Florence Matilda deTreville (1838-1905) was born 1838 in Beaufort, SC, but moved with her family to a fine house at 164 Wentworth Street in Charleston in 1853 at the age of 15. A year later, however, the home was the scene of tragedy when her mother, Cornelia Matilda deTreville, died a year later. The family continued to live at the same address until the frightful bombardment of civilian areas by Yankee General Gilmore (using St. Michael’s Church as an aiming point – just a few blocks away) caused her father, Richard deTreville, to move the family ultimately to Summerville, SC after 1863.
With the approach of Sherman’s forces and the surrender of Charleston, the family fled the Charleston area to Columbia, and camped on the estate of General Logan, a great family friend. After the war, they returned to the Charleston area, and her nephew, John L. deTreville (1876-1944), wrote down the hardships Florence related to him:
“When the march was over, they went back to Charleston. The stories my Aunt Florence told me of this trip, and the things she saw, were revolting in the extreme, that the bodies of slain women and children were just piled along the road, the farm animals, too, were ruthlessly killed and the fields and crops laid waste and burned. Very few houses remained and the whole scene was one of devastation.
When they left Charleston, they had taken a few valuables with them, and amongst these was my Grandmother's service of silver, a wedding present. They traded the waiter, upon which the service usually rested, for a mule and a cart, and, as they could, they obtained things to eat with the smaller pieces on the way. Charleston was a shambles, although it wasn't as badly off as some other places, and the residents had to start life all over again.”
With the general poverty in the South after the war she moved to New York City by 1870 with her brother, John L. deTreville (1846-1902). Her sister Nela (Cornelia Ellen deTreville) also resided in New York. In NYC she ran a boarding house at 61 Clinton Place, and in the words of an 1877 newspaper article, "Miss Florence de Treville, whose father was Hon. Richard de Treville, once lieutenant-governor of South Carolina, also presides over a popular boarding house. Forgetting that she was a petted society belle in Charleston, her native city, with a courage and energy most admirable, she went heart and soul to work, and success crowned her efforts. Young, frail in form, delicate in health, for years she fought a glorious fight – as glorious as any hero ever fought on the tented fields of battle, and she has come off victor."
Florence met and married William Newton Symington, on Feb 1, 1883 in St Clements Church, New York. He was a Confederate veteran and mining engineer.
They had no children of their own, but while still in New York, when her brother John’s wife died in 1896, she became a second mother for several years to his only child, a son also named John L. deTreville (1876-1944).
Florence and William generally resided in N City, until the early 1890s, moving to Brevard, NC, where her husband was involved with construction of Henderson & Brevard RR, and afterwards a prominent farmer. He died in 1899 and Florence passed away about 6 years later in Asheville, NC.
With the approach of Sherman’s forces and the surrender of Charleston, the family fled the Charleston area to Columbia, and camped on the estate of General Logan, a great family friend. After the war, they returned to the Charleston area, and her nephew, John L. deTreville (1876-1944), wrote down the hardships Florence related to him:
“When the march was over, they went back to Charleston. The stories my Aunt Florence told me of this trip, and the things she saw, were revolting in the extreme, that the bodies of slain women and children were just piled along the road, the farm animals, too, were ruthlessly killed and the fields and crops laid waste and burned. Very few houses remained and the whole scene was one of devastation.
When they left Charleston, they had taken a few valuables with them, and amongst these was my Grandmother's service of silver, a wedding present. They traded the waiter, upon which the service usually rested, for a mule and a cart, and, as they could, they obtained things to eat with the smaller pieces on the way. Charleston was a shambles, although it wasn't as badly off as some other places, and the residents had to start life all over again.”
With the general poverty in the South after the war she moved to New York City by 1870 with her brother, John L. deTreville (1846-1902). Her sister Nela (Cornelia Ellen deTreville) also resided in New York. In NYC she ran a boarding house at 61 Clinton Place, and in the words of an 1877 newspaper article, "Miss Florence de Treville, whose father was Hon. Richard de Treville, once lieutenant-governor of South Carolina, also presides over a popular boarding house. Forgetting that she was a petted society belle in Charleston, her native city, with a courage and energy most admirable, she went heart and soul to work, and success crowned her efforts. Young, frail in form, delicate in health, for years she fought a glorious fight – as glorious as any hero ever fought on the tented fields of battle, and she has come off victor."
Florence met and married William Newton Symington, on Feb 1, 1883 in St Clements Church, New York. He was a Confederate veteran and mining engineer.
They had no children of their own, but while still in New York, when her brother John’s wife died in 1896, she became a second mother for several years to his only child, a son also named John L. deTreville (1876-1944).
Florence and William generally resided in N City, until the early 1890s, moving to Brevard, NC, where her husband was involved with construction of Henderson & Brevard RR, and afterwards a prominent farmer. He died in 1899 and Florence passed away about 6 years later in Asheville, NC.
Florence Matilda deTreville (1838-1905) was born 1838 in Beaufort, SC, but moved with her family to a fine house at 164 Wentworth Street in Charleston in 1853 at the age of 15. A year later, however, the home was the scene of tragedy when her mother, Cornelia Matilda deTreville, died a year later. The family continued to live at the same address until the frightful bombardment of civilian areas by Yankee General Gilmore (using St. Michael’s Church as an aiming point – just a few blocks away) caused her father, Richard deTreville, to move the family ultimately to Summerville, SC after 1863.
With the approach of Sherman’s forces and the surrender of Charleston, the family fled the Charleston area to Columbia, and camped on the estate of General Logan, a great family friend. After the war, they returned to the Charleston area, and her nephew, John L. deTreville (1876-1944), wrote down the hardships Florence related to him:
“When the march was over, they went back to Charleston. The stories my Aunt Florence told me of this trip, and the things she saw, were revolting in the extreme, that the bodies of slain women and children were just piled along the road, the farm animals, too, were ruthlessly killed and the fields and crops laid waste and burned. Very few houses remained and the whole scene was one of devastation.
When they left Charleston, they had taken a few valuables with them, and amongst these was my Grandmother's service of silver, a wedding present. They traded the waiter, upon which the service usually rested, for a mule and a cart, and, as they could, they obtained things to eat with the smaller pieces on the way. Charleston was a shambles, although it wasn't as badly off as some other places, and the residents had to start life all over again.”
With the general poverty in the South after the war she moved to New York City by 1870 with her brother, John L. deTreville (1846-1902). Her sister Nela (Cornelia Ellen deTreville) also resided in New York. In NYC she ran a boarding house at 61 Clinton Place, and in the words of an 1877 newspaper article, "Miss Florence de Treville, whose father was Hon. Richard de Treville, once lieutenant-governor of South Carolina, also presides over a popular boarding house. Forgetting that she was a petted society belle in Charleston, her native city, with a courage and energy most admirable, she went heart and soul to work, and success crowned her efforts. Young, frail in form, delicate in health, for years she fought a glorious fight – as glorious as any hero ever fought on the tented fields of battle, and she has come off victor."
Florence met and married William Newton Symington, on Feb 1, 1883 in St Clements Church, New York. He was a Confederate veteran and mining engineer.
They had no children of their own, but while still in New York, when her brother John’s wife died in 1896, she became a second mother for several years to his only child, a son also named John L. deTreville (1876-1944).
Florence and William generally resided in N City, until the early 1890s, moving to Brevard, NC, where her husband was involved with construction of Henderson & Brevard RR, and afterwards a prominent farmer. He died in 1899 and Florence passed away about 6 years later in Asheville, NC.
With the approach of Sherman’s forces and the surrender of Charleston, the family fled the Charleston area to Columbia, and camped on the estate of General Logan, a great family friend. After the war, they returned to the Charleston area, and her nephew, John L. deTreville (1876-1944), wrote down the hardships Florence related to him:
“When the march was over, they went back to Charleston. The stories my Aunt Florence told me of this trip, and the things she saw, were revolting in the extreme, that the bodies of slain women and children were just piled along the road, the farm animals, too, were ruthlessly killed and the fields and crops laid waste and burned. Very few houses remained and the whole scene was one of devastation.
When they left Charleston, they had taken a few valuables with them, and amongst these was my Grandmother's service of silver, a wedding present. They traded the waiter, upon which the service usually rested, for a mule and a cart, and, as they could, they obtained things to eat with the smaller pieces on the way. Charleston was a shambles, although it wasn't as badly off as some other places, and the residents had to start life all over again.”
With the general poverty in the South after the war she moved to New York City by 1870 with her brother, John L. deTreville (1846-1902). Her sister Nela (Cornelia Ellen deTreville) also resided in New York. In NYC she ran a boarding house at 61 Clinton Place, and in the words of an 1877 newspaper article, "Miss Florence de Treville, whose father was Hon. Richard de Treville, once lieutenant-governor of South Carolina, also presides over a popular boarding house. Forgetting that she was a petted society belle in Charleston, her native city, with a courage and energy most admirable, she went heart and soul to work, and success crowned her efforts. Young, frail in form, delicate in health, for years she fought a glorious fight – as glorious as any hero ever fought on the tented fields of battle, and she has come off victor."
Florence met and married William Newton Symington, on Feb 1, 1883 in St Clements Church, New York. He was a Confederate veteran and mining engineer.
They had no children of their own, but while still in New York, when her brother John’s wife died in 1896, she became a second mother for several years to his only child, a son also named John L. deTreville (1876-1944).
Florence and William generally resided in N City, until the early 1890s, moving to Brevard, NC, where her husband was involved with construction of Henderson & Brevard RR, and afterwards a prominent farmer. He died in 1899 and Florence passed away about 6 years later in Asheville, NC.
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