[Octavia Van Dorn Sulivane was a sister to Earl Van
Dorn.] From "A Soldier's Honor with
Reminiscences of Major-General Earl Van Dorn" By his Comrades 1903
A WELL-SPENT LIFE.
" There passed away this week at Clifton, near
Cambridge, Mrs. Octavia Sulivane, a woman ripe in years and conscious of a
well-spent life.
Mrs. Sulivane was born on the plantation home of her
parents, near Port Gibson, Miss., a neighborhood noted for its beautiful
scenery, and where dwelt many of the richest and most aristocratic families of
the State.
She was at the time of her death in her 82d year, and
her memory could look a long way back in the early history of her native State,
and she knew well many of its greatest sons.
Mrs. Sulivane's maiden name was Van Dorn, and she was
the sister of the celebrated cavalry general, Earl Van Dorn, a man who first
made a reputation as a dashing cadet at West Point, and later as a gallant
soldier when a lieutenant in the Second United States Dragoons, which force was
the foundation of the now famous Fifth Cavalry. As captain, Earl Van Dorn made a
record in Mexico, and held the rank of major at the breaking out of the Civil
War, but surrendered his commission and offered his sword to the Confederacy,
his State having quickly followed South Carolina in the Act of Secession.
The brilliant, though short-lived career of
Major-General Van Dorn is too well known to comment on here, in referring to the
death of his sister, who had the claim also of being the mother of a
distinguished Confederate soldier, Colonel Clement Sulivane, now of Cambridge,
and ex-State Senator from Maryland.
Colonel Clement Sulivane won his spurs early in the
war, and made a record with his sword, he having been an officer on the staff of
his uncle, General Van Dorn, and served from first to last with conspicuous
bravery.
Mrs. Sulivane was twice married, her first husband
being Mr. Isaac Ross, of Mississippi; her second Dr. Vans Murray Sulivane, of
Maryland.
By blood and marriage ties she is connected with many
of the most distinguished families of Mississippi and Maryland.
Her long life has been a noble one, and having crossed
the threshold of fourscore years, she has sunk to sleep, leaving many to mourn
her loss."
MRS. OCTAVIA SULIVANE.
" Mrs. Sulivane was born in Port Gibson, Miss. Her
maiden name was Van Dorn, being a sister of the distinguished Confederate
general of that name. She was twice married, her first husband being Mr. Isaac
Ross, of Mississippi, and her second husband, Dr. Vans Murray Sulivane, of
Cambridge, who after- wards removed to Mississippi. Colonel Clement Sulivane, a
learned member of the Dorchester County bar, is her only son, and Mrs. Rider
Henry her only daughter. Her grandchildren are Miss Ruth Sulivane and Mr. Murray
Sulivane, of Cambridge; Mr. Earl Sulivane, of Chattanooga, Tenn.; Mrs. John J.
Hemp- hill and Mrs. John Goldsborough, of Washington, D. C, and Messrs. Clement
and Rider Henry, of New York.
This remarkable woman remarkable alike for her strength
of body and mind lightly bore the burden of her more than four- score years, and
81 still found her at the post of duty, cheerfully and resolutely sharing
responsiblities for the sake of those she loved and who loved her. Hers was a
gentle and heroic nature, combining in a rare degree those strong elements of
character which in prosperity grace true womanhood and in adversity con- stitute
the heroine.
" Life's race well run ; Life's work well done ; Life's
victory won ; Now comes rest."
One who knew her well has this to say of her :
" Lovely in character, beautiful even in old age, in
form and feature, her life was an exquisite poem filled with the rarest gems
that adorn noble womanhood. A life of devotion and goodness insures a future of
glory from which those who loved her would not recall her."
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