Reviews, Notes and Comments 323
The question, "Are any of the
Griffiths there yet?"
Mr. Gessner answered in the
affirmative. The General
then humorously observes, "The
town of Batavia must
now be very much dried up with all the
facilities the
people have to get away. I used to take
much delight
in visiting there and through
Clermont." And then he
added, with a touch of pathos,
"But I have made my
last visit."
In this connection the author makes
some statements
that will be news to many readers of
the QUARTERLY
in regard to the kinship and social
relations of the fam-
ilies of General Grant and Jefferson
Davis. Here are
two paragraphs:
Some eight years later, Mrs. U. S. Grant
and Mrs. Jeffer-
son Davis were living at the old New
York Hotel. They were
close friends and had apartments on the
same floor. A caller
on Mrs. Davis being told of Mrs. Grant's
residence in the house,
related the incident of Mr. Gessner's
visit to General Grant at
Mt. McGregor. Mrs. Davis insisted on her
friend seeing the
visitor and soon Mrs. Grant appeared.
The widow of the grand
old warrior and statesman recounted with
interest and pathos
incidents of the last days at Mt.
McGregor, and said the General
was much pleased with the visit from Mr.
Taft's emissary. He
was always very fond of Judge Taft and
all the family.
* * *
It is a fact not generally known that
General Grant and
Jefferson Davis were cousins, the
relationship coming through
the Simpson family, to which their
mothers belonged.
CELEBRATION OF CENTENARY OF LAFAYETTE'S
VISIT TO AMERICA
The McGuffey Society of Columbus, Ohio,
which
has taken the initiative in a number of
worthy literary
and historic enterprises, at its annual
banquet on the eve-
ning of March 25 adopted a resolution
inviting atten-