LADI MRS. THE wife of Kinderhook, on months after the schoolmate and c years. She was E name Goes but p Her ances Countryman, households b Hudson, and MRS. MARTIN VAN BUREN. THE wife of President Van Buren was born at Kinderhook, on the Hudson, in the year 1782, a few months after the birth of her future husband, whose schoolmate and companion she was during their early years. She was of Dutch descent, and the original name Goes but pronounced by her ancestors Hoes, and since so called by all the members of the family in this country, is familiar to those who are acquainted with the history of the Netherlands. If the charms of nature-grand scenery, magnificent views, and the ever-varying harmony of beautiful skies-could add to the growth and development of childhood, Hannah Hoes was incomparably blest. The years of her life were spent on the banks of the Hudson, in the most beautiful section of her native State-a State remarkable for the grandeur of its mountain scenery, and the number of its romantic rivers. Chief among these, and surpassed by none in the world, is the Hudson, in sight of whose classic waters she lived and died. Her ancestors were sturdy, enterprising Dutch, whose homes for many generations had been along the banks of the stream discovered by their renowned countryman, and not one of the rosy urchins of their households but knew of the adventures of Hendrick Hudson, and reverenced him not only as the hero of their race and the discoverer of their river, but the founder of their prosperity. Nor could the tales of the old dames who resided nearest the lofty Catskills -that he and his followers still haunted the mountains and were the direct cause of calamities-divest their minds of his wondrous exploits. In each ripple of the dancing waves, in the denseness of the grey fog, or perchance in the quiet stillness of eventide, they recognized some similarity, and recalled a parallel of his experiences. Mid such scenes and under such influences passed all the years of Mrs. Van Buren's life. In February, 1807, at the age of twenty-five, she was married to Mr. Van Buren. The intimacy which resulted in this union was formed in early childhood, and was consummated as soon as his position at the bar would justify his taking such a step. The steadfastness of his attachment to his young relative was a remarkable trait in the character of Mr. Van Buren, and adds a lustre to his unsullied name. Some time after their marriage they removed to Hudson City, where eight years of wedded life passed fleetly away, they losing, in the meantime, the youngest of their four sons, an infant only a few weeks old. In 1816, Mr. Van Buren removed his family to Albany, drawn thither, doubtless, by his increased and increasing professional standing and political leadership. From this time forth, the highest wishes of his early life were crowned with complete fruition. Wealth, fame and influence were the fruits of his un "His remitted industry for nearly twenty years. natural talents had reached their full expansion; his laborious industry exhibited its proper results; and amid a constellation of great minds, whose brilliant efforts erected and adorned the fabric of New York jurisprudence, the vigor of his intellect and the richness of his learning won for him a conspicuous and acknowledged eminence." But the voice of adulation fell upon unheeding ears when sickness invaded the household and hastened the cherished wife and mother from her loved ones. Not even the ardent devotion, the deathless affection of the husband whose efforts in life had all been made for her, could stay the destroyer in his cruel work. For months she lay an invalid, tended by those who loved her more than life, and then sank into the tim of consumption. grave a vic A gentleman of high distinction, who knew her intimately from her earliest years, said, "there never was a woman of a purer and kinder heart." Gentle and winning in life, her memory is redolent with the perfume of her saintly sweetness and purity. From this point I quote the words of Miss Cantine, the niece of Mrs. Van Buren, who was but sixteen years of age at the time of her aunt's death. "Aunt Hannah lived but a short time after their removal to Albany, dying at the early age of thirty-five, when her youngest child was still an infant. I can recall but little about her till her last sickness and death, except the general impression I have of her modest, even timid manner-her shrinking from observation, and calmness-her Redeemer had robbed it of its sting and made it a welcome messenger. Doubtless, ''twas gain for her to die.' Doubtless, she is now enjoying that rest 'which remaineth for the people of God.' Precious shall be the memory of her virtues, "Sweet the savor of her name, And soft her sleeping bed." |