Remembering Mamie

My memories of my great-grandmother, Mamie, are hazy and few. Her husband had died decades before I entered the picture.

My earliest recollection brings to mind a very old lady seated in a dark mahogany rocker, her apparent antiquity evidenced not only in appearance, but in the scent of old age. The past era’s glow dimmed along with Mamie’s demise, yet the essence of another time hung unwaveringly like a guest who overstayed his welcome. Mamie regularly wore a somber long dress and tasseled black or white shawl, wrapped snugly like her taut white bun  and braids clutching her head. Youth undeniably colored my impressions of Mamie. The article from the 1935 “Birmingham News” enhanced her image into more dimension than my memory had preserved. I was only seven when she died.

From another newspaper article:

Montgomery Advertiser

Sunday August 31, 1941

Bibb Home is Mellow with Age and Traditions

"The drawing room to the left of the front door excites the imagination with its perfect blending of period furniture. The subtle soft pastels of the upholstery and old paintings vie for first place along with the glistening patina of antique mahogany, rococo, and Waterford. Several long settees or sofas are of carved mahogany. The intricate design of the Chippendale mirror shown on this page is evidence of the quality..."

Under a picture accompanying the article:
"Rosewood Table. Early Victorian with blue-veined marble top. The marble mantel in the background is Victorian and the vases at each end of the mantel shelf are Dresden."

The mirror mentioned in the article is partially shown in the photo of Mamie. The baby in the portrait is William George Bibb, Mamie's husband, and the other portrait is George Rockingham Gilmer, brother of Sophie Bibb who, along with her husband, built the house in 1828.

Sophie's Trail

I guess the most famous of all the characters along this hike is "Aunt Sophie"--

My great-great-great grandmother

 Lucy Ann Sophia Gilmer (Bibb)
or
Sophie Lucy Ann Gilmer Bibb (as she later referred to herself)
Daughter of Thomas Meriwether Gilmer and Elizabeth Lewis Gilmer
Married 1819
Judge Benajah Smith Bibb
<1796 – 1884>
Son of Captain William Bibb and Sally Wyatt (Bibb)

From my book and my archives:
"In 1819,  Lucy Ann Sophia Gilmer was married to Benajah Smith Bibb, youngest of the six distinguished sons of William Bibb, Gentleman, member of the House of Burgesses and Captain of Cavalry in the Revolutionary Army, and his wife, Sally Wyatt, both of Virginia, and later, of Georgia. Sally Wyatt was the great-great-great granddaughter of the Reverend Haute Wyatt, youngest brother of Sir Francis Wyatt, Colonial Governor of Virginia.

Soon after the marriage of Sophia Gilmer and Benajah Bibb, they moved to Alabama, settling in Montgomery County, where their ability and benevolence placed an indelible stamp upon the State and their community. Judge Benajah S. Bibb was an able and distinguished jurist, and had the distinction of being the first official removed from office by the Federal Government after the War Between the States, because of his devotion to the Confederacy."
The house in the photo is the one built by Sophie and Benajah in 1827 at 117 Moulton Street.  It has a story of its own and I'll tell it, partially as we move along.

Sophie gained her prominence during the Civil War in her efforts to aid in the care of wounded soldiers. This is also from my collection of writings on her:

"In 1861, after the quarters provided by a noble Montgomeryan would no longer house the ever-increasing number of sick and wounded soldiers being ministered to by Montgomery women, an organization known as the “Woman’s Hospital Association” was formed with Mrs. Sophie Gilmer Bibb as its President, and the building at the corner of Bibb and Commerce streets was rented as the quarters for what was known during the rest of the War as the Ladies’ Hospital, which won the commendation from President Jefferson Davis as being “the best ordered hospital in the Confederacy.” Here “Aunt Sophie” and her associates continued their labors throughout the duration of the war, ministering to the sick with their own hands, and Mrs. Bibb’s carriage attended, with herself or some of her associates, the burial of eight hundred soldiers who died in Montgomery, besides those who were brought to Montgomery later for interment. When a soldier-patient in the hospital reached the convalescent stage, he was removed to the home of one of the noble band of women and cared for tenderly. Sophie Bibb’s home always held several convalescents who were waited on by her personal servants under her supervision. One interesting and significant fact in connection with the “Ladies’ Hospital” is that the negro attendants who were employed there remained until it was closed, tho toward the last of the war the wages of these faithful people could not be paid."

There's Aunt Sophie, for a starter. I have more to say about her before I leave her, but that will have to wait. More to come on her life and legacy.