautiful
silver pitcher. General Trimble making a handsome
presentation speech in behalf of the donors.

For a time, during her sojourn there, she displayed
great zeal in teaching a mission class in the Sunday
School of the church we attended. Finding one of her
pupils absent one Sunday, she determined to visit her
and bring her back, walking alone quite a distance to
an unknown and obscure part of the cit}^, her earnest-
ness and force of will carrying out her mission, causing
her to lose sight of any danger that she might herself
encounter in such an expedition.

Prior to her going to Baltimore, her health not
being as good as usual one summer, for her benefit, we
visited the Buffalo Lithia Springs in Virginia, and her
improvement was so great that the visit was repeated
the succeeding summer. From a pale-faced, delicate
looking girl, tlie waters of that remarkable spring trans-
formed her into a blooming maiden, and the beautiful
and healthful glow which she there acquired, continued
the rest of her life.

26 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

A lady with, whom we had been at the Springs after-
wards wrote this of Julia: "I can recall her so pleas-
antly as I saw her at Buffalo Lithia when she went
every morning to read to the old man who was not a
believer in the Bible, and she tried all she could to do
him good, carrying him flowers and dainties from the
table."

She made an agreement with her young gentlemen
friends to meet them at public prayers every morning,
if they would go.

About the close of her first year at school in Balti-
more, we attended the unveiling of a Confederate monu-
ment in Winchester, Virginia, and were welcomed and
entertained with all the graceful hospitality for which
that historic old town has ever been noted. It is need-
less to say the young school-girl was charmed, and the
most pleasant and grateful impressions were made upon
her heart by the kind attentions of her father's friends
and followers. Hers might have been called a charmed
life, with the rich heritage of tender interest and affec-
tion that hung over it. She fully appreciated and felt
grateful for all this, but I think it only increased her
humility and self-depreciation — feeling as she did, that
so much was expected of her father's child, and her
nature was so exceedingly sensitive and shrinking, that
the publicity and demonstrations she had to encounter,
were often more of a trial than a pleasure to her.

In May, 1881, when she was on the eve of leaving
school in Baltimore, we were invited to visit New Or-
leans, to witness the unveiling of a statue of General
Jackson, erected by his old soldiers, in the Southwest,
in Metairie Cemetery. In the Crescent City, the young

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 27

debutante was the recipient of more attentions and
graceful courtesies than she had ever received in her
life before — being feted in almost every conceivable
style, and having presented to her over a dozen badges
from the various military and civic associations. Every
military company, and the clubs of the city, gave us
receptions, and the former made us honorary members,
presenting elegantly framed certificates. The freedom
of the city was tendered to us, and no guests could have
been more royally entertained. The floral offerings
were truly things of beauty and exquisite works of art,
and the speeches that presented them glowed with
chivalry and eloquence.

At a reception held in our honor one evening, at the
St. Charles Hotel, a reporter made the following pen-
picture: "Miss Jackson, a fair, fresh blonde, with
beaming hazel (?) eyes, possesses a charming dignity
of manner, united with a girlish simplicity that is most
fascinating. She was attired in pure white, her only
ornaments being a miniature of her father, worn at her
throat, while upon her shoulder was fastened a badge
presented her by the army of Northern Virginia."

On our return to North Carolina, we stopped for a
brief visit to relatives in Mobile, where the citizens,
especially the military, seemed to vie with their neigh-
bors of New Orleans in giving us an ovation which,
although not on so large a scale, was equally cordial and
enthusiastic. The floral offerings in that sunny South-
land surpassed anything of the kind I had ever seen,
representing shields, banners, boats and various devices,
including Confederate and Union flags, and the perfect

38 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

inscription in flowers of the words, '' Stonewall Jackson,"
"Welcome," etc.

The soft, delicious air of those Gulf States in May,
the wealth of flowers and evergreens, the lovely drives
over shell roads, through magnolia groves, alongside the
bay, the delightful and refreshing sails and boat-excur-
sions, to which were added the charms and hospitality
of Southern societ}^ fill up the full measure of enjoy-
ment and enchantment.

During the few years after Julia left school until her
marriage, we were often birds of passage, she being fond
of travel and seeing new places and people. We paid
another charming visit to Xew Orleans, during the
mardi-gras season, which bound us in still closer ties
of affection and interest to its noble and warm-hearted
people. We also visited friends in Memphis, Atlanta
and Charleston; took a lovely trip through Florida one
winter ; went occasionally to Baltimore and Washington,
and traveled through the Northern States; but Vir-
ginia was, par excellence, the place of her preference,
and she spent the most time there; Richmond being
our headquarters. Several summers w^e visited the
Virginia Springs. Our winters were generally passed
in Richmond and our summers in Lexington. Virginia
possessed the charm of being her father's State, and for
his sake the Virginians claimed us as their own; but
nowiiere in the South could we go without meeting this
same protestation of interest and regard, the name of
^Stonewall' Jackson being a talisman that opened to
those who bore it every Southern heart and home. And
even in the North that name was enough to win for his
family a degree of kindness and hospitality that was as

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 29

gratifying as it was surprising — liberal-minded North-
erners claiming him, as they said, and feeling proud of
him as an American.

Among the best of the manifold blessings God gave
us, through his name, were many and delightful friends,
verifying the proverb: ^'A good name is rather to be
chosen than great riches.'^

Although Julia went into society a good deal and
with apparent zest and enjoyment, she was not perfectly
devoted to it, and often wearied of its demands upon
her. Her nature was too true and earnest to gain
content and happiness from the mere pleasure of the
world. She never indulged in card-playing, nor in
round-dancing, in deference to the wishes of her
mother, who regarded her person — as her Christian
father's child — with too much sacredness to be encircled
in the arms of any and every man. After reaching
maturity, the fatherless girl realized more and more
how great a calamity to her was tlie loss of her father.
Her very position as the daughter of so good and great
a man, revealed to her the need of his strong, supporting
arms, and no young heart ever yearned more for the
protecting care, guidance and fatherly love which she
had lost with him. Especially was this the case in
deciding the most momentous questions of her life.
She possessed the decision, bravery and physical cour-
age inherent in her race. Although she loved her
mother with all the depth of her heart, her strength
of will was so superior, and her nature so diverse, that
it was very difhcult for her to see things through the
same medium of that mother's eyes, and her independ-
ence sometimes led her to decide for herself, matters

30 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

which required all the matured judgment and experi-
enced wisdom of a parent. She always knew just what
she wanted, and when her mind was made up, she was
not given to wavering or change, but steadfastly and
resolutely abode by her decision — in minor matters as
well as in those of greater importance. Her heart and
nature were so imbued with courage, constancy and
determination, and she felt opposition and disappoint-
ment so keenly, that it inclined her mother's over-
weening love all the more to spare her from its embitter-
ing and depressing effects. But in the last few years of
her young life, her strong character softened and
sweetened, yielding the richest return of filial devotion,
deference and tenderest consideration that a mother's
heart could wish. She was naturally nervous and rest-
less, and full of latent energ}^ which needed only an
object to call it forth, and when it was put into exercise
her will to perform what she willed showed that she was
"a chip of the old block."

As an instance of this conquering spirit of perse-
verance, I may mention a simple incident that occurred
while Julia was visiting an aunt at Hampden Sidney,
Virginia. There were two institutions of learning there
at that time, and consequently plenty of beaux, whose
society she was just at the age to enjoy most, and whose
demands upon her time almost overwhelmed her with
engagements. But she resolved, in the midst of all
these social gayeties, to make a dress for herself. She
had never done anything of the kind in her life, and
one would have thought her as capable of making a
Chinese puzzle ; but, nothing daunted, she went to work
— cut, fitted, and actually made the whole dress with her

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 31

own fingers, without a machine, astonishing her
friends by her perseverance and success. When I after-
wards joined her at her aunt's, she came to meet me,
attired in a most becoming blue nun's veiling dress,
elaborately shirred, and well-fitting, and stylish enough
to do credit to a city dressmaker, and when she told me
it was her own work, my astonishment was beyond
measure. It was the more surprising to me because
I had always discouraged her in attempting either plain
or fancy work, on account of her not being robust in
childhood; and when she was permitted to do it, she
w^ould become so fascinated with her crocheting, that
she would never lay it down in the evening until she
w^as ordered to bed; then she would place it under her
pillow, and the moment her eyes were open in the
morning, she would resume her work, before rising. In
consequence of this inherited tenacity of purpose, I had
encouraged her in outdoor exercises and amusements,
with a view of invigorating her constitution, the result
being successful, for as she grew^ in years, she devel-
oped in strength and vigor.

In the year 1883, while Julia w^as visiting at Old
Point, an ex-Confederate soldier paid her the following
tribute :

"Jewel brightest, fairy belle.
Unto thee my heart I tell.
Lovely art thou in thy ways.
In thine eyes are witching rays.
Although our paths do lie apart.
Joyous be thy truest heart,

32 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

All the hours of thy pure life,
Cheerful, gay and without strife.
Know that for thy father's sake
Southern men do hold thee dearest,
Over all their maidens nearest,
Now and ever in their hearts."

On the 2nd of June, 1885, Julia Jackson was married
to Mr. William Edmund Christian, then a resident of
Eichmond, and a talented, cultured young gentleman,
who had by a long siege of devotion, won her whole
heart.

The ceremony took place in the Second Presbyterian
Church of Eichmond, Eev. Dr. Moses D. Hoge, the
pastor, and the Eev. William H. Christian, the father
of the groom, officiating. In taking this most important
step in her life, she did not consider herself alone, as
the following extract from a letter she wrote her grand-
father will show: "One thing that drew me to him
was his great kindness and regard for my mother. I
feel sure that he will do everything in his power to
make her life comfortable and happy, as well as my
own, and I trust we may all have a lovely home together,
and live useful. Christian lives. '^ Her most intimate
friend also said : "When Julia wrote me of her engage-
ment, I remember how earnestly she expressed her hope
that her marriage would give her mother a strong arm
to lean on — her leading thought seemed to be of her
happiness. And then, after her marriage, she invariably
wTote as if she was so thankful to be in her own home,
and to realize that the gay world had no longer a claim
upon her."

JULIA JACKSON
(as a Bride)

JUTAA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 33

The occasion of lier mnrriage called forth many testi-
monials of interest and affection from the old soldiers
and friends of General Jackson; the presents of silver,
china, bric-a-brac and various other things pertaining to
housekeeping were numerous and valuable.

After taking a Northern tour, the young couple, in
a short while, made a home for themselves in Richmond.
And now it was that the young, ardent little housekeeper
displayed the stuff she was made of, taking unbounded
pleasure in furnishing and beautifying her house. Her
lovely and elegant bridal gifts added greatly to the
adornment of her home, and were cherished souvenirs
with her. She was very ambitious to become a good
housekeeper, and studied and tested her cookery books.
When her entertainments were commended and ad-
mired, she received even more pleasure and gratification
than the guests, and her aim was ever to discharge her
domestic duties in the way to make her home the abode
of love and comfort. She was a true and loyal wife,
willing to make any sacrifice for her husband's best
interests, and when, before a year had ended, he was
tempted by brighter prospects to remove to the North-
west, she deemed it her duty to yield to his wishes, and
without a demur, gave up the bright little home she
had made, so much enjoyed, and brought to such per-
fection, packed away her furniture, and went with him
to St. Paul, Minnesota. They spent the summer of
1886 in the beautiful and growing twin-cities of St.
Paul and Minneapolis, and the succeeding autumn
found them on the Pacific coast, in San Diego, Cali-
fornia. The business prospects of that place were just
then unusually inviting, a real estate boom having

34 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

struck the little town, drawing an influx of people and
prosperity which was marvelous; but proved to be
equally ephemeral. In one year the population multi-
plied from twelve thousand to thirty thousand, and
buildings and business increased in proportion. But in
less than two years the big bubble burst, the collapse
throwing so depressed and discouraging an aspect upon
business affairs, that many of the strangers who had
been allured there by tlie dazzling prospects, returned
East, where things, though not moving with such
lightning speed, were nevertheless upon a more sub-
stantial and permanent basis. Among this train we
found ourselves, and in the autumn of 1888, after a
residence of two years in San Diego, we removed to
Charlotte, North Carolina. We did not, however, like
Naomi, return empty, but came back enriched with the
possession of two lovely little Calif ornians, who brought
more joy and sunshine into our lives than all the
wealth of the Golden State could have given us. In
Charlotte, Mr. Christian engaged in journalism, and
here Julia had the pleasure of collecting all of her
pretty Eichmond furniture together again, and making
a most attractive and comfortable home. Although
glad to get back among our own people once more, our
sojourn in California had been full of interest and of
much genuine enjoyment. The superb climate of glori-
ous sunshine and balmy sea breezes, the beauties of the
scenery, combining ocean and mountains, and the full-
ness and activity of life, caused by the springing up of
a city like a mushroom, made San Diego quite an inter-
esting place. The historic old town (for the original
settlement dates back over a century), became all the

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 35

more endeared to us as the birthplace of our precious
little children, and we made some warm friends there.
Julia loved that delicious, genial climate, with its
luscious fruits and flowers, describing it herself in a
letter as "The land of perpetual spring, with its constant
sunlight; the beauty and fragrance of its flowers that
cover the hills like Oriental rugs," and while there, she
almost lived in the open air. She had her horse and
buggy, and a large part of the first baby's life was
passed in driving around the town and country, her
mother saying she was "a fresh-air child," and certainly
both mother and babe showed the good results.

Maternity was the crowning influence to bring into
play and to develop all the noble, self-sacrificing and
sterling traits of Julia's character. Her elder child
was named Anna Jackson, but after the death of her
mother, the name of Little Anna was changed to Julia,
as a memorial by the husband and father. She always
called her "Baby-love," until the arrival of her boy, and
to my eyes, no picture could have been sweeter and
lovelier than that of the fresh, girlish-looking mother,
and the bright little rose-bud of a baby she held in her
arms. In my absence, the theme of Julia's letters was
Baby-love — her winning little ways, her mimicry and
her affection — saying: "She is such a little sunbeam.
Sometimes when she is almost asleep, she will raise
herself up and put up her little mouth to kiss me ; then
she nestles down and goes to sleep. I can never thank
my Heavenly Father enough for my little treasure."
"Baby-love is just sweeter, brighter, and prettier than
ever. She is so fond of music, that when she hears
singing, she sings, too, and when she hears the band

36 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

down the street, slie beats time with her little hand."
x\gain she wTote: ''You could not have given me more
gladness than by telling me that I had been a sweeter
daughter since m}^ marriage than I ever was before.
God grant that I may nevermore give you a pain. Keep
me in your heart; I know you will, darling, and pray
constantly that my strength may more abundantly in-
crease. A mother requires so much strength, mental,
moral and physical to rear a family. Anna, even at her
age, understands every word that is spoken to her, and
I want to keep my strength for my children." Her
most intimate friend said: "The last time I saw Julia,
she was absorbed in her children, and told me that ^Anna
already understood what the truth was, and inust speak
it.' Her own truthfulness was certainly one of her most
conspicuous traits, and she required it absolutely from
others.'^ She had taught Anna w4io made her, before
she could plainly speak the name of God, and before she
was two years old, to lisp her prayers at her mother's
knee. Her maternal heart was even more bound up in
her son, who was from his birth an uncommonly large,
promising child, and she felt that he must be her father's
representative. She gave him the full name of his
grandfather, Thomas Jonathan Jackson, but called him
simply Jackson, and her most earnest desire was that he
should indeed prove worthy of his priceless inheritance.
She consecrated both her children to the Lord in bap-
tism, and was resolved to bring them up for Him. In
a letter to a Christian friend, she expressed her desire
that her son should become a minister of the gospel.
She described him as her "splendid, bright, rollicking
boy, dimpled all over," and said her most ardent wish

JVLIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 37

for him was tliat ho sliould he like her father. She
intended, if she liad lived, to teach her chiklren herself,
until they were at least twelve years old, wishing to
imprint on them her best instructions in the formation
of their characters. She deeply realized her responsi-
bility as a parent, and was determined to train aright
the immortal souls whom God had entrusted to her
keeping.

Anna was baptized at the age of six months, in the
Presbyterian Church of San Diego, by the pastor, Eev.
Dr. W. B. Xoble. Jackson received the sacred rite in
his mother's arms, in her own home in Charlotte (being
sick at the time and not able to be carried to the
church), from the hands of Eev. Dr. A. W. Miller.
Although her husband stood by her side, Julia preferred
holding the child herself — his illness, and her fear of
losing him, making him doubly precious to her heart.
An eye-witness said: "I shall never forget her appear-
ance as she came into the parlor, bearing Jackson in
her arms and took her stand before the minister. She
looked so lovely, and her whole heart seemed to be in
the service. She was the impersonation of devoutness
and consecration." This was only three months before
she was herself translated to dwell among the angels.

During her last j^ear's residence in Eichmond, she
writes: "This morning I heard an eloquent sermon
from Dr. Hoge, and I wished for you. The text was:
The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but
those things which are revealed belong unto us and to
our children forever.' His explanation of God's with-
holding from us that which is beyond the grasp of our
minds, was truly convincing. Could we but be content,

38 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

resting upon our Father's faithful promises, we would
not ask for the veil of futurity to be drawn aside, know-
ing that God will lead us step by step through the
shadows and past temptations, until the breaking of
the morning light, and our star of faith is set in God's
own firmament." In writing to her mother upon the
death of a sister, she says : "Since the sad news came, I
have not ceased longing to comfort j^ou, for every pain
that comes into your heart, saddens mine, and your
grief is also mine. I know now that God purifies His
own until the spirit has life only in Him, and the flesh
no longer craves earthly pleasures. I know that when
in trouble, our Heavenly Father takes us close in His
enfolding arms and lifts us above the world.'' Knowing
her aunt's love for music, she sent an exquisite white
floral lyre for her casket.

When I was in Lexington one summer, she wrote me :
"How I should enjoy seeing those glory-crowned moun-
tains just as the sun is sinking behind them. As a
child, and then in my girlhood, I have loved those
mountains, especially as viewed from the cemetery,
standing like sentinels guarding the sacred resting place
of our dearest one.'' Again she wrote from Charlotte on
the last anniversary of her father's death which she
lived to see: "As this is Memorial Day, I have sent
what flowers I had to the graves of our brave soldiers.
How I wish I could place some upon my loved father's
resting-place! That God may spare you to me many
years, my darling mother, is my prayer this day." She
closed another letter by saying: "Be happy, dearest
of mothers, and trust our Father in Heaven. All is for
the best."

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 39

To her servants she was ever kind and just, and made
them her friends by her politeness and consideration.

In a letter to an aunt, she says : "You must not think
me unappreciative of your sweet thought of me on my
birthday, for you have never forgotten the day since my
earliest childliood ! I know your boys must be a great
pleasure to you, and I trust you may always find comfort
and happiness in them. Napoleon said that ^Men are
what their mothers make them,^ and it is certainly the
nohlest part of a woman's duty to rear her sons io the
nohlest aims hi life.^'

During the exposition at Minneapolis, where she lived
for a short time, she says: "I spent many charming
hours in the art-rooms, and I often wished that you
might be with me to enjoy the masterpieces of our
finest American artists, knowing your fondness for
everything pertaining to art."

At San Diego, which was her home afterwards, she
says : "Here we have the rare combination of mountain
and ocean, which is very beautiful; and each morning,
the islands rising mountain high in the midst of the
ocean, assume different shapes, owing to the peculiar
state of the atmosphere."

Another friend there was, that noble Christian
woman, Mrs. E. H. Brown of Eichmond, who never
forgot Julia's birthday during all her life, and never
failed to commemorate it with some little loving and
useful token.

In her quiet hours, when her maternal duties con-
fined her at home, especially on Sundays, she spent
much time in religious reading. She obeyed Christ's
injunction to search the scriptures — her own Bible bear-

40 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

ing marks of her close reading and application of
favorite passages. The sermons of Frederick W. Eobert-
son were a great delight and comfort to her, and many
were the interlinings she made upon his pages. There
seemed to be a peculiar sympathy and unison of feeling
between the two souls. Thomas a Kempis' "Imitation
of Christ/' she also read much, and it was marked in
the same wa}^ although she did not endorse his asceii-
cism, as the following will show: "Eise earl}-, watch,
pray, labor, read, write, be silent, sigli, and bravely
endure adversity,'' — she stroked out the word sigh and
substituted, "Be ever cheerful."

She believed it to be a duty, under all circmnstances,
to cultivate cheerfulness, the sentiment appearing in her
handwriting in a number of places in her note-book.
Upon the fly-leaves of "Imitation of Christ," she wrote
the following quotations :

"None is made great by the voice of human praise."
"We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;
in feelings, not in figures on a dial." "He most lives,
who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best."
"That man lives twice, that lives the first life well."
"Life is not measured by the time we live." "To live
in hearts we leave behind is not to die."

"Death but a path that must be trod,
If man would ever pass to God."

"Live to God : Do your duty. Notliing is too late till
the tired heart shall cease to palpitate."

"Peace is found in seclusion from the world. Separ-
ate from worldly affairs." "Let your thoughts be

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 41

directed to God." "Niglit brings out stars, as sorrow
brings out truths."

In another place she wrote: "An English divine has
beautifully portrayed the Christian as one on whose
clear and open brow God has set the stamp of truth;
one whose very eye beams bright with honor; in whose
very look and bearing you may see freedom, manliness,
veracity; a brave man; a noble man; frank, generous,
true."

"So close was his communion with his Heavenly
Father, that all trials were received with perfect sub-
mission, and no earthly pains had power to disturb that
calmness, that 'inner rest,' which is deep as summer
midnight, yet full of life and free as summer sunshine —
the Sabbath of eternity."

She then quotes from Mrs. Charles Kingsley's dedi-
cation to her husband (evidently for my benefit in
writing her father's life), words which are applicable
alike to both :

"Gentle and strong; modest and humble; tender and
true."

"To some it may seem treachery to lift the veil from
the iimer life of a man, Avho, while here, hated the
notoriety which he could not escape, and shrank from
every approach of egotism." (How true was this of
General Jackson !) "Continual resignation is the secret
of continual strength." Again are found resolutions
she had made "to hold communion only with Christ,"
and she speaks of the peace He gave her," when in
prayer He lifts my heart up to the grand contemplation
of Heaven's joys ! Oh ! the music of Heaven ! Tliere
is also a touching prayer: "Oh! Christ, let me lean

42 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

only on Thee; hide my poor little life in Thy great
love and life."

These are sacred, precious revelations, evincing her
rapid ripening for the full fruition of joy and glory,
upon which she was so soon to enter. She may have
had a presentiment that she would die early, but if so,
it cast no shadow or unhappiness upon her young life;
though she "armed herself with jealous care, as in God's
sight to live," she did so in brave cheerfulness, discharg-
ing her tender duties with promptness and fidelity; her
care and devotion to her children being the absorbing
occupation of her life. But this did not render her
indifferent or unmindful of outside obligations. She
was kind and generous to the poor and suffering. She
returned to Charlotte near the time of Thanksgiving,
but even after her long journey from California, and
with sick children, she did not forget to make her
offering in the form of a basket of tropical fruits to a
poor family. She imitated her father's system in
"tithing" her money, and after her translation, an
envelope was found among her effects, with this in-
scribed upon it by her hand : "Devoted to the Lord — in
case of my death, it must be given to suffering women
and little children."

Many other instances of her Christian consecration
might be cited, but only one more will be given to show
how her will was lost in that of her Heavenly Father.
A few years before her death, at a time when I feared
her life might be in danger, I told her how earnestly
I was praying for her safety, and asked her if she was
not also praying for the same end. Her reply was : "No,
mother, I only pray that God's will may be done."

JVLIA JACK80N CHRISTIAN 43

The scenes of her last illness and death are too har-
rowing to dwell upon, but for her children's sake a brief
outline will be given:

During the spring preceding, Jackson had a long and
serious illness, and she then wrote to a near connection :
"I have given the precious boy to God. If he spares his
life, I shall try to direct his mind so that he may doYote
his life to the Master. I can only say, 'Thy will be
done.' I have given him entirely to the Lord." This
illness of her cherished boy was such a strain upon both
her m^ental and physical strength, that she was much
broken down by it. Afterwards she went off several
times for a change, but in no instance did she stay long
enough to gain substantial benefit. Her last visit was
to Cleveland Springs but, feeling indisposed, she re-
turned at the end of a week, against remonstrance, to
seek that care and comfort which she found most to
abound in her own home.

That dread disease, typhoid fever, was then lurking
in her system, but she did not take her bed for another
week, and even after doing so, she seemed so slightly
ill for the first two weeks, that her physician hoped the
attack would prove a mild one. From the first, however,
my heart ,was weighed down with intense apprehension,
fearing she had not the strength to battle with an
insidious disease; but she was very cheerful, natural
and even playful at times — never having delirium or
any distressing symptoms. At first, to relieve the
tedium, she read some herself, but afterwards we read
to her, and she enjoyed listening almost to the last.
In the beginning she was interested in light literature,
but she often asked to have the Bible and hymns read to

44 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

her, gradually desiring nothing else, and she loved to
hear hymns sung. The last two chapters of Revelation,
which are descriptive of Heaven, had long been favorites
of hers, and she called for them repeatedly, but during
the whole of her illness, she did not speak of death,
and was calm and composed, showing only by her
increased devotion and delight in religious exercises,
that her mind was absorbed in spiritual things. But
after such a life as hers, no dying testimony was needed,
and nothing was said to her on the subject, feeling as
we did no anxiety on that score, and as long as there
was a thread of hope for her precious life, we durst not
break that thread by running the risk of the least
excitement. She was critically ill only the last week.
Almost every day the little children w^re brought to
her room for a brief visit, as it pleased and cheered
her so to see them. Several times Anna came in with
some offering, saying, "Mamma, I bought you a flower,"
and once it was an egg she had found, and which she
thought her dear mother could eat. Jackson was gener-
ally carried to a window in front of her bed, and shown
off to her by disporting himself (which he invariably
did) like a kitten, with a cord attached to the window-
shade. His mother delighted more in this picture than
any that came before her eyes. On the last day she spent
with us, which was the little fellow's first birthday, she
seemed specially to admire him in his playful glee, and
before he was taken out, she asked that he might bo
placed on the bed beside her, and slie was so perfect ly
herself, as she said : '^Jackson, you arc so sweet," and
she smiled so fondly and tenderly upon him, that \vc
could not realize that those were to be her last smiles on

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 45

earth. During her sickness she was particularly pleased
when flowers were sent to her, and a vase was kept all
the time within her view. The last night, when her
extreme prostration rendered her almost unconscious
of her surroundings, she said: ^'Gather the flowers,
all of them, and pile them up high" — showing the
purity and beauty of her thoughts.

To her agonized mother, she was from the first all
tenderness, gratitude and devotion, frequently asking
me to kiss her, and telling me how much she loved me.
Once she said : "You do too much for me, darling, more
than I am worth."

As gently and peacefully as an infant sinks to slumber,
her pure and blessed spirit took its flight to that
Heavenly Home where her father's arms were doubtless
waiting to receive her on the morning of the 30th of
August, 1889.

Here my full heart would fain stop, but it is due to
her dear memory, w^hich called forth so many testi-
monials of love and esteem from friends far and near,
to weave them in as a part of her history.

A year or two before her last illness, and wben she
was in her usual health, she requested me, in case of
her death, to have her buried by her father's grave in
Lexington. Her wish was, of course, carried out, but
before leaving Charlotte, a funeral service was held in
the First Presbyterian Church. The following account
in the place where she breathed her last, is from a Char-
lotte newspaper :

"The funeral services were conducted at the First
Presbyterian Church, with military honors. All the

46 JVLIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

stores in town were closed in her honor, and thousands
came to pay a last tribute to her memory.

"The floral decorations in the church were magnifi-
cent.

"In the midst of vases of the most beautiful flowers,
and covered with floral wreaths and crosses, was placed
the casket, directly in front of the pulpit.

"Most conspicuous of all was the Confederate flag,
suspended from the great arch in the rear of the pulpit,
its lower folds caught up and held slightly by spans of
ivy. This same old flag had enfolded the body of the
gallant father in the last funeral rites, and was unfurled
once more over the remains of his only daughter. The
pulpit was almost concealed beneath a profusion of
w^hite roses and grasses. On either side of the pulpit,
guns were stacked and entwined with vines and flowers.
Crossed swords covered with roses added to the effect of
the scene. Just below, and in front of the pulpit, was
^Stonewall' Jackson's sword, wTeathed in roses. The
Hornets' Nest Riflemen, with flag all tattered and torn
in Confederate service and draped in crape, acted as a
guard of honor. The church was filled to overflowing,
when in soft, mournful strains, the choir opened the
services by singing 'De Profundis' — ^Out of the depths
have I cried unto Thee, 0 Lord.' After prayer, and the
reading of the first part of the 19th Psalm, the choir
again sang: '^0 God, our help in ages past.' Eev.
Edward Mack and Eev. E. C. Eeed, delivered brief, but
feeling and appropriate addresses, the former taking
for his text: *Let me die the death of the righteous
and let my last end be like his.'

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 47

"The final hymn sung was : "^How blest the righteous
when he dies/

"The silver plate on the casket bore this inscription:

" 'Born November 23rd, 1862,
Julia Jackson Christian,
Died August 30th, 1889/ "

A private car was tendered by the Eichmond and
Danville Eailroad, and the day following, we started
on our sad, sad mission, and her precious remains w^ere
laid to rest by her father^s side, on Sunday, the 1st of
September. A Lexington paper gives the following :

"As the procession moved up town (from the depot),
the tolling bell solemnly vibrating, the sorrowful cortege
and the crowd of bowed heads, made a scene of marked
sadness. The casket, in which rested all that was niortal
of 'Stonewall's' child, was taken to the Presbyterian
Church, and placed at the chancel. Choice flowers, the
offerings of friends, came from all sections to cover her
over. The silent visitors and Confederate heroes that
reverently passed the bier in the dim soft light, im-
pressed all with the solemnity and quietness of death.
A sweet expression had left the countenance as if in
repose, and those who availed themselves of taking one
last look at the sweet face, shed tears of sorrow." One
remarked that it was 'like beautiful wax w^ork,' in its
purity and transparency — the body having been em-
balmed, was perfectly preserved.

"A detail of prominent citizens, representing the
friends and old soldiers, guarded the remains through

48 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

the night watch. Sunday morning the church was
crowded with the members of all denominations from all
walks of life, the old soldiers being specially noticeable.
After the choir sang a voluntary, 'Abide with me/ the
pastor, Eev. Dr. T. L. Preston, opened the services with
prayer, followed by hymn 193: 'Come to Jesus.' A
prayer by Eev. Dr. E. D. Junkin was a most touching
and earnest appeal to the throne. Dr. Preston preached
a practical, appropriate sermon, and his remarks touch-
ing upon the personal and religious character of the
deceased, brought tears into the eyes of many. He said
that no hamlet, village, town or city in the Confederacy
was in deeper sorrow than Lexington to-day at the death
of this child of 'StonewalF Jackson. He said, 'they have
brought her here to rest under the shade of the trees,
to be guarded by the tender affection, love and reverence
of a patriotic people, who honor the illustrious name of
her distinguished father.' As the funeral procession
moved out of the church, the choir sang, 'Asleep in
Jesus,' in a most touching manner."

Some weeks after her burial, we found in a Bible a
request in her handwriting that the hymn, "I heard the
voice of Jesus say, come unto me and rest," should be
sung at her funeral, but the discovery was not made in
time to fulfill her wish, which otherwise would have
been sacredly regarded.

At the cemeter}^, as the daughter was laid where she
had wished to sleep, beside her father, the plaintive notes
of "Kock of Ages," added a solemnity that was felt in
the sternest hearts. Many battle-scarred veterans of the
Confederacy, with heads bowed, in tears, watched the
remains laid at rest. The grave was covered with

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 49

wreatlis, bouquets, crosses, and at the lieatl, a pillow in
white roses, on which was set in purple flowers: "Julia."
A large cross sent from Eichmond adorned General
Jackson's grave.

The following appeared in several papers :

"JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN."

"The death of no other private individual could, have
excited the great interest and caused the pangs of deep
regret over the wide expanse of this Southern country
that the one we to-da}^ record produces.

"No other reminder so sad could have come to the
old soldiers, or to the admirers of ^StonewalP Jackson
as the death of his only child. The children of great
men, usually, only have the association in the minds
of the people as being the offspring of their parents.
But in Julia Jackson's case it was different. Her tender
years, and her extreme infancy at the time of the death
of her father, the touching and peculiar circumstances
of his last sight of her; his death in the maturity of his
fame and in the very zenith of his renown, and amidst
his heroic deeds; the crisis and decline of the cause; all
tended to draw the attention of his men to his infant
child, and in the minds and affections of his scarred and
battle-worn heroes, she became the 'Child of the Lost
Cause.' She has always held a place in their esteem
and has excited an interest and commanded a respect
from the Confederate veterans which has been accorded
to no other person outside of the army itself.

"She, too, has 'passed over the Eiver' and sleeps —

50 JVLIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

rests in the sweet, still repose of our beautiful valley
beside the remains of her illustrious father, at the home
he loved so well in life."

From the Central Presbyterian.

"JULIA JACKSON CHEISTIAK

"There are strains of music wonderfully beautiful,
which yet seem incomplete. They touch within us
chords unreached by more finished compositions; they
arouse desires, aspirations, for we know not what, some-
thing beyond, above us, something vaguely beautiful.
We strive to put ourselves in the artist's place; we have
a great, wild yearning to know more of his idea ; to know
why he left unfinished this thing of wondrous beauty —
why the thought seems suggested only — to lie forever in-
complete. Such to human eyes seems the life which
has just ended — the life over which a nation mourns —
that of Julia Jackson. None but those who knew her
well had any conception of the immense possibilities
within her. Talents of very high order lay concealed,
talents, which developed, might have made for her a
name independent of the great name she bore because
of her father's deeds. It might well be said to be the
irony of fate that her inherited gTeatness should have
stood in the way of her personal development. Had
she been the daughter of an obscure man, had she
lived a quiet life and been, from earliest years, less the
nation's darling, few women of our country would have
stood out more conspicuously for grandeur of character,
and, perhaps, for literary fame. Her father's noble char-

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 51

acter was distinctly hers. Truth, generosity, fortitude,
bravery, an abhorrence of meanness, large capacity for
self-denial — these were the distinguishing traits of her
whom sorrowing friends have just laid to rest. Were
not all these conspicuous in our own loved Southern
hero? She was not called to fight on battle-fields for a
country's freedom, but there are silent conflicts in every
life, battles to be fought and won, in which gentle
women are called to prove their heroism. But the lyre lies
broken — the strain is unfinished. The beauty of the .life,
the noble thoughts it inspired are only a memory. Will
it never be finished ? Ah ! yes, now that the ashen gar-
ments have fallen, she can 'resume the broken strain,
without let or thrall.^ Now she will know as she is
known; now, seeing no longer through a glass darkly,
but face to face with the Saviour she so much loved, she
will be transformed into the same image from glory to
glory. Day by day — hour by hour — she will grow more
like Him, and the development for which we longed,
which was so confidently expected, will be broader,
wider, deeper than had ever been dreamed of. At best,
here the life could have been but imperfect; there it
will reach infinite perfection.

"Quietly the body lies sleeping amid the everlasting
hills of beautiful Lexington, close to her father, cov-
ered with flowers, the last tribute of love and friendship.
Unfinished we call her life, cut off in the midst of beau-
tiful, useful womanhood. But the Master artist leaves
nothing incomplete. The music begun here will be
finished there, gloriously, perfectly.

"How we love to dwell on the resurrection morning,
when this mortal shall have put on immortality, this

52 JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

corruptible incorrnption; when, without fault or blem-
ish, we shall behold our loved ones — complete at last,
clothed in the Saviour's righteousness, perfect as He is
perfect." "M."

"OX THE DEATH OF ^STONEWALL' JACKSON'S
DAUGHTEE.

"She peacefully sleeps by the warrior's side.

This child of the warrior's love ;
While ^the Mother of States' weeps in sorrow again.

The angels are chanting above.

The father and child are united forever,

The spirit from bondage God frees.
On wings of his love she has "^crossed o'er the river,'

And rests ^neath the shade of the trees."

(Mrs. Wm. Jones in "Atlanta Constitution.")

Many letters of condolence were received from Con-
federate officers, widows of officers, old soldiers, friends
and strangers. Also a number of military associations,
including the E. E. Lee Camp, the Eichmond Howitzers,
Grand Camp of Norfolk, First Alabama Eegiment, Com-
panies of New^ Orleans, Georgia, and perhaps other
States, sent resolutions of respect and sympathy, all
couched in language of devoted loyalty and love for
the memories of both the father and daughter. The
number of these tributes was so large that only a few
extracts are culled from them, those relating to Julia
alone. The first is from the pen of a yoimg man of
Eichmond :

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 53

"I was on the ocean when I saw in a paper the
announcement of the death of your sweet and beloved
daughter. My wish was that 1 might be on land, in
order to get to Lexington and be among those who paid
their last tribute to her memory. It is customary, in
speaking of such assemblages, to call them 'the last
tribute,' and yet I know, in this instance, there can be
no *last tribute' paid to the memory of the beautiful
young spirit whose sphere of existence has been changed
in accordance with a divine plan, for to mention her
name hereafter will be to pay her tribute, and with me
the last tribute can only be paid when I have ceased to
live. I have recalled for my gratfication, over and over
again, the recollection of her when she lived in Rich-
mond. Her friendship I prized as a cherished posses-
sion. Her gentle and unselfish nature, her sunny pres-
ence, her charity of mind, impressed me from the first,
and more intimate acquaintance with her but deepened
these impressions, so that I have looked upon her friend-
ship as gainful to me in the highest sense. How true
and loyal she was to all that was good, noble and gener-
ous, was not better known than I knew it."

The next is from a Presbyterian minister: "You
know how fond I used to be of little Julia — and of Miss
Julia — and how I have always admired and thought
much of your lovely and remarkable child, whether
under these names or her married title. I am sure you
remember how, when she was a little thing in Lexington,
she one day sprang into my lap (with the decision and
celerity of the General himself), when she saw me hiding
my face in my hands and pretending to cr}^, and then

54 JVLIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN

threw her arms around my neck and kissed me ! I can
see her before me now as she rode up to me one day on
Eex, and asked me to name him for her. The name I
suggested did not comport with her ideas of his nobility.
It was Miss Mildred Lee (was it not?) who afterwards
hit upon his felicitous appellation. Maybe you can call
to mind a conversation you and I once had about Julia,
in which I ventured upon a minute description between
the color of her eyes, and of her father^ s, to which you
yourself assented. What a wonderful resemblance to be
sure there was between them, not only in outline and
expression of the countenance, but in traits of mind
and character. I have lost a true and valued friend —
in some respects the living image of the immortal man
who was your husband ! But — what is my loss to yours ?
Absolutely nothing. May God comfort and strengthen
you!

"The secret of eternity contains many a lesson of
Christ's discipline of his saints on the earth; and many
a sweet, a noble, a precious, a rarely gifted and promis-
ing life was arrested, that it might be resumed and
rounded out in heaven. '^

A young cousin of hers wrote: "When I think of
Julia, as I can remember her, from the time she was a
baby in Hetty's arms, to the last time I saw her, looking
so pretty and blooming, she seems to me one of the
sweetest and noblest of women. I can recall so many
incidents of our childhood, so characteristic of her
truthfulness, her purity of mind, her generosity, and
her ardent, affectionate nature."

The next is from a friend of her girlhood: "That

JVLIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 55

the beautiful, joyous, radiant young life, that on my
wedding day threw its gladness around me for the l?pt
time, has gone above, to shine forth more beautiful and
radiant than ever, I cannot realize. I shall always
think of her in the fresh bloom of girlhood, her eyes
sparkling, her cheeks aglow with health and happiness,
surrounded by a room full of admiring friends. I seem
to hear the quick, bright answer with which she met
each remark. The impression she made in Charleston
then makes her death not only a national sorrow, but a
personal one to many. Some day, we know not how
soon, we, too, will join

"Earth's pure-hearted ones, walking in white,
Under the shade of the trees.''

A mother who had a similar bereavement, wrote:
"What strange creatures we are! As a maiden, when
she received so many public demonstrations of interest
and admiration, every Southern heart thrilled with pride
and pleasure. Now, when she is called by the King of
Kings, to be crowned with immortal beauty and glory,
and to meet the sainted father, whose last smile rested
upon her infantile face, our heads are bowed in sorrow,
and we question the goodness of God, in taking one so
young, and so essential to the happiness of others."

A yoimg ministerial friend said: "Her life was one
which developed very rapidly the Christian graces, and
her spiritual womanhood seemed to have quickly ma-
tured, so that she was being prepared for her early
exchange of earth's trials for Heaven's blessedness and

56 JULIA JACK80N CHRISTIAN

glory. I have often thought of the father's glad wel-
come to his ^darling.' "

From St. Paul and Minneapolis comes the next. One
lady with whom she lived in the same house, said : "I
never admired and loved any one I ever met in my life
more than I did your darling daughter."

Another wrote: "I learned to love her sweet, bright
face, and winsome manners, when she lived across the
way from us. I shall always be glad that I knew her,
even for a little while. '^

A warm Southerner in Minneapolis: "Thousands,
who never saw her, are mourning for her to-da}^, for
the daughter of our immortal chieftain is enshrined
in the heart of every loyal Southerner, and in their
sorrow for her, they mourn afresh the loss of their
beloved General, and bury again that precious Lost
Cause. We, who were privileged to know her, have a
deeper sting to our grief, and mourn in personal bereave-
ment. We all remember her with so much pleasure —
her fair face; her lovely character. She was one of
those precious ones whom we take into our hearts and
weave into our lives. Her loss is great and far-reaching,
for though Faith clasps the promise, and Hope points
upward, yet our hearts are heavy, and our sunshine
darkened."

Our California friends also showed their sorrow for
lier, one saying: ''I can recall the gentle, kindly, love-
able woman, and I feel sure that 'oi such is the King-
dom of Heaven.' 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for

JULIA JACKSON CHRISTIAN 57

they shall see God.' Heroic husband and beloved
daughter are united. I belieye that you can see

"The stars shine through your cypress trees.''

Another wrote : "In expressing my heartfelt sympa-
th}', I only give voice to the same sorrow that reigns
tliroughout the South — a sorrow that is as deep as was
the love for General Jackson."

Our pastor, Eev. Dr. Miller, wrote from London, and
after expressing his profound sorrow and sympathy,
went on to say: "That Sunday afternoon scene in your
home, when she stood up before me and presented her
l)abe for baptism, has been frequently before my mind
since, and contemplated with a tender pleasure. Would
that I could have had the sad privilege of ministering
to her through the closing scene ! But I know that the
Angel of the Everlasting Covenant was with her, com-
forting her with sweet assurances of His presence and
His love, and, folding her in His gentle arms, bore her to
His happy home above. I felt a deep interest in her,
not only for her dear mother's and illustrious father's
sakes, but as being a lamb of my flock, received by me
into the full communion of the church, a precious lamb,
to whom was given the Shepherd's tender love. And the
dear little lambs she left ! Oh ! may the gracious Heav-
enly Father watch OA'er them ever with a yearning affec-
tion, guard them unceasingly from every snare, and lead
them into the green pastures and beside the still waters
of His church above, is the prayer of their loving
pastor."

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