60  The Pickens Family This young man was full of the liveliest gratitude for his fair nurse; gratitude gave birth to a more tender sentiment; his suit was listened to; Governor Pickens gave his consent, and the marriage was fixed for April 23rd, 1864. Lieut. de Rochelle was on duty at Fort Sumter in the morning, and it was determined that the ceremony should take place at the residence of Gen. Bonham at seven o'clock. At the moment when the Episcopal clergyman was asking the bride if she was ready, a shell fell upon the roof of the building, penetrating to the room where the company was assembled, burst and wounded nine persons, among them Miss Pickens.      The scene that followed cannot be described. Order being at last established, the wounded were removed with the exception of the bride who lay motionless on the carpet. Her betrothed leaning and bending over her, was weeping bitterly, and trying to staunch the blood that flowed from her terrible wound under the left breast. A surgeon came, and declared that Miss Pickens could not live but two hours. We will not paint the general despair.      When the wounded girl recovered her consciousness she asked to know her fate, when they hesitated to tell her. "Andrew, she said, "I beg you to tell me the truth; if I must die, I can die worthy of you." The young soldier's tears were his answer, and Miss Anna, summoning all her strength attempted to smile. Nothing could be more heart-rending than to see the agony of this brave girl struggling in the embrace of death, and against terrible moral pain.      Gov. Pickens, whose courage is known, was almost without consciousness and Mrs. Pickens looked upon her child with dry haggard eyes of one whose reason totters.      Lieut. de Rochelle was the first to speak. "Anna," he cried, "I will die soon too, but I would have you now die my wife. There is yet time to unite us."      The young girl did not reply. She was too weak. A slight flush rose for an instant to her pale cheek, it could be seen that joy, and pain were struggling in her spirit for the mastery. Lying upon a sofa her bridal dress all stained with blood, her hair disheveled, she had never been more beautiful. Helpless as she was, Lieut. de Rochelle took her hand and requested the Rev. Dr. Dickerson to proceed with the ceremony. When it was time for the dying girl to say yes, her lips parted several times, but she could not articulate. At last the word was spoken, and a slight foam rested upon her lips. The dying agony was near. The minister sobbed as he proceeded with the ceremony. An hour afterwards all was over, and the bridal chamber was the chamber of death."      (Note--A pretty romance, but it is said by some that it is not a true story.)

61  THE PICKENS FAMILY      E  ELIZA SMITH PICKENS, daughter of Gov. Francis W. and Margaret Eliza Simpkins Pickens, born 1833 and died 1895, married Dr. Sticker Coles. Information here is not complete but it is said that they had children as follows: F  Marion Pickens Coles, F  Julia Sticker Coles, F  John Sticker Coles.      MARION PICKENS COLES, daughter of Dr. Sticker and Eliza Pickens Coles is the wife of Stewart Phinizy.      JULIA STICKER COLES, daughter of Dr. Sticker and Eliza Pickens Coles married John L. Stovall. She died in 1913.      JOHN STICKER COLES, son of Dr. Sticker and Eliza Pickens Coles married Helen Iredell Jones. - 0 -      E  REBECCA PICKENS, daughter of Gov. Francis W. and Margaret Eliza Simpkins Pickens married John E. Bacon in St. Petersburg, Russia. Mr. Bacon was secretary to the legation at court while Francis W. Pickens was minister to Russia. -----They had the following children; F  Eliza Bacon, F  John E. Bacon, F  Francis Pickens Bacon. - 0 -      F  FRANCIS PICKENS BACON, son of John E. and Rebecca Pickens Bacon is living in Tryon, N.C., and is a prominent citizen there. He is serving as state senator from his home county. He married Miss Anna Livingston Mines of New York City, who died in 1930.      E  FRANCIS PICKENS, son of Gov. Francis W. and Margaret Eliza Simpkins Pickens, died young and was buried in the Simpkins graveyard at Edgefield county, S.C.      E  ELDRED PICKENS, son of Gov. Francis W. and Margaret Eliza Simpkins Pickens died in Childhood and was buried in the Simpkins graveyard in Edgefield county, S.C.      E  SUSAN PICKENS, daughter of Francis W. and Margaret Eliza Simpkins Pickens of Edefield, S.C., has never been located by the writer. - 0 -      The only child, a daughter of Governor Francis W. and Marion Dearing Pickens was; E  Jeannie Pickens.      JEANNIE PICKENS, daughter of Governor Francis W. and Marion Dearing Pickens, married Mitchell Whaley.

62  THE PICKENS FAMILY      D  Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens and his third wife, Lucy Holcombe, were married just before hi left the United States as Minister to Russia in 1858. Some historians tell us that Lucy Holcombe was a "Texas beauty," while others say that she was a Kentucky girl. However all agree that she was a beautiful and accomplished woman. Francis W. Pickens and his wife were both very popular at the court of the Czar of Russia.      While at St. Petersburg, their only child, a daughter, was born, and she has always been known as: E  Douschka Pickens.      It is aid that Douschka is the Russian language means "little darling" and was only a pet name. Some historians give her real name as Eugenia Olga Nova, after the Duchesses Olga and Nova, her Russian god others, while other give her name as Franceska.      The following is take from a Chicago, Ill. newspaper: ROMANTIC CAREER OF DOUSCHAK PICKENS IS VIVIDLY RECALLED. HOW THE PET OF AN EMPRESS BECAME LEADER OF THE RED ROBED "KU KLUX KLAN"      CHICAGO, ILL. SATURDAY-- up from the Lone Star State there came to Chicago last week a picturesque citizen of Dallas, Texas, formerly a resident of Nacogdoches, with the romantic story of the life of Douschka Pickens at his tongue's end. This visiting Texan was former Brigadier General George F. Alford, Confederate soldier, Indian fighter, legislator and capitalist..      There is, perhaps, no person living who knows so well the story of the life of the daughter of South Carolina's war governor, for General Alford was himself once a sweetheart an school mate of the mother of Douschka Pickens.      During all the years of her life this "Child of South Carolina" was not once lost sight of by the stern Texan who wrote verses to her, championed her wit and her beauty at banquet and in legislative hall, and now accredits himself her historian by right. General Alford tells the story of how the child, Douschka Pickens, fired the first shot of the Civil War, but no less interesting is his recital of the story of the grandeur surrounding her christening, of her part in one of the saddest and most tragic marriages of war times, and her bravery as a leader of the notorious Ku Klux Klan.      From the time of her birth, in the palace of the Romanoffs, until her death and burial beneath the great oaks of Edgefield, S.C. Douschka Pickens had a marvelous career amid the glamour.

63  THE PICKENS FAMILY and glitter of European courts, in the war stricken cities of the Palmetto State and amid the bleak and devastated estates that had been scourged by contending armies.      Born in the imperial place of the Russian Tsar, christened by the Empress, made the idol of a hundred diplomats, this child later touched the fuse to the artillery that boomed for four years though out Dixie, and when the war was over and the armies were disbanded she became one of the leaders who toiled to solve the perilous problems of the post-bellum days.      To tell the story of the life of Douschka Pickens it is necessary to go back to Nacogdoches, Texas, that wonderful Southern town that sent out into the world so many people of such varied interests and abilities. Within calling distance in Nacogdoches there lived before the war, an interesting company of young people. Tom Ochiltree, the red-headed raconteur and bon vivant, sauntered through the streets. Adelaide McCord, who became known throughout the world as Adam Isaac Menkin, the Mazeppa, began her conquests there. It was the home of General Sam Houston, the greatest of all the Texans. There lived in the town too, Lucy Holcomb, the most beautiful woman in the State. GENERAL ALFORD'S STORY      Here begins the story told by General Alford. It is best told in his own words. It was with a great reluctance that he recited that part of the story which deals with his own name and has not been heretofore made know.      "I was one of the Argonauts that was enticed by the dreams of fortune to the gold fields of California," he said. "When I left Texas I went with the purpose of enriching myself and then returning to wed Lucy Holcomb the belle of Texas. I remained in California for some time; went thence to Panama, and from there down the western coast of South America. I knew I was expected home, but the fever of adventure led me on, and I delayed my return for some months.      "In the meantime Lucy Holcomb had become the belle of the South. She infatuated all who beheld her. Once when she was visiting the family of the famous Governor, John A. Quitman, at the Mississippi capital, she captivated the entire State Legislature, and when she departed for New Orleans the General Assembly adjourned and went with her. Afterwards she was married to the brilliant Colonel Frank Pickens of South Carolina.

64  THE PICKENS FAMILY      "From the time I left for California I saw her no more as Lucy Holcomb. When I returned she was Mrs. Pickens, and it was not long before I, too, married. I first meant her again at President Buchanans' inauguration, where she was the most petted and patronized of all the beauties in Washington.      "President Buchanan appointed Colonel Pickens Minister to Russia, and there the beautiful Southern girl became the court favorite. The Empress delighted in her society, and the women of all the legations gave way for the captivating American. Later she was taken to the imperial palace of the Romanoffs, and there in May 1858, was born the child that was destined to figure so strangely in history.      "The Tsaritiza claimed the privilege of being godmother to the infant. When the day came for the christening all the grandeur of the Russian court was brought into play. Invitations were sent to the representatives of all the foreign nations. The company was the most illustrious that ever assembled for a similar purpose in the history of the world.      "When the officiating dignitary of the church asked the Tsaritza, "What shall be the name of this child? she replied:      "'Her name shall be Douschka.'      "The English for Douschka is 'sweet little darling.' But as is the Russian custom; several additional names were give to the child and she was christened in full Douschka Olga Nova Franceska Eugenia Dorothea Pickens. The first of the series of the names was the one by which she was ever known. FIRED FIRST SHOT OF THE WAR      During the campaign of 1860, Pickens was nominated as candidate for Governor of his State, and on the day Abraham Lincoln was elected President, Pickens was elected Chief Executive of South Carolina of which his father had previously been Governor. He left the Russian court and brought his wife and little daughter to America, but the Russian royal family never forgot the little Douschka, and upon each birthday she received from Tsar Alexander II, a bewildering array of costly gifts, a custom which was continued by the present Tsar until the death of the beautiful woman a few years ago.      "In Carolina Douschka, a mere tot, became as great a favorite as she had been among the splendid Russians, civil and military of-

65  THE PICKENS FAMILY officers worshipped the child, and it was this universal love for her that made her historically, the leading young woman of the State, and of the South.      "When the days grew darker and darker, and it was seen that war could not b prevented, the Confederates at Charleston prepared for conflict. The federals occupied Fort Sumter, and General Beauregard made every preparation to defend the city. When it was finally decided that he should bombard the federal fort he invited Governor Pickens to inspect the garrison and witness the inception of hostilities. The Governor visited the forts and gunboats, and took with him his wife and child, Douschka. All the guns were in readiness for the first fatal shot which was t rend the nation in fratricidal strife.      "When the Governor had visited all parts of the garrison, General Beauregard picked up the golden haired, blue eyed little girl and petted her for a moment. Then he placed a burning match in her tiny baby fingers and held her until she touched the fuse of a cannon. Thus the child, at the tender age of three, born in the Russian palace, the pet of mobility of all the nations and the daughter of the great war governor, fired the first gun of the greatest war of modern times.      "After the first shot the artillery boomed for hours, but the child and her mother had been taken to a place of safety. It is not necessary to deal further with the conflict itself in telling the story.      "Thought out the war Douschka's name was frequently heard. She became the foster child of the State Legislature, and by special enactment that body named her "The Child of South Carolina.' Yet it was not until the days following the war, those days which were blacker than war itself that Douschka became the idol of the people.      "Governor Pickens died in 1864. On his plantation at Edgefield were his slaves who had refused to leave him, despite the fact he had told them that they could go if they wished to do so. He called his Negroes about his deathbed and chose from among the oldest of them his pallbearers, and then gave into their keeping his wife and little Douschka. These slaves, when freed, were never the source of the least trouble, but anyone who lived in the South n the days following the war know how the people suffered at the hands of the freed Negroes.      "In the early seventies the former slaves of Edgefield county, South Carolina, became threatening. A lot of unprincipled white

66  THE PICKENS FAMILY scoundrels had egged them on to such deeds of mischief, and things came to such a pass that either life nor property was secure. As the conditions grew worse the Negroes gathered at Edgefield. They swarmed through the streets and frightened the whites from their homes. They eventually formed drunken mobs and threatened to burn the town.      "Just as the town was about to be destroyed something weird and terrifying happened. from the four winds rode hundreds of strange looking beings, clad in long robes of red that hung from their heads to their feet. In all 1,500 of them came, all on horseback, all dressed alike. They gathered at the center of the town, and them formed a long column. "JOAN OF ARC"      At the head rode a slight, red robed figure. it was Douschka. She guided her great horse through every street time and time again. The superstitious Negroes fled in terror from the town, and hid in the woods. The silent solemn march was kept up by these red robed members of the Ku Klux Klan until every person had left the town. From that day on not one word of discontent was ever heard from the freed slaves of Edgefield county. Douschka was known from that time on as 'Joan of Arc.'      When it fell to Douschka's lot to manage the farm when she grew to young womanhood she performed her duties with matchless skill. She was a splendid horse woman, and every day rode over the estate.      "In the fox chase, a sport in which she delighted, she always rode the leading horse, and most often got the brush. As a farmer, she learned everything that must be done about the old plantation. To her belongs the honor of establishing the bonus system of pay for freed slaves. In addition to their salary, she gave them a percentage of the proceeds.      "When Douschka grew to woman hood, she married Dr. Dugas, a brilliant banker of Augusta, GA., To them were born two daughters. Six years ago, while visiting her mother at Edgefield she sickened and died after a short illness.      "Gray haired Negroes who had been her father's slaves carried the casket in which she slept to the shade of the oaks, and there beside the grave of her great parent, another grave was waiting. When the casket was opened at the edge of the grave those who leaned to take a last look at the dead face of the woman saw

67  THE PICKENS FAMILY about her neck a beautiful necklace, which the Tsaritza of Russia herself had hung there the day the little girl left the Romanoff Palace."      DOUSCHKA PICKENS, daughter of Governor Francis W. and Lucy Holcombe Pickens married Dr. George Dugas of Augusta, Georgia.      They had two children: F  Lucy Dugas. F  Adrienne Dorothea  (Dolly)      LUCY DUGAS, daughter of Dr. George and Douschka Pickens Dugas, married Benjamin R. Tillman, Jr.; a son of Senator B.R. Tillman. They had two daughters: G  Douschka Tillman, G  Sarah Tillman.      DOLY DUGAS, daughter of Dr. George and Douschka Pickens Dugas married William Wallace Sheppard. They had three children: G  Lucy Sheppard. G  Dorothea Sheppard. G  William Wallace Sheppard, Jr.      G  LUCY SHEPPARD, married Dr. J.C. Bradley, of Washington, D.C.      G  Dorothea Sheppard married _______ Jenkins.      Note: the following newspaper clipping appeared in the pickens Sentinel, April, 1947. GENERAL PICKENS' GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER DIED IN WASHINGTON, RECENTLY From the Pickens Sentinel      (Note: The Sentinel is indebted to Vernon Cox. formerly of Pickens, now a resident of the national capitol, who forwarded the following clipping from the April 8th issue of the Washington (D.C.) Starr;)      Mrs. Adrienne Dorothea Sheppard, 61, a descendant of one of the South Carolina's oldest families, died yesterday at Georgetown University hospital after a long illness.      She was the wife of William Wallace Sheppard, an attorney for the Federal Trade Commission here.      A native of Edgefield, S.C., Mrs. Sheppard was educated privately there and spent much of her life in that town. After living

68  THE PICKENS FAMILY for a time in New York, she moved to Washington in 1927, and had resided here ever since. Her last address was 3331 n street N.W.      Mrs. Sheppard was the daughter of the late Dr. George Dugas, son of the founder of the Medical College of Georgia. Her mother, the late Douschka Pickens Dugas, was born in the Imperial Palace at St. Petersburg, Russia, during the time when Mrs. Sheppard's grandfather, the later Francis w. Pickens, was United States minister to Russia.      Mr. Pickens served in Russia from 1858 to 1860, then returned to this country to assume the governorship of South Carolina. He served for two years and was the Confederate official who called upon Fort Sumter to surrender, the act which marked the beginning of the civil War.      Mrs. Sheppard's great-grandfather, the late Andrew Pickens, a veteran of the War of 1812, served as governor of South Carolina from 1816 to 1818, and was in charge of peace negotiations with the Creek Indian tribe of Georgia in 1820. Her great-great-grandfather was the late Gen. Andrew Pickens, Revolutionary War hero, for whom Pickens county, S.C., was named.      Washington's Lucy Holcomb Pickens Chapter the DAR was named for Mrs. Sheppard's grandmother, a former South Carolina DAR regent. Mrs. Pickens picture appeared on the Confederate 7100 bill.      Surveying in addition to her husband are two daughters, Mrs. Lucy Bradley, 4916 Van Ness street N.W., and Mrs. Dorothea Jenkins, Miami, Fla,; a son, William Wallace Sheppard, Jr., serving in the Merchant Marine, and two grandchildren. - 0 -      D  SUSAN PICKENS, daughter of Governor Andrew and Susan Wilkinson Pickens, was born in South Carolina June 24th, 1808, and died in Alabama September 7th, 1878, aged seventy years. On May 26th, 1830 she married to Judge James Martin Calhoun.      James Martin Calhoun was born at Abbeville, South Carolina January 24th, 1805, and was educated and prepared for South Carolina College, where he graduated in 1826. Within a few weeks after graduating he went to Alabama, and settled at Cahaba, which at that time was the most promising town between Augusta, Georgia and New Orleans.

69  THE PICKENS FAMILY      At Cahaba, he became t he law partner of his cousin Judge Ezekiel Pickens, and besides his law practice, he "planted," as farming was then called, on a large scale. He bought a large plantation and stocked it with slaves, and began life as a gentleman farmer and lawyer. He was elected probate judge, and served a while, and in that way earned his title as judge. He was elected to the legislature and served until 1838, when he was promoted to the senate, where he served two terms.      In 1847, he was appointed by Governor Martin, a commissioner on the part of Alabama, to act with James T. Archer, Esq., the commissioner for the State of Florida, to settle the boundary line between the two states, which duty he performed in a skillful and faithful manner, thus putting at rest a long mooted question.      In 1857 he was again elected to the senate and served three terms, during which time he was president of the senate.      He died November 2oth, 1877, aged seventy-two years.      The children of Judge James Martin and Susan Pickens Calhoun were: E  (Child) born May 21st, 1831 E  Rebecca Pickens Calhoun, E  Susan Wilkinson Calhoun, E  Andrew Pickens Calhoun, E  Sallie Louisa Calhoun, E  James Francis Calhoun E  John Caldwell Calhoun,      E  REBECCA PICKENS CALHOUN, daughter of Judge James Martin and Susan Pickens Calhoun was born October 28th, 1832.No record of what became of her.      E  SUSAN WILKINSON CALHOUN, daughter of Judge James Martin and Susan Pickens Calhoun was born July 23rd, 1834. She married a Noble.      E  ANDREW PICKENS CALHOUN, son of Judge James Martin and Susan Pickens Calhoun was born November 9th, 1838. He married Diddie Lee of Carlowville, Alabama. - 0 -      E  SALLIE LOUISA CALHOUN, daughter of Judge James Martin and Susan Pickens Calhoun, was born August 30th, 1842 and died January 12th, 1909. Buried at Selma, Alabama. She married William Wade, of Alabama, and they had the following children: F  Andrew Pickens Wade. F  Eliza Wade. F  Susan Wade, F  Georgia Wade.