To Honor Whistler’s Mother
She was born in Wilmington and spent her
girlhood days I here, and that city is now
endeavoring to ereet some kind of appro¬
priate memorial in her honor.
XE of the most famous paint¬
ings in the world is “Whistler's
Mother,” painted by James
McXniil Whistler. The painting has a
special interest for North Carolinians
in that the subject was a native of
Wilmington.
She was born and reared in this
southern city. Here she spent her girl¬
hood days and her young ladyhood.
Iler home was in Wilmington until
she was married and moved to the
North. Later, when she had reached
the sunset period of life, an affection¬
ate son painted her portrait. Sinco
then this painting has become one of
the best known in the world. There¬
fore, Wilmington can well be proud of
the fact that it was one of its daugh¬
ters whose itiHuenee in moulding a
son’s life became for all time the sym¬
bol of everything lovely and gentle in
motherhood.
Anna Matilda MeXcill Whistler
was the dnughter of Dr. and Mrs.
в у
ions t. moori:
О.
D. McNeill. The family home was
at the southwest corner of Fourth
and Orange streets in Wilmington.
With the passing of time and the de¬
mands of modern life, this house,
which should have been preserved for
all time as a shrine, unfortunately
was demolished some years ago.
Records confirm the fact that Dr.
McNeill was a successful practitioner
in Wilmington. His daughter, Anna,
lived here with her parents until sho
was married in her early twenties to
George W. Whistler. He later became
n Major in the United States Army.
After her marriage she resided in
Lowell, Massachusetts, for some years.
It was in the hospitable Wilmington
home that Gcorgo Washington Whist¬
ler, a friend and classmate of Willie
Gibbs McNeill (a brother of Anna Mc¬
Neill), met and afterward married
the sister. To this union were born
two sons. They were William Gibbs
and James McNeill Whistler. The
latter was born in 1834.
So it is an American mother, born
and reared in Wilmington, a daughter
of the Old South, who sits so quietly
ami gravely in this beautiful painting.
It is a pictorial window through which
her son hns given us the privilege
of looking at her. It is the mother who
taught her two boys, “Jimmie” and
"Willie,” to recite verses of the Psalms
every morning before breakfast. She
continued the custom while abroad;
whether living in Kussia, London, or
Paris, and constantly maintained
other traditions of her southern and
Scotch ancestry.
The South is at last beginning to
claim Mrs. Whistler as its own, espe¬
cially since the painting was used for
a "Mothers Day” stamp by the
United States Government in 1933. It
was here in Wilmington that she was
born and grew to mature young wom¬
anhood. It was here that she acquired
the culture, charm, breeding and rev¬
erence for those things sacred that dis¬
tinguished the women of the Old
South.
That Mrs. Whistler possessed un¬
daunted courage is strikingly illus¬
trated by the story of her going from
Wilmington to England in the most
perilous days of The War Between
the States on hoard the blockade run-
nor 'Advance. Just as the captain was
about to give the command, “Weigh
Anchor,” a carriage drawn by a pair
of panting horses, rolled up to the
dock. A lone and venturesome woman,
willing to risk the danger from shot
and shell to visit her son in London —
Mrs. Anna Matilda McNeill Whistler
— presented to the captain a letter
from Governor Vance, permitting her
to sail on the ship.
She reached the old country safely
and the balance of her life was spent
abroad in Kussia, France, and Eng¬
land. However, her heart and thoughts
always remained in the Carolines and
in Wilmington. Later we find her
writing, "1 prefer my native land at
all seasons. When shall I ever have a
home in it?”
Strong religious faith and devotion