Ella Sturgis--What Became of Her??

[John Mackintosh]

Was re-reading Lee's FORT MEADE AND THE BLACK HILLS, getting in the frame of mind to visit there next month. What a catalyst for chaos Ella Sturgis was, through no intent of her own. I had forgotten the details of the 7th Cav lt who killed himself over her, at least that's how they put it in the Bismarck Tribune. That was Lt. Charles M. Carrow, Company I, followed her to St. Louis on leave where she was visiting friends. There he discovered a rival for Ella's love and ended up shooting himself in his hotel room.

Then, of course, the lovesick Reno and the "Peeping-Tom" incident that led to his ouster. Does anyone have the foggiest notion of what happened to her? Her nerves must have been shattered, especially over the suicide.

[George Armstrong Custer]

Hello John,
As you'll know, the story of Marcus Reno skulking around the young Ella's window before being seen off by her irate father - suspenders flying and wielding a cane - is one of the more amusing anecdotes in Connell's Son of the Morning Star. However, as the following newspaper article shows, that was not the end of poor Ella's brushes with scandalous happenings:

From the New York Times, 25 February 1896, front page, column two.

MITCHELL, S. D., Feb. 24.

- The entire Mitchell Mail outfit - presses, type, paper, and other paraphenalia - belonging to a long-established newspaper, was this morning taken into the street and burned by a body of business men. The type were melted, the woodwork went up in smoke, and the iron presses were smashed into hundreds of pieces.

This act is another link in the tragedy of the paper's editor, R. H. McBride. A story of blasted hopes, ruined lives, and the display, it is said, of malignant efforts to ruin business, is mixed up in the case.

McBride and John D. Lawler, President of the First National Bank, were a number of years ago on friendly terms, the former being editor of the only Democratic paper in this section, and the latter prominent in the councils of the Democratic Party.

Mr. Lawler married Miss Ella Sturgis, daughter of Gen. Sturgis of the United States Army, nine years ago*, and came to Mitchell to live. He became President of the First National Bank, and continued in that position to the present time.

*[On June 16, 1886 at Prairie Due Chien, Wisc. - (GAC)]

Mrs. Lawler's widowed sister, Mrs. Dousman, of Prairie du Chien visited the Lawler family, and met McBride in a social way. Mrs. Dousman became attracted to McBride, he being a man of more than ordinary ability, and married him.

McBride's private character, it is said, was not of the best. Previous to McBride's marriage to Mrs. Dousman, Mr. Lawler was requested by one of the nearest relatives of Mrs. Dousman to inform her of the private character of McBride, and he did so. This was all Mr. Lawler did in opposition to the marriage, according to relatives.

Many happy social gatherings, trips to the seashore, and winter residences in New York followed until McBride tired of domestic life. A detective made a report, upon which Mrs. McBride separated from her husband and secured a divorce.

McBride returned to Mitchell and commenced a series of systematic attacks upon Mr. Lawler, his family, and the First National Bank. Farmers who deposited in the bank known to McBride, and those who were not known, were hunted up and given a "tip" that they had better take their money out of the bank. In consequence, the bank's support among farmers has steadily decreased for the past three years.

Every week's issue of The Mail contained an allusion to the bank and its President, based on falsehood, but appearing in such a manner that no action at law could be taken against the editor.

This conduct of McBride's was idly looked upon by the people until the news came a week ago that John D. Lawler had suddenly died of apoplexy in Sioux City, whither he had gone on business. The full force of McBride's long-continued abuse then came home to the citizens and they resolved to rid the town of the editor.

This resolution crystallized into a meeting of the foremost citizens Saturday night, and as a result a committee called upon McBride, and informed him that they had come to buy his outfit, with the further proviso that he would have to leave the town.

McBride assessed the proposition, and stated that he would sell the plant Monday morning to the citizens. At the appointed time the citizens called on McBride, but in the meantime he had been bolstered up by some of his friends, and he purposely got out of reach of the committee.

The committee appointed one of their number to be McBride's agent, gave him sufficient money to pay for the plant, and then proceeded to destroy the whole outfit. The committee is now hunting for McBride, to impress upon him the fact that his stay in Mitchell must be brief. END OF ARTICLE

Like Helen of Troy, however, poor Ella has managed to achieve a measure of immortality - you can buy cushions from www.lipstickranch.com which are embroidered with the face which so enamoured the drunken Marcus Reno on that November night at Fort Meade:





Regards,
George

[John Mackintosh]

Fascinating. I posted that message with some doubt as to it success and here the answer arrives. I find that pillow hilarious. Compared to some of the items on there, it is cheap at $90.00. I wonder if I could commission them to make a matching one with the image of Reno on it??? LOL ;D

[Walt Cross]

Ah, but she was a looker! Wonder what happened to the handsome widow after the demise of her husband by apoplexy? That would be ironic John, you should ask them if they would do a Reno pillow! Just for fun.

Walt

[John Mackintosh]

Yes, she was a very attractive woman, "the faced that wrecked a thousand cavalry careers" we might say, by exaggeration. I am surprised they don't have a pillow with Libbie Custer's image on it, as she is far better known than Ella.

[George Armstrong Custer]

I like your sense of humor John - a matching Reno pillow indeed! ;D Maybe they could do a whole series on this theme and call it 'Seventh Cavalry Enemies', with matching Custer and Benteen pillows.

Regards,
George

[bigpond]

gac said:

I like your sense of humor John - a matching Reno pillow indeed! ;D Maybe they could do a whole series on this theme and call it 'Seventh Cavalry Enemies', with matching Custer and Benteen pillows.

Regards,
George

That wouldn't be possible,as they would have to stick together,maybe you could put Benteen's to the left chair,Reno in the middle,and the Custer clan together somewhere to the right

[Walt Cross]

Dang if you guys haven't come up with a marketing idea! Imagine, a living room where you are surrounded by the social elite and pariahs from a century and a quarter ago? It could spark some historical discussions for sure.

Walt

[John Mackintosh]

That's right. Pro-Reno followers could fight Pro-Custerites with their respective pillows.

Maybe we can get a pillow made with those six mystery officers on it as well.

[Steve Wilk]

What about the other Sturgis daughter, Nina? I'm in the middle of re-reading _Custer's Seventh Cavalry Comes to Dakota_ by Roger Darling, about the transfer from the South to Dakota Territory in 1873. Apparently Nina had some sort of relationship with Lt. Charles Larned, who spent a week with the Sturgis family in Lousiville while in transit to Cairo, Illinois. Larned was "hard pressed to calm his mother's fears that Nina Sturgis, the general's daughter, had hooked him, as she had once been engaged to Seventh Cavalry Lieutenant John F. Weston." p. 121

It would appear the Sturgis girls may have enjoyed exploiting their roles as the CO's daughters. Given the boredom and isolation of frontier garrison life, who can blame them? To be one of a few women amongst scores of young single officers, they were much in demand. I'm sure they enjoyed basking in the attention.

GAC, any information on Nina Sturgis?

[George Armstrong Custer]

GAC, any information on Nina Sturgis?

Hi Steve,
Coincidentally, I've just read Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth by Shirley A. Leckey (University of Oklahoma, 1993), which gives another anecdote about Miss Nina Sturgis on pp. 134-135.

Apparently, while Libby Custer was accompanying her husband as he escorted Grand Duke Alexis of Russia on his state visit in 1872, Nina Sturgis was in the entourage too. As the party travelled overland to New Orleans, Leckey writes:

Since Alexis enjoyed Female companionship, other women were invited, including Colonel Sturgis's daughter. Nina Sturgis, a beautiful young woman, captivated a Memphis plantation owner who entertained the party along the way. When the widower hinted at marriage, Libbie intervened. Armstrong's commanding officer had no desire to lose his daughter so quickly.

From this, and the anecdotes you mention from Darling's book, I surmise that you are probably quite right in your reading between the lines - the Sturgis girls probably did play the role of the attractive commanding officer's daughters to the hilt - leaving a trail of disappointed would-be suitors in their wake!

On the issue of Larned as depicted on pp.118-119 of Darling, I get the impression that he was something of a mommy's boy who never fitted in well with regimental society. His letters to his mother make scathing remarks about both the Custer's and their circle and the Sturgis's and theirs. If an officer didn't fit in with either camp, his social options must have been severely curtailed.........

Did a bit more research on Nina - there's actually more out there on her than on Ella.

Nina Linn Sturgis was the eldest of the eight Sturgis children, born on April 20 1852, and, as can be seen, was, like her sister, an attractive woman (which is quite surprising when you look at pictures of their father ;D)

Nina Linn Sturgis in 1873, at the time of her marriage:


Libby Custer may have stopped Nina's marriage to the Memphis widower in 1872, but on November 19 1873, Nina married the hugely eligible Hercules Louis Dousman II, of Prarie du Chien.

Louis was the son of fabulously wealthy fur trade magnate Hercules Dousman, and he and Nina cultivated the life of country aristocracy, amassing the trappings of Victorian wealth and grandeur at their magnificent mansion on the banks of the Mississipi River. The travelled widely, and invested in art and other fine objects for their home. Louis died in 1886, and several year later (as my earlier post detailed), Nina remarried - this time disastrously - to the rascally former business parter of her sister Ella's husband. Given her great wealth, though, Nina was a woman of independent means, and soon divorced R. H. McBride once his true character was revealed to her. She spent the rest of her life completely redecorating in the 'arts & crafts' style and otherwise improving the fantastic Dousman house and estate which was now hers, and which she renamed 'Villa Louis' in honor of her late first husband. She died in 1930, aged 78. The Dousman family gave the mansion and its contents - as an intact Victorian time-capsule - to the city of Prarie du Chien in 1933 as a house museum. It became Wisconsin's first state-owned historic site in 1952, being designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960. So, you can still visit Nina Stugis's home today, and find it as it was when she lived there.

Nina Sturgis Dousman's Home today:











Regards,
George

[Steve Wilk]

Wow, where DO you come up with this stuff? I found an article on the Sturgis family in the Summer 1997 Research Review, by the late James Willert, which shows a family portrait of Mrs. Sturgis with Jack and Nina, circa 1855. The girls seem to have luckily inherited their mom's looks...

It's funny to see Col. Sturgis posing like Napolean...Darling mentions this in the footnotes. Sam was an experienced Indian fighter who never was able to be of much service in that regard due to Sheridan's favoritism of Custer. Then there was the humiliation in Yankton in 1873 where he was virtually subordinated by Custer in what was an awkward and uncomfortable situation.

As for Larned, yes, I got that impression also. I wonder if he and Benteen were buddies? They both shared the same opinion of Custer and Larned didn't care a hoot for Sturgis either. Due to his literary skills, Larned served as a correspondent to a Chicago newspaper. Thus having the power of the pen, Custer tended to give Larned somewhat of a favored treatment.

He must have had some connections, for in 1874, at age 24, he secured a position as instructor of drawing at West Point.

[Walt Cross]

Steve;
Do tell us more about Yankton.

Walt

[Steve Wilk]

Walt, Darling's "Dakota" book is a gem. A detailed look into the everyday life of the Seventh; surrounding the Dakota transfer, a period in the regiment's history that is mostly ignored or given at best a page or so by most authors. The book goes into detail on the logistics of the move; the competition between the steamships and the railroads in securing the contract to transport men and materiel. The army ended up appeasing both industries, using both methods in the move.

It's a very interesting read....basically what happened with Sturgis was that Terry apparently sent him to Yankton to assume command of the regiment, most likely to investigate if complaints against Custer warranted further action. The regiment was also plagued by desertions. Sturgis issued a general order notifying the men that he was assuming command, but that's about as far as he got. The embarrassing part was when local dignitaries were invited to review the troops; instead of Custer escorting them to greet Sturgis, the commanding officer, Sturgis instead escorted them to greet Custer! It was clear that the Yankton community recognized the 7th as Custer's. So Sturgis was basically ignored; an embarrassment that he didn't deserve. He evidently found no malfeasance worth reporting, and left to inspect Major Tilfords camp at Ft. Rice.

This is good book....full of interesting tidbits, too numerous to go into, like the little known clash between Custer and Benteen, adding yet another log of animosity to Benteen's fire of hatred for Custer.

In the end, though, the Sturgis name lives on, although who would have known that over a century later it would be famous as a biker mecca?

[George Armstrong Custer]

John said:

Was re-reading Lee's FORT MEADE AND THE BLACK HILLS, getting in the frame of mind to visit there next month. What a catalyst for chaos Ella Sturgis was, through no intent of her own. I had forgotten the details of the 7th Cav lt who killed himself over her, at least that's how they put it in the Bismarck Tribune. That was Lt. Charles M. Carrow, Company I, followed her to St. Louis on leave where she was visiting friends. There he discovered a rival for Ella's love and ended up shooting himself in his hotel room.

Then, of course, the lovesick Reno and the "Peeping-Tom" incident that led to his ouster. Does anyone have the foggiest notion of what happened to her? Her nerves must have been shattered, especially over the suicide.

John - you know your bunkies here will be expecting a full forum report on your forthcoming Black Hills Expedition (though if you discover gold, keep a lid on it - look what it led to last time!).

Regards,
George