State

Tar Heel H ISTORY By Billy Arthur Whistler’s Mother Wilmington was her first stop in a troubled life she devoted to her favorite son. She was a godly lady who wore mourning at least 31 years of her life, most of which was devoted to the welfare of her two sons. William andlcmic. Butjcmie was the first, and always held a special place in her heart. Jemie was James Abbott Whistler, the rebellious and casual artist who painted the portrait which lias become America's most famous em¬ blem of motherhood — Whistler's Mother." A descendant of Black Daniell. the McNeill dan chief who led a migration of S(<»ts to America in 1746. Anna Mathilda McNeill was born September 27. 1804, in Wilmington to Dr. Charles Donald McNeill and Martha Kingsley of Bladen County. Her birthplace , as well as the McNeill summer home of "Oak Marsh" near Clarkton, are noted today hv historical markers. Early in her life, the family moved to New York, where Anna helped her father in his medical research laboratory and worked as a nurse, an experience that was to lx* «if great help during her tragic years. As a teenager. Anna became in- fatuated with a handsome West Point cadet. George Washington “Pipes" Whistler, whom her brother had liiought home for a weekend. After that meeting, she was unable to love another suitor, though "Pipes" married her Ix-st friend. Mary Swift. Several years after graduating front West Point. “Pipes" and her brother PtoOcoW»» Hi Monk СмЫии CeUnum « ИМЧЪфИ IM resigned their army commissions, went to Baltimore and became prominent («instruction engineers with the B&O Railroad. It was there that Mary died, leaving three children — George. Joseph and Deborah. And when Dr. McNeill died, his family moved t«i Baltimore to lx* near William. Bound by grief, the two families spent much time together, and "Pipes" soon found Anna more attractive than ever. According to biographer Elizabeth Mumford in Whistlers Mother. Anna's hair was “piled high and adorned with curls. “ her hands "beautifully kept." and her feet pretty with "high shapely arches." In 1831. at age 27. Anna became a bride and. at the same time, a step¬ mother to children ages 16. 14 and 12. respectively. In their 17-year marriage, the Whistlers lived in three states, Russia and England. She bore five sons, only The Statc/May 1492 12 three of whom survived. Stepson Joseph was taken by typhoid. “Pip«*s" was not present at the demise of the children because he was working far from home. Nevertheless, Anna was sustained by her strong puritanical faith, both inherent and practiced, and was drawn closer to her very own first¬ born. Jemic the artist, who she gave birth to at Lowell. Massachusetts, in 1834. William, who became a very successful physician, followed in 18%. In 1842. "Pipes" was offered $12.000 a year to help build the 420-mile Moscow- to-St. Petersburg railroad, and the family moved to Russia, where they lived luxuriously in an impressive house with servants. They were always on the go. attending functions at the czar's palace and various parties. The couple kept late hours, which upset the strict routine that Anna tried to maintain in the home. “This is surely not keeping to the straight and narrow way." she wrote in her diary. Following son John's birth and death in 1845, sorrow and the harsh Russian winters thereafter kept one or another member of the family sick until 1847. when Anna and the children moved to England for their health. In England. Deborah became engaged and was married. “Pipes" came for the wedding, though it was unknown to the family that he had been quite ill back in Russia. Anna and the boys went back with him. He began working harder than ever and died suddenly in April of 1849. Anna courageously took over, and she and her two boys returned to Connecticut, figuring they could live on her $1.200 yearly legacy. With Scotch thrift and hard work, she turned an old farmhouse into an organized home, with established hours for meals, bedtime and study, plus a Sunday Sabbath kept holy by Bible reading, worship and prayer. William adapted. Jemic didn't. He often didn't show up for meals, Bom in Wilmington, Whistler's mother was often troubled by son Jemie's coinings and goings.