Pickens Acrostic
Author Unknown
| Lady with eyes so tender and true, |
| Under their lids of violet hue, |
| Charming all hearts, the gay and the grave, |
| Youth and old age, the gentle and brave. |
|
| Purity joined to an exquisite grace, |
| Is seen in thy actions - expressed in thy face; |
| Candor and gentleness beam in thy smile, |
| Kind are thy accents, thy heart without guile; |
| Every envious feeling to thee is unknown, |
| No dark thoughts hath found in thy spirit a throne, |
| So genial its temper, so tender its tone. |
Lucy Petway Holcombe Pickens
1832-1899
-Lucy became highly acclaimed throughout the South for her "classic features, titian hair, pansy eyes, and graceful figure." Married diplomat Francis Wilkinson Pickens (twenty-seven years her senior!) on April 26, 1858. Foreseeing troubled times for the South, Pickens resigned his diplomatic post in Russia in the fall of 1860 to return home and was elected governor by the South Carolina legislature. By selling the jewels that had been given her in Russia, Lucy helped outfit the Confederate Army unit that bore her name, the Lucy Holcombe Legion. Portraits of her were used on Confederate money and loan certificates.
