Octavia Walton Le Vert
[Also sometimes spelled LeVert or Levert] (August 11, 1810 – March 12, 1877), née Octavia Celestia Valentine Walton, was an American socialite and writer. She became one of the first female southern writers to achieve national recognition. Although largely faded from history today, she was a well-known figure during her own time. From the 1830s through the 1850s she was noted for hosting gatherings of prominent politicians, noted literary figures, and professionals of all types. She was friends with a variety of prominent 19th century figures.
She was born in
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...
, and moved with her parents to
Mobile, Alabama, in 1835, where she married Dr. Henry Strachey Le Vert in 1836. During her travels to Europe she was presented at the courts of several countries. She also received an audience with the Pope during her time there. Following her last European tour and return to the United States, she took on a role in the successful national campaign to purchase and restore
Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...
, the home of
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
.
Following the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, with her husband dead and much of her fortune gone, she returned to her birthplace of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
and embarked on an ultimately unsuccessful lecture tour.
She was posthumously inducted into the
Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1990.
Early life
Octavia Walton was born on August 11, 1810 at her maternal grandmother's home,
Belle Vue, near Augusta, Georgia. Her parents' first home,
Meadow Garden, was nearby. Her parents were George Walton Jr. and Sally Minge Walker. George Walton, Jr. was educated at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, eventually becoming a prominent lawyer and
Georgia state representative.
Sally Minge Walker was from a socially prominent Georgia family. Octavia Walton was the oldest of two children. Her younger brother, Robert Watkins Walton, was born in 1812.
Her paternal grandparents were
George Walton, Sr. and Dorothy Camber. George Walton, Sr. was a signer of the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...
,
Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, second
Governor of Georgia, and later a
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
.
Her maternal grandparents were George Walker and Elizabeth Talbot. The Walker family plantation, Belle Vue, is now a part of
Augusta University. George Walker served in the
Georgia General Assembly during the late 18th century and later in the
Georgia House of Representatives
The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. ...
before dying at age thirty-eight in 1804.
Octavia was taught at home by her mother and paternal grandmother in a variety of subjects, and she and Robert were also tutored in science and Latin by a Scottish teacher. She showed a unique comprehension of languages at an early age. She mastered French and Spanish and could speak Italian before reaching puberty.
George Walton, Jr. was appointed Florida's first territorial secretary in 1821, taking his family with him to
Pensacola
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...
. Octavia is known to have assisted her father by translating French and Spanish documents into English.
During her father's long tenure in Florida, her mother frequently took the children on tours along the
Eastern Seaboard. Historians and literary scholars believe that it was during one of these trips in the late 1820s that she encountered
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
, with whom she continued correspondence until his death.
After her death a poem, the text of which was authenticated as being written in Poe's hand, was found in one of her personal albums. The date "May 1, 1827" was written in her hand on the poem.
During another East Coast trip during the early 1830s Walton met
Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...
while traveling on a
stagecoach. The two became friends and remained so until Irving's death. Irving encouraged the young woman to use writing to express herself. She spent several seasons in Washington, D.C.. During this time she attended congressional debates and met
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison ...
,
John C. Calhoun, and
Henry Clay, becoming friends with all three, but developing an especially close friendship with Clay.
Marriage
Following the completion of his term in 1834, George Walton, Jr. moved his family to Mobile, Alabama in 1835. Here Octavia Walton met Dr. Henry Strachey Le Vert, the son of a French physician who served as General
Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau
Marshal Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, 1 July 1725 – 10 May 1807, was a French nobleman and general whose army played the decisive role in helping the United States defeat the British army at Yorktown in 1781 during the ...
's field surgeon during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. They married in 1836.
Her father was elected as the 11th
Mayor of Mobile the following year.
The Le Verts settled into a large circa 1827 home, expanding it into a mansion in 1847. It was located at the corner of St. Emanuel and
Government streets in Mobile. Here she excelled as wife, mother, hostess, and manager of the household.
The couple had five children: Octavia Walton Le Vert, born on November 20, 1836; Claudia Anna Eugenia Le Vert, born on May 22, 1838; Sally Walker Walton Le Vert, born on April 6, 1841; a stillborn son in 1844; and Henrietta Caroline Le Vert, born on December 6, 1846. Only Octavia and Henrietta would survive into adulthood.
![Madame LeVert House 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Madame_LeVert_House_01.jpg)
Octavia Le Vert, by this time more commonly known as Madame Le Vert, began hosting lavish parties at her home for Mobile society and encouraging the development of music and the arts in the city. During this time she entertained at her home the likes of
Frederika Bremer
Fredrika Bremer (17 August 1801 – 31 December 1865) was a Finnish-born Swedish writer and feminist reformer. Her ''Sketches of Everyday Life'' were wildly popular in Britain and the United States during the 1840s and 1850s and she is re ...
,
James Buchanan,
Joseph Jefferson,
Lajos Kossuth, and
Alexander H. Stephens
Alexander Hamilton Stephens (February 11, 1812 – March 4, 1883) was an American politician who served as the vice president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, and later as the 50th governor of Georgia from 1882 until his death in 1 ...
. Her literary correspondents included
Edwin Booth,
Edward Everett
Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865) was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Mass ...
,
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...
, and
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely tran ...
. She was Buchanan's special guest at a ball in honor of the
Albert Edward,
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
.
One of her closest friends,
Lady Emmeline Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie
Lady Emmeline Charlotte Elizabeth Stuart-Wortley (née Manners; 1806 – 20 October 1855) was an English poet and writer, best known for her ''Travels in the United States, etc. During 1849 and 1850''. She was editor of ''The Keepsake'' volumes ...
, wrote several pages about her as Madame L. V___ in her book, ''Travels in the United States'', following a visit to Mobile in 1850. She noted that Le Vert had still not recovered from the shock of losing her children and visited their graves with her. Noting two
drawing room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th cent ...
portraits of the lost Le Vert children in the home, she wrote that they suggested a poem that she included in the Mobile entry.
Encouraged by Lady Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, Le Vert embarked on a tour of Europe in 1853 with her husband and oldest daughter. While there she visited the courts of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, Spain, and Italy. She was presented to
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
of the United Kingdom by Lady Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie.
In 1855, she was appointed by the
Governor of Alabama,
John A. Winston, to serve as the state's commissioner to the
Exposition Universelle in Paris. She was the Exposition's only female commissioner.
While on this European trip she met
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
and
Pope Pius IX.
Upon her return to the United States she wrote an account of her travels and her experiences with European high society, entitled ''Souvenirs of Travel''. It was published in 1857 and went through five printings in her lifetime.
Her visit to the former home of the Italian poet
Ludovico Ariosto and seeing how well it had been preserved inspired her to join the cause of saving Washington's Mount Vernon estate in Virginia. She joined the
Mount Vernon Ladies' Association and was appointed as the fourth vice regent in 1858, serving until her death.
Later life
Le Vert's life took a turn for the worse with the outbreak of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. She was not a strong supporter of the
secession
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
of Alabama from the United States and had conflicted feelings towards the institution of
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. Once war broke out, however, she and her daughters served as nurses in the
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
hospitals.
Her husband died in Mobile on March 15, 1864, and was interred in
Magnolia Cemetery alongside their children.
It was widely known that she gladly received the news of the end of the war and then entertained occupying
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
soldiers in her home following the
surrender of Mobile. This caused her to be ostracized by many in the city, who saw her as a traitor.
Her fortune was gone after the war and she soon left Mobile for good. She visited New York City and Washington, D.C., but eventually returned to her birth state of Georgia and attempted a lecture tour. She took up residence in Augusta on
Monte Sano Avenue near the corner of Bellevue Avenue, a block away from her grandparents' former Belle Vue estate. She also wrote ''Souvenirs of Distinguished People'' and ''Souvenirs of the War'', but neither book was ever published. In the end, she was forced to depend on the charity of her cousins. Le Vert died in Augusta on March 12, 1877, and was buried in the Walker Family Cemetery on the grounds of the Augusta Arsenal.
A later owner of her Monte Sano Avenue home dubbed the wood-frame house as "Chateau Le Vert". It was demolished during the 1960s.
Notes
Popular culture
Josef Gung'l wrote a polka
Levert Polka and dedicated it to Mrs. Octavia Walton LeVert.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Vert, Octavia Walton
1811 births
1877 deaths
American non-fiction writers
American socialites
Writers from Augusta, Georgia
Writers from Mobile, Alabama
Writers from Alabama
19th-century American women writers
19th-century American writers
American women non-fiction writers