Madeline McDowell Breckinridge and the Battle for a New South

3: "An unholy interest in reforming others" 1897-1900

47 Chapter 3 “An unholy interest in reforming others” 1897–1900 The knowledge that her days on earth might be cut short seemed only to spur Madge to live life to the fullest and make every minute count as she launched into a wide range of activities. In 1897 she joined John Fox Jr. in an effort to assist Robert Burns Wilson by raising a subscription to publish a collection of his works. Wilson’s The Shadows of the Trees and Other Poems, which came out in a small printing of 250 copies in 1898, is probably the publication that resulted from this subscription. In February 1897 she went to Cincinnati to have a “slight” operation on her nose, and in April she served as a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding in Louisville. The following month she traveled to Hot Springs, Virginia, with Nettie Belle Smith. In August she and Aunt Mag vacationed at Blue Lick Springs in Nicholas County for a few days, and in the autumn she traveled to New York City for horse shows and to Louisville and Big Stone Gap for visits. She also took lessons and joined the Golfing Club. These many social outings found her more and more in the company of Desha Breckinridge, and he followed her on the trip to Big Stone Gap.1 Yet both Madge and Desha worried about her parents’ attitude toward him, and their romance continued to be a matter of concern to friends and family. While at Hot Springs she wrote her mother thanking her for being nice to Desha “the other night at the train, for you were so sweet to him . . . he would like to think it wasn’t going to change.” In fact, he was very grateful for Mrs. McDowell’s past kindnesses and “has always been fond of you & always been as anxious for you to be fond of him as he is now for Papa to like him & respect him.” The same day she wrote her 48 Madeline McDowell Breckinridge father that she had always viewed him as the nicest person in the world and now Desha Breckinridge agreed. She noted: “You were so lovely to Desha that I know he will be better for it all his life, and I do believe that he is worth trying.—You know that I didn’t feel a bit certain in the beginning —for that matter I don’t suppose I am certain right now for I never am certain of anything in this world—but in every bit of the time that I have taken to try to know him, I have come to respect and admire and believe in him more—I have tried doing without him and it is almost too hard—and he does love me very truly.”2 Like Madge, Desha had long been seeking direction for his life’s work. He had not found it in the practice of law, but in January 1897 he leased the Lexington Morning Herald from Henry T. Duncan and Samuel G. Boyle. Colonel Breckinridge proved skeptical at first of the wisdom of this move, but he hoped his son had at last discovered his vocation, and Willie felt that at least the paper gave Desha employment and a certain standing in the world. The Herald had had a disastrous year in 1896, but by 1898 On the steps at Ashland, back row: Robert Burns Wilson, John Fox Jr., Anne Clay McDowell; second row: unidentified woman, Madeline McDowell, possibly Julia McDowell, Stites Duvall; front row: Henry Clay McDowell Sr. Courtesy of Special Collections and Digital Programs, Margaret I. King Library, University of Kentucky, Lexington. 49 An Unholy Interest in Reforming Others Desha, serving as managing editor with his father as the primary editorial writer, had turned it around so well that he was afraid the owners might take it back when the agreement expired. However, they agreed to renew the lease with option to purchase, and in January 1899 Desha exercised that option.3 The young newspaperman soon asked Madge to serve as “literary editor ” for the paper by writing book reviews. At first reluctant to begin this undertaking, she finally withdrew her objections and ordered: “Send out your magazines!” She then entreated: “We will mention it gently—I hate all thunderclap—and I wouldn’t like to see it done up in ‘social and personal .’” After a mix-up...