Home    Octavia Sulivane 
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[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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