The Montgomery Trail

We are well settled in Montgomery by this turn in the tale. Moulton Street has been the bastion for several generations by the turn of the 19th century, and new generations are becoming the keeper of the "holy grail" and all it holds dear--memories at the top of the list. Then of course, the old glass and china and furniture and what-nots beckon to be preserved and revered forever and ever. Amen. Here's a quote from a newspaper article:

Sunday, January 20, 1935

The Birmingham News—Age-Herald

Ante-bellum Bibb Home is Kept in Old Splendor

By Varian Feare

" “Shall I stop here, or knock, perchance to break this pleasant spell of tranquility?” I asked, but scarcely before I was aware a maid was at the door to announce that Dr. Porter Bibb was not in. “So endeth my assignment,” I concluded. But not so, for another adventure in personalities awaited me.

The maid was dismissed and I was asked in. The moment I saw her, Mrs. Susie Porter Bibb, I knew that it was she who held the key to the delightful tranquility that emanated the beautiful old place. She was the epitome of quiet charm, the movement of her capable hands, her carriage, her soft voice.

Before I was aware, I was lost in a perfectly happy time. My hostess came to this home as the bride of Dr. Bibb, leaving the capital city of Tennessee to assume a new home in a new capital city. Her father, at the time of her marriage, was governor of Tennessee and Maxwell House itself was gay with the festivities of her wedding.
Undoubtedly she brought much to the lovely Bibb home, for even today though there are no little children slipping down its satiny banister, there is all about an air of complete living, an atmosphere that makes one feel that here little children have been reared to manhood and womanhood without regret...
…here is and has been a real home, a happy home of love, where women smiled and reigned, … and in my mind came forth memory of a verse written by someone and reading.
'Fill the house with choicest treasures,
send your vessels o’er the seas,
Gather treasures from the Indies,
and from far-famed Araby;
Hoard them up within the four walls,
vacant still the house will seem
Till some woman fair adorn it
with her smiling face serene.'

It was then I decided I was too content to seek out any other data that day. The personality of Mrs. Susie Porter Bibb had brought tranquility in the calm and pure domestic peace of the old home. …"

My take on Mamie in tomorrow's post.